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Summary: Reading "Between Friends" "Between Friends"
Review: My friend that I met on vacation sent this book to me. The story fits us well since we're still keeping in touch after four years through letters and e-mails like Leslie and Jillian (the two friends from "Between Friends.")The book was absolutly wonderful and I'd suggest it to anyone who wants a good cry or longs for a heart warming story. I never wanted it to end but all good things do.
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Summary: Between Friends
Review: My girlfriend gave me this book. When I started to read it and kept reading letters I thumb through it and realized the whole book was letters. Wasn't to sure if I was going to enjoy this book, but I have to say that I loved it! I returned the book went out and bought another one and gave it to my daughter to read and told her when she is done give it to her Best Friend and keep it going. It was one of those books I did't want it to end and thought about days after. And I have started to read other books by Debbie Macomber and have to say I have enjoyed each one
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Summary: Just between us, this is a wonderful book!
Review: Once an avid romance reader, these days with a few exceptions I hardly ever read from this genre anymore. And while I was familiar with the name Debbie Macomber I never did read any of her books. But when I came across Between Friends by Debbie Macomber while browsing at the library and read the dust jacket I immediately became interested in this title. I am, a real fan of books written in the epistolary form. Books whose stories are presented as letters or diary and journal entries and today may even be e-mail correspondence. My favorite titles written as epistolary novels include A Woman of Independent Means, Between Heaven and Sky, These is My Words and more recently Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend. And to this list I can now add Between friends which has a permanent place on my favorite books list of 2002.The year is 1948 when Lesley Adamski and Jillian Lawton are born in Pine Ridge, Washington. And while they become life long friends, their families couldn't be more different. Lesley's parents marry after she is conceived and there never seems to be enough money to care for her and eventually her five siblings. Her father who works on and off in the mines enjoys drinking a bit too much while Lesley's mother works hard to keep the family together. With excellent grades Lesley hopes to attend college until history has a way of repeating itself and Lesley finds herself marrying her high school boyfriend. Jillian's life is in sharp contrast to Lesley. As the only child of a Judge and his wife
Jillian is afforded a life filled with a beautiful home, wonderful trips, pretty clothes and her own car at 16. Jillian is able to attend college in New York and becomes a fast paced lawyer although a high school romance will leave her heart broken and unable to move on with other men. Throughout the years, through good times, bad times, victories and tragedies the friendship of these two women help to anchor and sustain them no matter what life throws their way. They manage to always be there for one another even when they are miles apart from one another. At first we watch them as young girls writing notes in class to one another, then as teenagers writing in their journals, as young wives and mothers in letters crisscrossing the country and finally as middle aged women corresponding through electronic mail. We are also privy to other pertinent correspondence in their lives like graduation invitations, wedding invitations, birth announcements, telegrams from overseas and obituary notices. And as we read the lives of these two women lay out before our eyes and we get to know them as if they are our family. I really loved the characters from this book and the time period when it was set. From the two women's writings the author also touches on many historical events. From the civil rights movement to the assassinations of the 60's to the tragedy of 9/11/01, this book is a wonderful representation of what it was like to grow up in the 60's For me, a child of the 60's and the same age as Lesley and Jillian, this book was a walk down memory land which I won't ever forget.
Rating:
Summary: Between Friends
Review: The style of the book was definately intriguing and wasn't sure I could follow it. It only took a couple pages to realize I was totally hooked and couldn't put it down. What a great story of friendship.
Rating:
Summary: Between Friends
Review: The style of the book was definately intriguing and wasn't sure I could follow it. It only took a couple pages to realize I was totally hooked and couldn't put it down. What a great story of friendship.
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Summary: insightful look at five decades of America
Review: The two women were born in 1948 in Pine Ridge, Washington. The location, the year, and their gender are about the only things these two women have in common. So how could Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski remain best friends and confidantes into the new millennium? Jillian, the daughter of wealthy parents attended college while Lesley an unwanted child who forced her parents to marry repeated the same mistake as her own mother by having two children while still a teen. Yet from the Eisenhower through Desert Storm and the Clinton scandals they exchange first letters and later email as they describe what is happening to each of them during the various decades of the latter half of the twentieth century. BETWEEN FRIENDS is an insightful look at five decades of America through the eyes of two friends living totally different lifestyles as the country goes about its changing business. The story line is an excellent look at the times starting with their childhood during the I like Ike decade to their teen years hindered by Nam and Watergate and finally to the naughty adult era of the eighties and nineties. Lesley and Jillian constantly communicate the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat". These two wonderful female characters empower readers to see Debbie Macomber at her best as the dynamic author provides a powerful look at the American half century reminiscent of Billy Joel's tune, We Didn't Start the Fire, but with much more depth. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: UNIQUE PRESENTATION
Review: The unique presentation of the story allowed the reader to really identify with the well-drawn characters. The protagonists are described in such detail that the author makes the reader feel a part of the friendship process. This was my first experience in reading a Debbie Macomber book and it whetted my appetite for more. Luckily, she is a prolific writer and I can look forward to many more hours of reading pleasure.
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Summary: A Must Read
Review: This book was totally incredible. I don't think I've ever read a book before where the characters felt so real.I laughed and I cried right along with them. The story just seemed so lifelike, the way it paralled right with along with real events from recent history. Just please read, you'll be glad you did, when i finished it it left me with a good feeling in my heart. Debbie Macomber definetly knows how to show the beauty of a friendship like no other.
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Summary: If you grew up in the 50's
Review: this book will bring back many memories. Written using letters, newspaper clippings, post cards and e-mails, it follows the friendship of Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski from birth to the present day. It chronicles all the changes we've gone through in telling Jillian and Lesley's stories. Parents, marriages, children, bad times, good times - they're all here. And through it all, their friendship endures. The format is so very easy to read - Jillian and Lesley are likeable (for the most part) - neither one is perfect so it is very true to life. If you grew up in the 50's - or have a best friend from childhood - or both!, this is a wonderful read!! You'll have to buy an extra copy for your friend cuz' its a keeper!
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Summary: I FEEL LIKE ONE OF THE FRIENDS!
Review: This is by far one of the best books I've read in a long time. I loved last year's THURSDAYS AT EIGHT, but this time Ms. Macomber outdid herself. BETWEEN FRIENDS is the story of the lifelong friendship between Jillian and Lesley - The story is told uniquely through the use of letters, journals entries, emails (later on in their lives), wedding & birth announcements, newspaper articles - even the occasional gas station receipt! You follow Jillian and Lesley from the day they were born (through the birth announcements of their parents) all the way up through the summer of 2002. What is so wonderful and makes this novel worth reading again and again, is how Ms. Macomber uses actual historic events to tell this story and move the friends through life. You will read about how Vietnam touched both girls and had a lasting affect on Jillian; how they each felt and reacted to the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy; what their feelings were about Women's Lib; connecting to each other via email and going "online"; even the tragic events of Sept. 11th are briefly touched upon (only wisely, Ms. Macomber spent little time on this subject and only used the event to explain the feelings of the two women today). You will see Lesley and Jillian experience life & death, the birth of children, loves of their lives entering and leaving; and the joys and heartache that see them through 50 years of friendship. You will witness not only the love Jillian and Lesley have for each other, but the love for their family and friends and the love these people have for each of them. Sometimes funny, plenty reminiscent, but mostly heartfelt, this story will stay with you forever and I guarantee you will return to this book again and again over the years if for no other reason, then to relive some point and time in our history that may have had a similar affect on you and your life as it had on Lesley and Jillian. Bravo Debbie Macomber - it will be difficult to top this one! (but I know you'll try!)
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