Rating: 
Summary: The Road Taken
Review: I read this book a couple of months ago and I absolutely loved it. I really got involved in the characters lives. I couldn't put it down. I tell all my family and friends about it. I was very disheartened to see all the bad reviews on this book. I am happy to say that I don't agree with a lot of the reviews.
Rating: 
Summary: Rona Jaffe Never Changes!
Review: I waited anxiously for Rona Jaffe's latest book. It was a good read and I finished it in less than 1 day. Although not as interesting as her other books, this title spanned a century in a family of strong women. We learn about their loves and losses, their victories and defeats. I became deeply involved with each character and was sad to see the book end. If you are a Jaffe fan, DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK.
Rating: 
Summary: A very poor book to read
Review: I was disappointed with this book. The characters were never properly developed and when bad things happened to them, I couldn't have cared less. I could have done without the homosexual/cross-dressing storyline all together. The foreshadowing in the story is unbelievable. The author starts talking about an affliction or problem and presto, one of the characters gets it.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put this one down...
Review: I'm happy to say that Rona's done it again. Her books never fail to be anything short of entertaining...drawing me in, so much so that I almost feel as if I'm part of this family. The characters are very real, flawed and quirky, just like family members we all know,love, and despise. There are unexpected twists and turns, but not so many or bizarre that they're unrealistic. This is a story about a family that spans the generations...a very good read and one that was virtually impossible for me to put down.A similar book by Rona that was also very good, another generational saga, but involving friends is "The Room Mating Season". I highly recommend that one as well. Rona's quickly become one of my favorite authors. Happy reading!!
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put this one down...
Review: I'm happy to say that Rona's done it again. Her books never fail to be anything short of entertaining...drawing me in, so much so that I almost feel as if I'm part of this family. The characters are very real, flawed and quirky, just like family members we all know,love, and despise. There are unexpected twists and turns, but not so many or bizarre that they're unrealistic. This is a story about a family that spans the generations...a very good read and one that was virtually impossible for me to put down. A similar book by Rona that was also very good, another generational saga, but involving friends is "The Room Mating Season". I highly recommend that one as well. Rona's quickly become one of my favorite authors. Happy reading!!
Rating:
Summary: She's lost her touch
Review: I've read many of Ms. Jaffe's books and this was, by far, her worst. I stopped reading it after the second chapter. Its "family-saga" was very old-fashioned and it had none of the cutting edge characters found in her earlier works. This book could just as easily been written by Danielle Steele or similar writers.
Rating:
Summary: Great American history overview, an "ok" novel
Review: It's very well written! It's a great historical overview of American history from 1900 to the present time. It weaves medical, social, and historical events into the lives of ONE family.... and that's the part that doesn't work for me.. This family has "one of everything"! Rather unlikely.... It's the history-lover part of me that actually want to purchase this book. I think this book would be a good "overview" read for high school students studying American history. The author has done her research homework. I find it to be a fictional narrative history more than a novel. Not a slam, just how I describe it.
Rating:
Summary: Great American history overview, an "ok" novel
Review: It's very well written! It's a great historical overview of American history from 1900 to the present time. It weaves medical, social, and historical events into the lives of ONE family.... and that's the part that doesn't work for me.. This family has "one of everything"! Rather unlikely.... It's the history-lover part of me that actually want to purchase this book. I think this book would be a good "overview" read for high school students studying American history. The author has done her research homework. I find it to be a fictional narrative history more than a novel. Not a slam, just how I describe it.
Rating:
Summary: You won't be able to put it down
Review: Ms. Jaffe won my heart with ''Class Reunion'' and she has outdone herself even more with ''The Road Taken''. I feel as though, I myself, have become a part of Rose's family. I believe all of us can relate to the trials and tribulations this family has to endure.
The first paragraph draws you in, and you never want to stop reading this fine novel.
Rating:
Summary: As good as usual
Review: On January 1, 1900, Rose Smith is born. Over the next few years, Rose enjoys her childhood in Bristol, Rhode Island, but when she turns ten her mother dies. No one, her father William, her older sister Maude, or her stepmother Celia can fill the hole in Rose's heart. World War I accelerates Rose's growth towards womanhood when the Army drafts her first love, Tom Sainsbury. Tom wants to go overseas, but stays at Fort Riley, Kansas where he dies from influenza. Several years later, Ben Carson, knowing Rose does not love him, marries her anyway. The move to Greenwich Village, where her gay younger brother joins them. Ben and Rose have children, whose lives continue to be impacted by international events like World War II, polio, the Cold War, and the AIDs epidemic. Best selling author Rona Jaffe has taken a dangerous road that could have led to monster failure with a lesser talent. Instead, she has written incredible twentieth century historical fiction that uses personal tragedy to mirror major world events. The story line centers on Rose and her family by contrasting the headlines with the impact on the individual and their loved ones. Though it may take a village to raise a family, Ms. Jaffe demonstrates in her entertaining novel that it takes a family to raise the human spirit out of the ashes of calamity. Harriet Klausner
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