Rating: 
Summary: An Unabsorbing Read
Review: I recommended this book to my book club based on the good reviews on Amazon. The night of our discussion only one person had finished the book. The others could not get through it.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read--I couldn't put it down!
Review: This is the first book that I've read by Jane Smiley. I loved it! Smiley obviously spent a lot of time researching the conflict between the abolitionists and the pro-slavers in 1855 Kansas Territory. Lidie's action-packed adventures kept me reading till the wee hours. Lidie is a strong female role model, not content to stay in the kitchen. Though it is set in the 19th century, this novel parallels contemporary idealogical issues in which each side cites the Bible to defend their position. I can't wait to read more from Smiley.
Rating: 
Summary: Lidie Who?
Review: I read this book after seeing it listed as a book people were buying in addition to "On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon," by Kaye Gibbons. "Lidie" can't hold a candle to "Afternoon" for gloriously written characters. Perhaps the historical accuracy is there, but if a book doesn't leave me with the characters' voices in my head, then for me it has failed. Throughout the entire book I had no real feeling for Lidie's mind or even for her physical being. I could not picture this woman in my head, nor could I put a face on Thomas, her husband. The nephew Frank I could visualize, but like so many others who have written here, he reminded me somewhat of a Huck Finn. The problem is, was Huck Finn a realistic character? There must have been something about this book that kept me reading it, since I usually won't waste my time with one I don't care about. Still, the lack of interesting characters and the lack of a forwarding moving story didn't dissuade me. I held on to the dire end, and wound up about the way I expected -- disappointed. When the story finally picked up at around page 350 (!), I thought there might be some hope of the "adventures" hinted at in the book's title. There was a little adventure here, and a little one over there, but none of them seemed particularly well thought-out as a structural part of the story as a whole. I won't completely condemn "Lidie," but as a story it left me completely cold. I know that within a year I won't remember having ever read this book. Give me Kaye Gibbons any day.
Rating:
Summary: More, please!
Review: What an adventure! I found the characters colorful and well defined. I loved the gruffness of the ruffians and the rigidity of the pious New Englanders. I found this book much more memorable than A Thousand Acres. I cared about the characters much more - all of them! I would like to think that Liddie and I would have been good friends. Thank you, Ms. Smiley!
Rating: 
Summary: A Fun, Interesting Read
Review: This is my first Jane Smiley book and I loved her characters, the fluidity of the writing, and the story line. Never a dull moment! It takes place during a historical period that I deeply enjoy--around the Civil War. The characters are easy to like, if not believable, and I found myself anxious to get home and read the book when I was away from it! Best of all, Smiley is realistic in how she ends the book. They don't always have to end "happily ever after..."
Rating:
Summary: Superb work that deserves a Pulitzer.
Review: As a historian of both antislavery and Southern history, I found this novel one of the most impressive on the sectional conflict written in this century. Jane Smiley's understanding of the moral complexities of that great division in American society and the ways that "the goose question" (that is, the slavery issue) became uppermost in antebellum popular opinion is remarkable. She fully grasps the distinctions between North and South, and especially between New Englanders and the fervid proslaveryites and Border Ruffians. I recommend the novelto all those teaching Civil War History as a supplementary text for students to read. It is as fascinating in its way as Shaara's Killer Angels. Bertram Wyatt-Brown, National Humanities Center
Rating:
Summary: Lost my interest after awhile...
Review: This was a very absorbing book at the beginning. But by the middle I was bored. The characters were no longer interesting at all. Even Lidie who was, after all, the focus of the story and, thus, the most well-developed character became frustrating to me. I was no longer rooting for her, even though I wanted to. The beginning of the book was great; maybe that's why I expected more out of it.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable!! A tragically inspirational story.
Review: I need more!! I want to know the rest of the story. I am hooked, Lidie Harkness Newton is an inspiration. I hope there will be another chapter to this saga.
Rating: 
Summary: absolutely deadly
Review: I couldn't even finish it! And I loved Moo and 1000 Acres! Too treatise-like, not novel-ly enough; the characters held no interest for me. Ah, well....
Rating:
Summary: this novel is a fascinating read
Review: I found this story riveting from the beginning to the end. Jane Smiley is a master novelist and I would have been happy to read another 400 pages about Lidie.
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