Rating: 
Summary: More Than I Expected
Review: Having read all of Beth Gutcheon's books, I wasn't prepared for the personal impact of her latest novel, MORE THAN YOU KNOW. This book has been on my shelf for quite some time, waiting for me to delve into it. I never should have waited so long. Hannah, elderly now, tells us about a summer long ago when she was just a girl and fell in love with Conary Crocker. It was the summer her stepmother rented the old schoolhouse in Dundee, Maine, the schoolhouse which had been on the island where a murder had taken place 50 years before. Artfully woven into a tapestry of intrigue, the stories become one as the tales unfold. Although I am a constant reader, I seldom stay up past my bedtime to read, but this book was the exception. Ms. Gutcheon has not only changed her style from previous novels, she has proven herself to be a master story teller. I've always enjoyed her work, but this was the first time I finished one of her books, closed it carefully, and sat quietly to contemplate what I'd read.
Rating: 
Summary: Ghost story, romance or mystery?
Review: This is both a compelling and frustrating book. Gutcheon is a fluent and accomplished writer, but it seemed to me she couldn't decide how to knit together the disparate elements of this story, which contains (a) a coming-of-age romance with a jarring unhappy ending, (b) a ghost story, (c) an historical murder mystery. The narrative emcompasses two storylines: that of misunderstood, teenage Hannah, vacationing in Dundee, ME, in the 20's; and of the Claris, who lived in the area in the mid-1800's. For me the strongest and richest part of the book were the Claris chapters. Claris herself is an unappealing character: glum, rigid and resentful; however, the portrait of her rollicking, close-knit, musical family is wonderfully drawn. The historical details are carefully observed and richly illustrate Claris' unhappy story as well. But the points raised by other reader-reviewers are valid. For one, the love story between Conary and Hannah is essentially trite, with its stock characters:the wrong-side-of-the-tracks, sexy rebel (Conary); the sensitive adolescent (Hannah) and her harsh stepmother. For another, the ghost story and the historical murder mystery remain baffling on many levels. Repeated readings don't clarify who the ghost was supposed to be (Claris seems the mostly likely candidate, but it's never made explicit); why she (the ghost) pursued Hannah so singlemindedly (appearing in different locations and ultimately causing a fatal accident); or who, out of a possible three characters, killed Claris' oafish husband Danial. Claris' drowned son is buried in an apparently secret grave (why?) and someone visits it (who?). A subplot concerning a Mercy, a young schoolteacher who boards in Claris and Danial's dysfunctional household, is also puzzling. An intellingent young woman, she nonetheless passively submits to a loathesome regime of inadequate food, Claris' simmering rage, and Danial's sexual depredations. This last is mentioned almost as an aside; Mercy appears later, pregnant by Danial, but her reactions are left unexplored. The trio of possible murderers (Mercy, Claris and Claris' equally angry daughter, Sallie) meet in the schoolhouse attic, for no apparent reason other than to place Hannah in that same (haunted) attic years later. I would recommend this book as an intermittently gripping (and occasionally scary) story with some good writing and solid historical research on 19th century Maine, but it does leave you wanting a couple more chapters to tie up the loose ends.
Rating:
Summary: a ghost story, a love story
Review: Beth Gutcheon's "More than you Know" is a cuddle-up read for wintertime eves. Part love story, part ghost story, featuring a parallel plot told in flashbacks that eventually links to the present, Gutcheon's tale will charm you and keep you turning pages late into the evening. The book is seemlessly woven, filled with delicate turnings and impressions. She writes especially well of her narrator's first love, of the days of passion and sweetness that the 17 year old girl found with a boy "from the wrong side of the tracks" in the small Maine village which is the setting for the book. Highly recommended, "More than You Know" should propel the author into a wide readership.
Rating:
Summary: A ghost story, past and present
Review: More Than You Know is told retrospectively by an old woman as she tells the tale of a summer during her teenage years when she lived on the coast of Maine with her stern and dour stepmother. Hannah, the teenager, sees ghosts in their house, which used to be on an island but was moved to the mainland. When the learns that a man was killed there ¾ of a century ago and his daughter acquitted of the murder, the plot thickens.
Then there's the other story, the story from the 1800s of that lonely daughter who married a quiet, uncommunicative man and moved to the island.
The two stories and their parallel tragedies interweave in a stunning book.
As a writer, what I found particularly admirable was the way the author moved from distant past (200 yrs ago) to more recent past (50 yrs ago) so seamlessly, often with nothing more than a paragraph break. It's not an easy stunt to pull off without jarring your readers; most authors choose a chapter break to leap 150 yrs back and forth.
