Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as her other works, but okay
Review: I love Gilchrist's work, and I was prepared to love Sarah Conley, too, but I just didn't. I agree with another Amazon reviewer-- I would have liked to see more of the teenage Sarah, and her complicated relationship with Eugenie's family. Some of the side plots in Sarah's adult life seemed poorly thought-out and stereotypical-- I was expecting better from Gilchrist. The book does have its likable moments, however, and if you enjoy most of her other books, you won't hate it. If you're just starting out with Gilchrist, read Victory over Japan or Light can be both Wave and Particle first, not Sarah Conley.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment for Gilchrist fans
Review: I'm a big fan of Ellen Gilchrist's previous works. Over the years she has created a large array of fascinating characters, characters that take on a life of their own in the mind of the reader. In her latest book Ellen Gilchrist introduces a completely new cast and, unfortunately, doesn't make us care a whole lot for any of its members. The one character that seems most like it could have jumped out of her older books commits suicide . The storyline is sketchy and at times does not ring true. My advice: read or re-read her older books.
Rating: 
Summary: It lost me after Chapter 2.
Review: I'm not even halfway through the book, and I've been mourning the loss of the strong, interesting and rather daunting 14-year-old protagonist. The early friendship between Sarah and Eugenie evoked wonderful portent of things to come; then -- bam! -- we're fast-forwarded into the present day, and Sarah has become shallow, dull and predictable. I'm not sure I care what happens to her, but because I love Paris, I'll read on. I'm curious to see if the City of Lights can brighten Sarah's lack of luster.
Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time and Money
Review: I've read several of Ellen Gilchrist's other books (Victory over Japan, Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle, In the Land of Dreamy Dreams) and loved them. That's why I picked up this book - and I was so disappointed. The characters were unreal, the dialog was trite, and the ending - where did that come from? It didn't ring true at all. What happened with Sarah's ex-boyfriend, who writes spooky letters to her? The author seemed to have lost interest in pursuing that storyline. And it's unbelievable that Jack doesn't mourn his daughter and wife more. The book doesn't seem like Gilchrist's other works at all - I have to wonder if an imposter wrote this book? I agree with some of the other reviewers - it was more of an outline of a book, not a real book. Also, it does seem that the publishers pushed it out before the author could fix it. Don't waste your time and money on this shabby effort.
Rating:
Summary: Professional woman finds love, romance, & true fulfillment
Review: In Sarah Conley, Ellen Gilchrist introduces a completely new set of characters. The title character is a successful professional woman who has escaped from the suffocating throes of the South of her youth and now lives in New York City. However, returning home to Nashville, Tennessee for the funeral of her best friend brings back memories and longings that she thought she had long ago buried. Reacquainting with a former lover opens a new vista that she had not anticipated any more than she anticipated that her roots would beckon her to return. A sojourn in Paris gives the novel an interesting sparkle and romantic feeling that only Paris can give. There Sarah finds that her personal work and private love affair must come together somehow, and we are convinced that she will find happiness in the end. Ellen Gilchrist has given us a new heroine--a modern woman after all our hearts who is talented, beautiful, and yet mature and loving. It's not often that we read about women in their 40's or 50's having successful careers and love affairs and being able to assimilate both into their lives as well as Sarah Conley learns to do. She is what so many women today would love to be, and it is fulfilling--and just plain fun--to read about her and to put ourselves in her place, if only for the space of a good read. Let's hope that Ms. Gilchrist intends to continue Sarah's story!
Rating:
Summary: How did this woman win any fiction prizes?
Review: OK, I confess this is the first book by Ellen Gilchrest I've read. But the whole experience was excruciating. How could she take such a rich topic and destroy it with hackneyed dialog, completely flat characters and none of the texture that could be afforded by settings like Nashville, New York City and Paris? I'm not rushing out to buy any of her other books.
Rating:
Summary: Where's a good editor when you need one?
Review: On a whim I picked up this novel and 2 days later exhaled with satisfied relief. For an experienced, modern woman this story is captivating, endearing and full bodied. I began to fear that the author would wrecklessly lead reader down a minefield strewn, primrose path but pleasantly found this fear unfounded. As with any book that steals you into itself, it was regretfully over all too soon-but just in time for me to dash back into a bookstore to see what else this generous author has offered us!
Rating: 
Summary: Intelligent fairy tale
Review: On a whim I picked up this novel and 2 days later exhaled with satisfied relief. For an experienced, modern woman this story is captivating, endearing and full bodied. I began to fear that the author would wrecklessly lead reader down a minefield strewn, primrose path but pleasantly found this fear unfounded. As with any book that steals you into itself, it was regretfully over all too soon-but just in time for me to dash back into a bookstore to see what else this generous author has offered us!
Rating:
Summary: I liked the cover
Review: The Jock Sturgis photo promises ambivalence and a cutting edge sensibility. The book doesn't deliver. The protaganist is super-woman: totally unbelievable and unlikeable. Money and the good life it buys is paramount. This book neither teaches nor entertains.
Rating:
Summary: A waste of time
Review: The story is solid: the world is full of people who make stupid important decisions like those in the book all the time. They marry the wrong people in full awareness, and deal with it more poorly than Sarah, Jack et al. When I got to the part where he goes to Paris and things don't look as rosy as before, I thought I was starting to get the meaning of the book: some things are better left unrevisited. Sarah refuses to write a happy ending for her script. I think I knew how the book itself was going to end, but hey, Ellen Gilchrist is good at what she does, and she got the last laugh. The book ends on a happy, hopeful note, and that's her best revenge. I have to agree with other readers that this is not her best work (my favorite novel is The Anna Papers), but as a whole I think she is a superb writer. Her characters are exuberant, amoral and make no apologies, and this novel was no exception. I enjoy the common points in her writing, the alcoholism, the atypical motherhood feelings, the weight problems, and the detailed descriptions of clothing and decoration. If you are new to Gilchrist, maybe you should try something else first. In any case, this was a worthy novel and I wouldn't pass it up.
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