Good Harbor: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing *sigh* after The Red Tent
Review: I eagerly awaited Diamant's new novel after embracing her masterpiece, The Red Tent. And I'm so disappointed.... I kept waiting to like these two women and empathsize with their struggles, but I just couldn't! Good Harbor portrays two lives, intertwined yet very different in scope and purpose. Kathleen, breast cancer survivor, comes across as whiney and panic stricken, and harbors a secret that she can't let go. Joyce, romance author, is superficial and unfocused. Diamant's background as a Hebrew scholar and writer does not shine here as it in did in The Red Tent.... it's almost an afterthought that adds little to the story.

Too many unfinished story lines (the rabbi and Kathleen's son, for example), and manufactured twists (saving Joyce from a drug bust) just don't do it for me. It seems Diamant really struggled to write this one and I struggled to read it.

I felt the hot sands and desert breezes of The Red Tent, which was so rich in lyrical prose. But Good Harbor is all fogged in.

Rating:
Summary: a quiet book
Review: I am not really sure what to say about this book. I liked it, but yet I when I finished it, I wasnt' really sure what kept me reading. Maybe because I liked the characters, or just liked the story of a good friendship between two women. But....if you're looking for a page turner, don't pick this up, if you are looking for a quiet read for a couple of hours, than this is the book for you!

Rating:
Summary: Light reading but enjoyable
Review: You have to realize going into this book that it is not going to be of the caliber of "The Red Tent." For beginners, this is a modern novel and for better or worse, is going to be categorized as a woman's book. That's okay with me; I love women's literature. The problem is that it attempts to be deeper than it is. The writing is adequate, but formula. However, it does do all the right things in terms of plot construction and still manages to succeed in the relationship between the two main characters, Kathleen and Joyce, whom I thought were believable and authentic. The subject of two friends leading real lives with real problems, being able to confide in each other more than their husbands is one that I think resonates with a lot of people. I did find myself reading on, sort of like Kathleen reading Joyce's novel, because I cared and wanted to find out what happened to them.

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately A Ho Hum Read ...
Review: I always look forward to a good book about female friendships and when I read that Anita Diamant had a new book out on the subject I was so excited -- I really enjoyed "The Red Tent" and recommended it to friends and family. Unfortunately, I will not be doing the same for "Good Harbor: A Novel."

Unlike "The Red Tent" this book is not well-written. The dialogue was terrible (especially painful during Joyce and Kathleen's "peeing contest") and the pace of the book was sometimes tedious. Also, as the two women shared their personal histories with one another I was often uninterested -- even though the topics were important ones: faith, death, illness, parenthood, guilt, and marriage problems.

Part of "The Red Tent's" success was its ability to make us all want more out of our friendships with women -- it made us all long for the community, support, help, and kinship Dinah was surrounded by. And while "Good Harbor: A Novel" is a completely different read and set in different times, it fails to make me feel much of anything -- except disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Flat. Tepid. A simple read.
Review: I respect Diamant for trying to write meaningfully about the relationships between women and their struggles to incorporate their faith into their lives. Unfortunately, those aspects were probably the only things I appreciated about this book...

Kathleen's character (the most engaging one in the story) is slow to emerge. The other characters feel flat and unengaging. I had really hoped for something more from this book.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven Second Novel from Talented Author
Review: I loved Diamant's first novel, THE RED TENT, more than any book I've read in the last ten years. So I it was with great anticipation that I bought GOOD HARBOR. Diamant wisely chooses a topic as far from Biblical times as possible, and the two novels couldn't be more different. Two women at a crossroads in their lives and marriages meet in the small town of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and become fast friends. The setting is rich with possibilities, but Diamant's intentions are more successful than her execution. The simplicity of style which worked so well and powerfully in RED TENT here seems to undermine the emotional arc of the two women, Joyce and Kathleen, and we never care for them as deeply as we could. Kathleen's battle with breast cancer, and her attempt to make peace with her son's death 25 years earlier just doesn't move us as it should. And when a lonely Joyce drifts farther and farther from her husband and teenaged daughter into an affair with a handsome Irish fisherman, who will never fully consummate their physical relationship, we, too, feel unfulfilled. Diamant is a hugely talented author, but GOOD HARBOR just isn't in the same class as THE RED TENT. Let's hope her next effort proves more worthy, since she obviously has the talent and the vision to write brilliantly when the topic moves her.

Rating:
Summary: a good second novel
Review: I read "Red Tent" and loved it, so I had to read "Good Harbor." The author did not let me down--the characters constantly surprised me in this book. I loved the Jewish/Catholic interaction at Joyce's house, and how Kathleen overcame her struggles. This book is definitely a book for women--the male characters are not very strong (with the exception of Buddy, you hardly see them).

I felt there were two different dynamics going on--at Joyce's house, you have the age-old mother-daughter conflict, and then at Kathleen's house, you have the attachment between mother & son, but with "duelling" sons. I felt that I could see how the characters changed over the course of the summer, and how they grew into all of their relationships, making their own lives better.

I would recommend this book to anyone--but definitely read "The Red Tent" as well.

Rating:
Summary: Insight into Modern Women's lives
Review: After worrying that Anita Diamant's latest book would only be for women, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself (a male) being drawn in right off the bat. Good Harbor offers a peek into the lives of two modern women who meet by chance in a small town in Massachusetts.

We are privlidged to watch their friendship grow as they reveal to us and each other, the joys and pains of life in modern America The minor characters are also interesting and I am hoping that a followup novel will continue the women's story as they deal with life in modern USA.

I heard the book on tape and recommend it hightly to those, like me, spend too much time in a car. It got to where I looked forward to going for a drive, so I could hear more of Good Harbor.

Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: After thoroughly enjoying The Red Tent I approached Good Harbor with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the book is a letdown. The two main characters are poorly drawn and unsympathetic. Their comfortable middleclass lives and insignificant problems pale in comparison with the challenges and problems faced by real people in today's world. Add to that the fact that they are whiny and uninteresting and you have a mediocre book. I, too, finished the book but don't really know why. The ending was just as pat and unconvincing as the rest of the novel.

Rating:
Summary: The older you get, the harder to find a new friend.
Review: Like other readers, I found Anita Diamant's more well known The Red Tent very hard to get through. Good Harbour was the opposite.

The two main characters are NORMAL women who each have their own issues to deal with, but who share a need for a woman friend, as many of us in our 40's do. They stumble upon each other at a chance meeting in the temple and immediately begin to run into each other; crossing paths and becoming more and more interested in each other. Like girls in their twenties, they find they want a friendship and begin to unveil their lives to each other, but only to a certain point. The author lets us in on a little of what is being held back but not all, which kept me interested and curious. Although their paths cross often, they each have different lives, and issues and are at different phases of their lives, but they share a love of the harbour, and of reading.

The author has woven in some outlandish sidelines that kept me chuckling; one had a sister who was a nun, the new rabbi in town is a 30ish female, a colorful local priest needs to exorcise a lawn ornament of the virgin Mary....these make this a funny and light read. While both women feel the chemistry of their sameness and interests, they shy away from what they consider their own Private sins; only to learn that they are just seeking what everyone else does, especially at this age and in this time in our society.

I cried on the train while finishing it. The ending was satisfying. I hope Ms. Diamant writes another fictional story soon. I'll pick it up in a heartbeat.