But it worked, as does the whole book about love, loss, and death, past and present.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable Read
Review: This is the first book by this author that I read. I have to say that I would read her again if another book caught my interest. This is a wonderful love story narrated by an older Hannah. She is telling us about a summer when she met her first love in a small town in Maine . It just so happens this is also a ghost story. Where we travel back in time to the 1800s and meet the Haskell's. The two stories mingle together because it ends up that Hannah is trying to learn more about Haskell's and the only known murder in the small town. I do have to say that I did feel like I missed something or more could have been told. I have to say in my opinion the story got off to a slow start. If you stick with it you will find a charming story about lost loves. Overall I do recommend this book and it is a quick read.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: This is a ghost story and love story all rolled into one. A tale about life coming full circle on itself. The chapters alternate between the storyteller, Hannah and the history of a family that touches Hannah's life one summer in a small town in Maine. The history starts in the early 1800s when Claris Osgood is 10 years old and already feels completely different than her close, loving family members. She meets a boy named Danial Haskell and they fall in love. They marry against the Osgood's wishes. Danial lives on the island and the Osgoods don't want Claris taken so far away from them. They question how well Danial will treat her. They want what's best for Claris, but she won't hear any of it. Claris soon finds out Danial isn't the person she thought he was at all. He is cold and heartless. Claris loses her first two daughters in a miscarriage and when she finally has a son, Amos, he is her pride and joy. Danial never cared much for Amos mostly because he reminded Danial of the Osgoods. He was musically talented, but Danial would have no music in the house. A few years later, Claris has another child, a girl named Sallie. Sallie takes after her father's side and it is apparent her mother doesn't love her as much. Hannah Gray tells the story of one summer spent in the small town in Maine where Claris once lived. Her stepmother doesn't care for her and her father is never around. Hannah's mother grew up in this town and everyone sees fit to tell her how much she looks like her mother. Hannah begins to see a ghost in her summer home. The ghost is always weeping, but it isn't to be pitied. It's ugly with piercing eyes and Hannah is very clear that it is a THING, not a person. She spends the summer investigating the origin of her house, which used to be the schoolhouse on the island. She finds out about the Haskell's and about the strange events that led to Danial Haskell's murder. On her journey, she comes across a young man named Conary Crocker. They are immediately taken with one another and quickly fall in love. Conary has run into the ghost before as well and is the only person Hannah can turn to with her findings. This is their story, as it is the story of the Haskells. What happened that summer and what happened long ago and how they are connected. The book ended with me wanting more. I wanted to know more about Hannah's life after that summer and more about the motivation behind the Haskell's. A very quick read, not scary at all for a ghost story and highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Would give 3.5 if I could
Review: This was a good book, and certainly held my interest, but I found myself unsatisfied at the end. "More than You Know" is fitting because I wanted to know more, but I do not see this as a positive. For example, why was the ghost interested in harming others, particularly Hannah and Conary? Hannah, afterall, was unhappy in her childhood home life, so why would the ghost want to inflict more unhappiness on her?
The best part of the book was the parallel stories weaved throughout -- of two families, both with their own nuances and issues, and of complex family relationships. Gutcheon does a good job of creating the results our interfamilial relations have on the rest of our lives.
This is an intersting story -- one that might have been better if more detail of the characters were brought in. It was a fast read -- not entirely satisfying, but definitely compelling enough that you would want to read it cover to cover, and fast. I would recommend it for a quick, easy read.
Rating:
Summary: Would make a good movie
Review: "More Than You Know" is a decent enough book. When I read that the author, Beth Gutcheon, also has written screenplays, I thought that this is a book that could very easily be adapted into a movie screenplay and perhaps that's what the author had in mind when she wrote it. I don't know. But honestly, this work comes across more as a "based on the hit film!" type of book rather than some great work of fiction. "More Than You Know" is part love story, part ghost story, and the two are cleverly interwoven. When Hannah is 17 she spends the summer in a coastal Maine village and falls in love for the first time with the town's bad boy. She, her brother and her stepmother are renting an old school house that is haunted by a rather malevolent ghost. Between Hannah's recollections of that summer and her taste of first love, we see the story of the ghost and hear the tale of a crime perpetrated long ago on a nearby island. I won't deny that this book is good reading. Gutcheon is able to hold a reader's attention, and the book is entertaining. However, it's more suitable for light summer reading - take it along to the beach. If it's serious fiction you're looking for, skip this one and wait for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: a ghost story, a love story
Review: Beth Gutcheon's "More than you Know" is a cuddle-up read for wintertime eves. Part love story, part ghost story, featuring a parallel plot told in flashbacks that eventually links to the present, Gutcheon's tale will charm you and keep you turning pages late into the evening. The book is seemlessly woven, filled with delicate turnings and impressions. She writes especially well of her narrator's first love, of the days of passion and sweetness that the 17 year old girl found with a boy "from the wrong side of the tracks" in the small Maine village which is the setting for the book. Highly recommended, "More than You Know" should propel the author into a wide readership.
Rating:
Summary: Great Ghost Story!
Review: I picked up this book randomly as I was walking through the bookstore. I liked what it said on the back about an old lady telling the story and connecting the past with her love story. I didn't understand at all that it was also a ghost story! And what a good one. Horror is not my genre at all, but this was love and history, combined with a ghost story. It was very creepy. I couldn't get enough of it. Now I can't find another like it even though I've been looking. Highly recommended.
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