More Than You Know: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Scary and delightful
Review: Hannah Gray, an elderly woman, returns to the house she summered in as a young woman and decides to tell us the story of the summer she spent falling in love and being terrorized by a ghost. Her story is separated by the story of a family who lived on the island across from Hannah's old summer house over 100 years prior to that fatefull summer. The love story is intense and unforgettable, the ghost story is scary as hell (the scene with the ghost in the rocking chair kept me awake the night after I read it!), and the connection between Hannah's ghost and the old island family that slowly emerges as the stories progress will totally surprise you. I could not put this down once I picked it up. It's FANTASTIC.

Rating:
Summary: NOT just a "romance novel"...
Review: When I first read the description of this book I thought it was going to be a lighthearted romance novel. Based upon that, I would not have been inclined to read it except that it was assigned for my book club. I am very glad that I did read it - the author truly evoked the people and the places of her story. I had no trouble visualizing everything she described. While the stories (which ultimately became a single story) were sad, they were thought-provoking. I don't want to give away any of the plot, but suffice it to say that I stayed up very late one night so I could discover the last pieces of the puzzle which the author presents. One tip: when you read the book, keep in mind who is related to whom (including Hannah and Conary).

Rating:
Summary: Slightly disappointing ghost story
Review: Since this novel got such excellent editorial reviews I was anxious and excited to read it. But I never felt it quite lived up to such high praise. I did really enjoy it, I finished it in one day, but the whole storyline seemed vague to me and slightly unfulfilling. I would recommend reading it but wait for the paperback.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: This was my first Beth Gutcheon novel and it was wonderful. The parallel stories were both interesting and the author built so much suspense between the two that I wanted to hurry through the next story to get back to the first story! The way that she incorporated an "account" of the murders made for a varied read and was much appreciated. I felt sad and heartbroken at the end. The author tugged at my emotions in a very genuine way. I look forward to reading more of her work.

Rating:
Summary: Two stories in one!
Review: I bought this book after reading a review in a magazine, I have never read anything written by this author before. I loved this book! There was a good deal of detail and I think it is wonderful that the author could tell two stories at the same time. There was suspense at every turn and enough surprises to keep it interesting until the end.

Rating:
Summary: Very good book....
Review: Intense, accomplished, and full of eerie atmosphere. One follows where Beth Gutcheon leads and accepts the unthinkable because the writing allows one to do no less. I think I need to find Gutcheon's other books and settle in with them.

Rating:
Summary: Stand and Deliver Please
Review: People from Maine who read books about Maine worry whether authors "get Maine right." By that, we mean: spare us the cliches of tight lipped Yankees, picturesque seaside villages and people named Bowdoin. Unfortunately, Beth Gutcheon fills her book with steroptypes not only of Maine and its people but of literary characters as well. We have the evil stepmother, the distant father married to the evil stepmother, the tight lipped, raging Yankee; the small-town sitchboard operator who knows everyone's business -- and on it goes. There is no intensity of character or plot here and when the opportunity arises -- as when the evil stepmother and her mother strip Hannah naked to wash her clean -- Gutcheon dispatches the potential of this scene in one paragraph. On the other hand, she has Hannah and Conary (why did she occasionally call him Connie?) meander all over March Cove and its island to no apparent purpose and with no real intimacy. The long scene of traveling to the Bangor Fair is similary yawn provoking. Nonetheless, this is a worthwhile read with deft plot connections made over a 100 year time span. I just kept expecting to get to a higher level of emotional intensity and was continually frustrated by an author who wouldn't deliver.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written but sad
Review: This book is very beautifully written. Really captures the feelings of young,true love and angst. Unfortunately, most of the events were sad, and the foreshadowing became somewhat oppressive. I enjoyed the read, but wished she had found a non-central plot that could have brought some happiness to any one character.

Rating:
Summary: A Character Driven Novel
Review: WOW....what a read. This was a full and meaty book with so many wonderful things going on. It's a heartfelt novel that brings a reader in and completely takes them over. I couldn't put this book down and was drawn to the characters in a way that so very few novels ever do. It's completely a character book. Each one is full, rich and important. I really loved this book and plan on reading the others by this author. A real treat. Great Book!

Rating:
Summary: What do ghosts and love have in common?
Review: This lovely book, which really captures those feelings of first (and impossible) love, also tackles the harder questions about the persistence of the past. Whether the ghost is merely metaphor or "true"--and the book carefully allows both interpretations--it is certainly true that the past has an effect, insidious or benign, on all our lives. This is one smart book--great reading, great resonance.