Sarah Conley: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Where's a good editor when you need one?
Review: Does Ms. Gilchrist no longer require an editor? If she had one, this novel might not have made it to press -- unless it was at Harlequin. Unfortunately, lack of censure has unleashed a piece of sub-standard work from an otherwise talented writer. It's a real let-down for Gilchrist fans. The story begins well, with the young Sarah but quickly falls to shreds as soon as we meet the adult Sarah-- someone I would not care to know or read about. The story becomes melodramatic with plastic characters and trite dialogue. I began to wonder if Ms. Gilchrist was trying to drag us into her midlife crisis. No thanks. It's such a shame because her earlier short fiction was beautiful, lyrical and funny with a cast of rich characters and intriguing plot-lines. Perhaps the genre is the problem. Short stories and novels are two entirely different beasts...Gilchrist should stick to what she does best.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as her others
Review: Ellen Gilchrist's humor has always been my favorite element of her writing. Her characters are audacious and pathetic, but always funny. Sarah Conley is a little too impenetrable. She doesn't seem to really care about anyone- her son, her lover, or her old flame, but Gilchrist seems to want us to believe that she does. This depiction of a career-focused woman lacks the feeling of Gilchrist's other characters. Sarah's broad statements about life's travails seem trite and you end up wanting Jack to find someone else who will be able to give a little, not just take...I don't think Gilchrist succeeded in portraying the character she was hoping to depict.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining but basically ****
Review: First of all, there are so many errors in this book, such as: Sarah takes 10mg of xanax when the usual dosage is between .5 and 2 mg.
Secondly, the dialogue is pitiful. Just plain horrible.
Thirdly, the characters are unreal. Sarah fails as a likeable protagonist--she is self-centered, cruel, and basically despicable. Her attitude towards Elise certaintly does not add to her charm--why does she repeatedly refer to Elise as "ugly" and blame Elise for the initial failed relationship with Jack?
I cringed my way through this book wondering how it managed to get published in the first place.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining but basically ****
Review: First of all, there are so many errors in this book, such as: Sarah takes 10mg of xanax when the usual dosage is between .5 and 2 mg.
Secondly, the dialogue is pitiful. Just plain horrible.
Thirdly, the characters are unreal. Sarah fails as a likeable protagonist--she is self-centered, cruel, and basically despicable. Her attitude towards Elise certaintly does not add to her charm--why does she repeatedly refer to Elise as "ugly" and blame Elise for the initial failed relationship with Jack?
I cringed my way through this book wondering how it managed to get published in the first place.

Rating:
Summary: An engaging story of an earthy, accomplished woman.
Review: Gilchrist's stories of flawed but strong Southern women highlight the passions, pleasures and sorrows that all her readers experience in their lives. That is why she is popular. Sarah Conley is certainly more accomplished than most of us but we share her views on life and indeed learn about movie- making and the joys of life in NYC and Paris. In fact, Sarah seems to be what Ellen G is or strives to be in her own life...capable, independent and sensibally sensual. Sarah's life makes me want to know more about the author who writes so well about the concerns and emotions of her characters and, for that matter, her readers.

Rating:
Summary: what has happened to a fine novelist?
Review: I am 2/3 through this book and doubt that I can finish it. I simply don't care. The plot is trite, the dialog isn't really dialog at all but something more akin to school essays, and Gilchrist seems to keep forgetting who the characters are. How can the daughter be a successful decorator and a whiney neurotic who doesn't seem she would be able to even hold a job above a menial level at the same time? Is Robert honest or is he not? Every time a character is reintroduced, it seems he or she has changed into someone else. What has happened to Gilchrist? This is really poor stuff.

Rating:
Summary: This should have remained on the drawing table.
Review: I am a huge fan. I have read everything Ms. Gilchrist has published. Why this was published at all is a mystery. It did nothing but sully a stellar reputation. The characters were annoyingly transparent. Her usually rich lexicon seemed pedantic and forced. This book was published before Ms. Gilchrist could hone it with her usual grace. Somehow I blame it on the publishers. Too eager to meet a deadline? Signed her to a multiple book deal and pressed the issue? Something just does not set well.

Rating:
Summary: If I could, I would give it no stars
Review: I have always enjoyed Ellen Gilchrist before but am sorely disappointed in this. I am really only two thirds through and I don't think I can finish. I laugh at the dialog- it is so improbable and unreal. There is not one character in the book that makes me want to know more. I am tired of Sarah's whining. She is boring.

Rating:
Summary: "Sarah Conley" - a big disappointment
Review: I have always enjoyed Gilchrist's novels for their off-beat humour and color. "Sarah Conley" has none of the same charm. Gilchrist keeps telling us what to think about her chracters but never shows us. Sarah and her lover, Jack, are supposed to be exceptional people - smart, accomplsihed and admirable. Instead they seem conventional, dull, and self-indulgent. The writing is laughably melodramatic and at the same time boring. It is difficult to care about what will happen. I only finished the book because I couldn't believe it would not redeem itself. It didn't.

Rating:
Summary: A three-dimensional woman lays some demons to rest.
Review: I have read earlier books by Ellen Gilchrist with pleasure, and, recently bereaved myself, came across the latest novel on the remainder table with some anticipation. Although I enjoyed learning about Sarah, the "heroine", I was struck by the lack of characterisation in some of the other main characters, especially Jack, whose wife dies early in the novel. Jack shows (or is allowed to show) no grieving at all. As someone in Jack's position in real life, I found this strange and unfortunate. Timothy was even less filled out. Jimmy and Elise, in their sadness, are more human, but the scenes in Paris seem to be Ellen Gilchrist's attempt to interest Hollywood in this novel. Better than The Bridges of Madison County, will it make a worse movie? Disappointing -- Ellen can do better.