Rating: 
Summary: Three Women, Three Realities
Review: My criterion for any coming-of-age novel is truth. And this book has it.The plot is simple enough on the surface: Three generations of the Van Allen women are facing a major life phase, each coincidentally at the same time. Grandmother Dana, about to turn 70, is facing the spectre of old age, and fighting it tooth and nail. She is afraid to grow old, afraid to become helpless (as who is not?), afraid of losing control. Healthy and vibrant still, she yearns to stay that way. But her coming milestone birthday has forced her to examine her life. Has it been what she expected? Did she do right by her husband, her daughter, her son-in-law, her granddaughter? Above all, did she do right by herself? There are no easy answers, of course, and no pat solutions, either. Dana's daughter Carrie is suddenly thrust into single-womanhood after a car accident leads to her husband's untimely death. As with any woman in this situation, either by choice (divorce) or by fate, Carrie is forced to question her most deeply held values. And to examine a marriage ended by death, but still very much alive in her head. Like her mother, Carrie, in her early 40s, with a teenaged daughter, and facing the overwhelming spectre of pulling herself together and getting a job, is questioning her life choices. What exactly pulled her to this spot and this time? How will she ever begin again, and when she does, who will she be? Carrie's daugher Ruth is 15, facing all the uncertainties of that age--along with mourning the loss of her father. Hovering between childhood and womanhood, she questions everything about herself--and her mother, who is appearing all too human as she copes with her grief and guilt over her husband's death. Some truly ingenious subplots, one about a faux Noah's Ark, another about a health-food cum aromatherapy mecca, keep the story going. The lesser characters in the book, from a lecherous idiot who hits on Carrie on her worst day, to Jess, the man she loved before her marriage, are three dimensional and very real. I loved this book. In my view, it has more depth than "The Saving Graces," although, judging from other reviews, I seem to be in the minority. I'm going to stick by my opinion, though, and give this book a solid and strong 4 stars. It is definitely worth reading, and definitely has something to say.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully complex characters
Review: Never having read a book by Patricia Gaffney before, I wasn't really sure what to expect. At first, I didn't really like it--Carrie seemed very scatterbrained and pathetic after her husband's death, a careless mother and an even worse daughter. Her mother Dana came across as overbearing and horribly tactess. But this book proved that first impressions are not always correct. Not too long passed before I was hooked, simply delighted with the wonderfully realistic characters. I came to like Carrie very much, and her daughter Ruth I liked even more. Ms. Gaffney just does something wonderful with dialogue, even realistically affecting teenage prose. The plot, although not incredibly exciting, was very engaging and the day to day struggles of these three became my own problems as well. I sympathized easily with them, not something every book does for me. I highly recommend this book to just about everyone, just for the sheer brilliance of the story telling--perfectly realistic. I look very much forward to reading The Saving Graces.
Rating:
Summary: Decent
Review: Patricia Gaffney cleverly leads the reader through a story to which most women can relate: the continuing struggle of self-identity as we age. No longer a child, how do you act as a teenager? No longer a teenager, how do stop from acting like your mother? How do you accept growing old? I especially enjoyed the method by which the tale was woven by each of the three characters, one voice and one chapter at a time. Each chapter is written from the perspective of either the grandmother, the mother, or the daughter. I found the start of the book somewhat depressing. The mother's remorse at the death of her husband coupled with her long time unhappiness in that marrage helped to set the stage but was too long. Then, once she gets over the death, it seems to be almost forgotten. Additionally, it did not touch on the daughter's loss very much at all. Once I read past this part, I couldn't put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: Decent
Review: Patricia Gaffney cleverly leads the reader through a story to which most women can relate: the continuing struggle of self-identity as we age. No longer a child, how do you act as a teenager? No longer a teenager, how do stop from acting like your mother? How do you accept growing old? I especially enjoyed the method by which the tale was woven by each of the three characters, one voice and one chapter at a time. Each chapter is written from the perspective of either the grandmother, the mother, or the daughter. I found the start of the book somewhat depressing. The mother's remorse at the death of her husband coupled with her long time unhappiness in that marrage helped to set the stage but was too long. Then, once she gets over the death, it seems to be almost forgotten. Additionally, it did not touch on the daughter's loss very much at all. Once I read past this part, I couldn't put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: Patricia Gaffney has proven herself as an author. CIRCLE OF THREE is beautifully written. The "Three" refers to three women of different generations in one family, the adolescent daughter, the mother in early middle-age, the grandmother facing her 70th birthday. Gaffney moves among the characters, developing the story from each of their points of view. Her use of their voices is excellent. Her eye for detail is sharp and her insights are piercing. Gaffney offers descriptions which are funny and others which are touching. Yet the three main characters are not captivating and that may be the problem here. While CIRCLE OF THREE proves that Gaffney is a skilled writer, ultimately, it does not reach the heart as thoroughly as her earlier novel, THE SAVING GRACES, had done.
