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Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I can't say this book isn't well-written, it is. But it seems rather self-consciously "uplifting". The characters in it are all a bit too noble; dialogue is awkwardly formal, even for well-to-do, highly educated people. Friendships with oh-so-wonderful people are formed so easily and quickly. Many, many people like these do exist -- I know many of them; but the writer seemed to make the situation rather than let it happen -- a bit of a fairy tale, in spite of the realities of hatred that it discusses. I couldn't place the period when this takes place; Mary Daly's book, central to the story, was published in 1998, but the copyright on this novel is 1989.
Rating:
Summary: A polemic
Review: I have enjoyed several books by May Sarton, but not this one. Rather than telling a story, she's written a polemic - a soft diatribe against people who hate people because they are different in some way. The writing is good, but the whole thing is stiff and the events repetitive.The main character, Harriet, makes friends way too easily. Her bookstore is a hit, which I believe, and Harriet's mourning of her lost lover who died recently is also realistic. Another problem is I couldn't tell when the book was supposed to take place. Harriet and another guy (a doctor) were smoking cigarettes! Also she seemed stuck in the 1940s with her friend Angelica Lamb (what a stupid and obvious name) who has a maid who cooks dinner for her! Overall the book is just not a good novel.
Rating: 
Summary: inspirational
Review: This book may not be a portrait of extreme left wing revolutionaries, but it is about real people, fighting the real struggle of day to day life in world which chooses not to understand. Sarton's characters are magnificent. Harriet's determination to succeed and survive is truly an inspiration.
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