Rating: 
Summary: great beginning, but doesn't keep it up
Review: Very good beginning. Her characters are well developed and the plot is funny, believable, and very heartwarming. However about 3/4 of the way into the book, I think it loses it's way and even goes for some very pat plot lines. I still enjoyed the book though. And would read other books of hers.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable story
Review: This book was chosen as a break from some of the heavy reading and issues of my life. For its entertainment value alone, I rated it highly. I don't often read light novels and enjoy them, but this was an exception for me. I found it to be amusing, the characters were fun and some of the scenes downright funny. No, I did not think it added to the book to have both Jewish women end up with gentiles but it didn't bother me a lot. It was just a story to entertain and amuse and this book did that well.
Rating: 
Summary: A real gem of a book
Review: I continue to be shocked that anyone could have anything bad to say about 'The Inn at Lake Devine'. I absolutely adore it -- I pick it up whenever I'm stressed or in a bad mood and it never fails to make me feel better. Ms. Lipman is a marvelous writer, and comparisons to Jane Austen are certainly well-founded. It was solid throughout with excellent characters and a great plot. There truly is nothing better than a revenge comedy. This is an excellent book, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it, loved it, loved it.
Review: I ordered this book thinking it was about a young girl who tried to get into an Inn despite being turned away because of her religion. What I got was so much more! I loved Natalie and her family, and laughed out loud at several situations. The characters were all memorable and I LOVE a love story, so for me, this book had it all.
Rating:
Summary: All right, not great
Review: I could definitely "put this one down," if you will. I loved the beginning, with Natalie's quest to humiliate Mrs. Berry and discover why ews are not allowed to stay at the Inn. However, once Natalie groaws up, I found the story to be, well, boring. The characters are complete stock types, with no originally. (th overbearing ewish mother? Puh-leeze.) Besides, what are the chances that this girl would spend her whole life trying to get back at this family? And then end up marrying one of the sons? And of course, the evil family's whole life falls apart. It was so predictable-the mushroom scene, the French chef (although that was pretty funny) and other scenes were very obvious. I, like many of the other reviewers, found it somewhat disturbing that all of the Jewish girls end up marrying Gentile men. Um, what's that all about? Very disappointing novel overall.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining summer reading
Review: I had 2 hours to spend at Davis-Kidd waiting on a printing order and decided to just read something entertaining instead of looking at every book on the fiction shelf. This was the first novel I had read by Lipman but was hooked by the title. Yes, sometimes I do judge a book by it's cover. The story had just enough seriousness to it to give the characters depth...like Natalie...I thought the development of her encounter with prejudice and how she handled it through the years was an excellent portrait. What other smarter than the average kid growing up in the 60's did not want to "get back" at someone for being haughty, prejudiced, or snooty?? Let's teach them a lesson, right? We all want to believe that there is some good in everyone...even if there is not. And, of course, if there is not then we must try to change them! Natalie was idealistic but it was really sincere. The rest of the story follows what happens to the people that Natalie meets as they pass through summertimes into young adults. Oh, also it gives a portrayal of the grownups as they get older and some of their pre-conceived notions and generations of traditions are torn down. As I said, I read it in 2 hours and found myself laughing out loud in a very quiet bookstore setting. I'm going to buy copies for my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Jewish girl pines to be a Gentile.
Review: Lipman is no Jane Austen. Austen is generous with all her characters and provides her readers with a glimpse into the human soul that is rarely equaled. On the surface this novel is sweet and gentle. On closer inspection, it is, in fact, infused with a polite but pronounced anti-Semitism, that the story ostensibly abhors. The only three characters in the book who are Jewish and observant are seen as boors and liars. For Ms. Lipman, heaven and plot resolution is the marriage of two Jewish girls to Gentile men, who are, by the way, characterized merely by their blue eyes and down vests. This is a shallow novel and at its core, deeply offensive.
Rating:
Summary: Positively delightful book!
Review: This is my favorite Lipman novel so far. Definitely has the most substance of all of them. Great characters, great story. You won't be able to put down this book. Lipman is without a doubt the modern day Jane Austen.
Rating:
Summary: A strong, original start degenerates into superficial cliche
Review: I am an enthusiastic Elinor Lipman fan, and while I read this book in one day, I agree with the other readers who say it fell off after the little girl grows up. I put it down feeling very disappointed. Albeit in her light, breezy, amusing style, unlike her other novels, Lipman raised serious issues in this book -- and then blew off and gave facile, Hollywood-type answers to every one of them. She'd be much better off sticking to romantic comedy and leaving Jewish identity alone. The opening section -- the little girls outrage at a No Jews Welcome policy at a VErmont inn -- raises a topic we pretend is passe in America: Jews not being or feeling entirely equal (if you think Jews are entirely equal, then ask yourself why so few gentiles pick Brandeis as their first choice school, given its academic excellence -- answer, too many Jews there. We're equal only if we fit into to the majority as individuals, not if we exist as a distinct group). Lipman's story raises the issues of Jewish reactions to anti-Semitism and the sad burden of the Holocaust. And then she flash forwards to the present, and the solution to it all is -- presto, bingo, intermarriage! Marry the son of the antisemite and live happily ever after. I felt like I was in a sixties time warp. Lipman has all of the Jewish women in this book marry WASPS or Catholics and adopt a WASP or Catholic identity (sure, they teach their husbands to say schlep -- surely there is more to being Jewish, to having pride in yourself than that). Maybe Lipman's solution sounded good to Jews in the 60's, but in the 90"s the trend is swinging back to curiosity about our jettisoned identity and a sense of values that includes relgion and community,not just LOve Story. Nor does Lipman's Hollywood version of intermarriage recognize that Jews and gentiles share deeper differences than food preferences, and that it is highly unlikely that a Vermont super Wasp would choose a Borscht belt girl. I feel very disappointed in Lipman. She is out of it.
Rating:
Summary: a serious sujbect effectively treated with a comic touch
Review: I started laughing out loud in the first chapter when Natalie began her retaliations against the anti-Semitic Mrs. Berry at the Inn. I found myself alternately laughing and crying with the characters throughout the comic and tragic events of Natalie's life. Brains are not Mrs. Berry's long suit, as is apparent from the first offensive letter she sends Natalie's mother; but though she is more stupid than evil, she still has the power to hurt people, including herself. Natalie finds, however, that her Jewish relatives are hardly free from prejudice against others, when they boycott her sister's wedding to an Irish Catholic, nor even among themselves (Natalie's grandmother disdains her future son-in-law because he drives a fruit truck, at which point her husband recalls that she herself is the daughter of a rag dealer.)Mrs. Berry never does quite get it. Despite the older generation and some real tragic events, the book builds to a wonderful finish and makes you want to see all the kids of Natalie's (and my) generation succeed all the way.
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