Rating: 
Summary: Starting Over and Moving On
Review: The story brings together three generations of women who are all starting over in some way, or at least attempting to. There is Carrie, the mother, who has recently lost her husband and is wracked with guilt over her long standing feelings for her first love, Jess. While sorting out her life and her emotions she has to also deal with raising her only child, Ruth. There is Dana, Carrie's mother, who is in her seventies and very unhappy. She feels she married the wrong man, even though he seemed like the right one at the time. She is struggling to live the remainder of her life happy and complete with a husband she wants more involved in her life. A man who appreciates her and is not so aloof. Then there is Ruth, Carrie's daughter. She is trying to cope with the loss of her father and at the same time deal with her life as a teenager, one who is attempting to find her own identity. Simultaneously,she discovers some secrets about her mother that cause her to rebel. The three women narrate this story which gives us both funny moments and sad ones. These women are all connected through their interaction with each other and the male counterparts in their lives. The book gives us another insight into love and its imperfections...but most of all it shows us how forgiving love is.
Rating:
Summary: Life Changes for Three Different Generations
Review: The untimely and unfortunate death of Stephen Van Allen affects three generations of women in this story. Carrie, his wife, falls into a deep depression as she struggles to find her identity now that her husband is gone and her daughter is almost grown. Ruth, her daughter, is a fifteen-year-old who is fighting her way from childhood to adulthood. And Dana, Carrie's mother, is frightened of growing old like some of her friends have, and is facing a lonely retirement, as her husband refuses to slow down and relax with her. Together and separately, these women fight to find their identities, their independence, and their new places in the family. In the midst of all this, Carrie falls in love with her old boyfriend Jess, much to her mother's consternation and her daughter's horror.
This was an enjoyable read, although it did get a little long-winded by the end. Gaffney paints very real and vivid characters, people you'd expect to know, and even people you already do know!
Rating:
Summary: Life Changes for Three Different Generations
Review: The untimely and unfortunate death of Stephen Van Allen affects three generations of women in this story. Carrie, his wife, falls into a deep depression as she struggles to find her identity now that her husband is gone and her daughter is almost grown. Ruth, her daughter, is a fifteen-year-old who is fighting her way from childhood to adulthood. And Dana, Carrie's mother, is frightened of growing old like some of her friends have, and is facing a lonely retirement, as her husband refuses to slow down and relax with her. Together and separately, these women fight to find their identities, their independence, and their new places in the family. In the midst of all this, Carrie falls in love with her old boyfriend Jess, much to her mother's consternation and her daughter's horror.
This was an enjoyable read, although it did get a little long-winded by the end. Gaffney paints very real and vivid characters, people you'd expect to know, and even people you already do know!
Rating: 
Summary: A worthy follow-up to THE SAVING GRACES
Review: There's no one who writes as well about women's relationships as Patricia Gaffney. I thought I couldn't love a book as much as I loved THE SAVING GRACES, but Gaffney did it. She made me love Ruth, Dana and Carrie, all very different (different ages even) and yet Gaffney captures each one perfectly. And the love story buried at the heart of this book was terrifically moving. This truly is a book to savor as much as her last one.
Rating:
Summary: Uncompelling
Review: This book is about three women; teenager Ruth, her 40-something mother Carrie, and Carrie's mother Dana. According to its back cover, Carrie is "struggling" to recover after the death of her husband. But I didn't find that to be true at all. It's true, that after her husband dies, Carrie become lethargic and depressed. She neglects her daughter, and focusses only on herself, even though she did not have a very good relationship with her dead husband, and her daughter could have used some support from her mom. I found Carrie incredibly unsympathetic, particularly when, after the auhor has decided to get Carrie out of the house, a relationship with the perfect man, and work opportunities, just fall into this unappealing character's lap. There was no struggle, growth, or change that I could see in this character. I also thought the character of the mother, Dana, was depressing. Her attempts to change her marriage, and other aspects of her life, were futile. Nevertheless, it gets three stars because some of the other characters, particularly the lesser ones, are better drawn, and although the plotting was weak the dialogue and other aspects of the writing were OK.
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