Rating: 
Summary: Troubling Tale
Review: I am giving this book only three stars as enjoyed Mrs. James' writing, as usual, but found the people uninteresting. I wouldn't care to know Philippa or her stepfather and didn't care what happened to them. The man who was hunting down her mother was a sad character. I only kept reading to see what the tragic ending would be.This story could be a lesson to all adoptees. Don't try to find your real parents. Be happy with what you've got!
Rating:
Summary: Troubling Tale
Review: I am giving this book only three stars as enjoyed Mrs. James' writing, as usual, but found the people uninteresting. I wouldn't care to know Philippa or her stepfather and didn't care what happened to them. The man who was hunting down her mother was a sad character. I only kept reading to see what the tragic ending would be. This story could be a lesson to all adoptees. Don't try to find your real parents. Be happy with what you've got!
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't get through it...
Review: I don't think that the protagonist of a novel has to be sweetness and light all the time-I can accept flawed characters, even seriously flawed characters. Philippa, however, was such a thoroughly unlikeable and despicable character that I honestly did not care what happened to her and actually found myself wishing that something bad would happen to her. She was selfish,cold, ungrateful, cruel to her adoptive parents, and I just could not continue reading. I generally like P.D James, but I did not like this book at all.
Rating: 
Summary: great book
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It is a really good story and hard to put down. Has some very surprising things happening in it.
Rating:
Summary: I thought this novel was incredibly interesting
Review: I thought that P.D James does a great job in this novel, but I also think that she could've shortened this text by a little less description. One whole chapter was dedicated to describing the flat that Mary and Philippa lived in. I would've given it a ten for story line, but it should have been a little shorter.
Rating:
Summary: brilliantly woven but important strands left out
Review: I thought that the characters were rich and the plot was interesting. I was disappointed in the ending. I don't understand why one of the most important characters did what he or she did. Since PD James took the time to explain the actions of so many of the characters, I wish she had written an extra page or so to explain what was going through that character's mind.
Rating:
Summary: brilliantly woven but important strands left out
Review: I thought that the characters were rich and the plot was interesting. I was disappointed in the ending. I don't understand why one of the most important characters did what he or she did. Since PD James took the time to explain the actions of so many of the characters, I wish she had written an extra page or so to explain what was going through that character's mind.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite P. D. James, but I'd give it 4.5 stars
Review: I'm amazed at the range of reactions to this book, but I liked it best of the 16 books of hers I've read. And there's no Dalgleish! This is a pretty heavy duty mystery with fantastic characterization and the equivalent of an airshow's twists and turns. Some may very well be put off by the ending, but if they all end the same, where's the mystery? But, like some of Block's Scudder novels, this mystery edges into the regime of real literature through the author's characterizations -- looking into the depths of humans. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Overcompensation
Review: In this particular book P.D. James is overcompensating for her insecurities as a mystery writer. She wants to prove that mystery is a legitimate genre and therefore infuses this book with crass psychology, characters that expound literary quotes at the drop of a hat, and sensationalism. The characters are woven to be so complex that ironically they turn out to be simply one dimensional. Her tone for the treatment of victims (especially the rape victim) is absolutely infuriating and frightening. Pick up a copy of the National Enquirer...it's cheaper and more entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Overcompensation
Review: In this particular book P.D. James is overcompensating for her insecurities as a mystery writer. She wants to prove that mystery is a legitimate genre and therefore infuses this book with crass psychology, characters that expound literary quotes at the drop of a hat, and sensationalism. The characters are woven to be so complex that ironically they turn out to be simply one dimensional. Her tone for the treatment of victims (especially the rape victim) is absolutely infuriating and frightening. Pick up a copy of the National Enquirer...it's cheaper and more entertaining.
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