The Price of Land in Shelby: A Novel (Hardscrabble Books)

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable.
Review: After just returning from a 2 week vacation in New England, I thoroughly enjoyed this portrait of country life. After seeing postcard views of the New England countryside & romanticizing rural life, it was engrossing to read about real people with real problems that arise no matter where one lives. The portrayal of all the love, ugliness, devotion, jealousy that comprises a family was remarkable. The characters were believable and likeable despite their flaws. In addition to the inspiration, the book was a great read!

Rating:
Summary: Misled and Disappointed
Review: As a reading group, we select books to read together through a consensus which we arrive at by reading cover blurbs,editorial reviews, and reviews from other readers found on such sites as Amazon.com and websites for reading groups. We feel that we were mislead on the contents of this book by relying upon these sources. Sadly, we find little to recommend this book to other readers.We think that it relates very little to rural life, is far from a country-life story, and is not an entertaining book, the kind one wishes to pursue to the end. We appreciate books with some sense of escape and sense of identification with the characters. We felt unsatisfied by the end of the book after being submerged in constant family dysfunctionality and catastrophe, death, drug culture, and dejection. Despite our differing opinions on the author's writing style and book format, we have concluded that we had made a poor choice. We have enjoyed and would recommend books that deal with life and its problems but which leave the reader with a sense of closure and positivity. Ex: Joan Medlicott's Covington series, Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth, and Sue Monk Kitt's The Secret Life of Bees.