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Summary: The Vineyard
Review: She has done it again! What a wonderful book. I, like lots of others hated to see this book end. I began to feel like their family was part of my family. I also found the information about the vineyards very compelling and interesting. I would like to know more about it.
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Summary: Another Delinsky Success
Review: AS WITH ALL HER NOVELS, DELINSKY ROPES YOU IN IMMEDIATELY WITH HER WONDERFUL STORY SETTINGS AND CHARACTERS. THE VINEYARD IS TWO STORIES IN ONE. NATALIE'S STORY IS ABOUT SACRAFICE, LOYALTY, LOST LOVE AND FAMILY DUTY. OLIVIA'S STORY IS ABOUT LONLINESS, REJECTION, A MOTHER'S LOVE AND AN AWAKINING PASSION. I MUST ADMIT THAT I LOST PATIENCE WITH OLIVIA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE NOVEL. HER CONSTANT ESCAPE INTO HER DREAMWORLD SOMETIMES IRRITATED ME, BUT AS SHE EXPLORED NATALIE'S PAST WITH HER AND HER RELATIONSHIP WITH SAM DEVELOPED, SHE BECAME MORE GROUNDED IN REALITY. I REALLY STARTED TO ROOT FOR HER. COAST ROAD REMAINS MY FAVORITE, THREE WISHES #2,THE VINEYARD,#3.
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Summary: another great one
Review: I won't go over plot...the other reviewers have already done so. I just wanted to add my own agreement to how wonderful this new book is. Like another reviewer, I tried my best to read the book slowly, but before I knew it, the book was over.What I have liked about Barbara Delinsky's books, and particular the last few---Coast Road, and Lake News, it that I so easily find myself immersed in the setting. Many authors make this a minor part of the book, but she just draws me in to where I can picture myself part of the book. And after each book, I'm ready to move to the location of the setting. The characters are wonderful although I found Tess somewhat annoying. I especially enjoyed Tess, because like me, she is a dreamer.
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Summary: Generations
Review: I found that this book is a very heart warming and delightful book. It relates to the generations in one family. I would recommend this book to anybody!
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Summary: A note to my readers
Review: As many of you know, I like to challenge myself with each book. With "Coast Road," it was creating a main character who had no direct voice for most of the story. With "Lake News," it was turning a modern-day scandal into something fictional and very much mine. With "Three Wishes," it was ... ooops, can't give away the ending. With "The Vineyard," it was writing a multi-generational story that not only spotlights a contemporary heroine who is a single mother, but also focuses on a member of the Silent Generation, a woman who was a mother way back when and who, after all these years, has a story to tell. In helping her do that, I researched parts of American history about which I previously had only the most cursory knowledge - Prohibition, the Great Depression, and World War II. It was a learning experience for me. That said, "The Vineyard" is like all my books, in that the elements I research merely set the scene for a drama about people and their relationships. Please enjoy this book, with my deepest thanks.
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Summary: Another book from Barbara Delinsky which I hated to finish!
Review: One problem I've had when reading a book by Barbara Delinsky is that the end comes too quickly and I'm left waiting anxiously for the next new title. In the meantime, though, any reader will find as I have, that Ms. Delinsky's books are wonderful adventures and her newest book,The Vineyard, is no exception. In my opinion, it may very well be one of Ms. Delisnky's very best books. As you read this book find out as I did that The Vineyard is filled with memorable characters and a unique place, Rhode Island wine country. And then savor this book as you would any fine wine. For within the book's pages, Ms. Delinsky introduces us to two characters, Natalie Seebring and Olivia Jones, whom we will come to know and remember. These women, from different lifestyles and years apart chronologically, will not only come to learn from one another but will also become bound to one another. Thank you Ms. Delinsky for this wonderful read and please don't make me wait too long for your next book.
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Summary: Another enjoyable book by Barbara Delinsky
Review: THE VINEYARD by Barbara Delinsky
November 8, 2004
I've read a number of books by Barbara Delinsky, most of which I enjoyed a lot. THE VINEYARD is not going to be one of my favorites, but I think I'm going to remember it mainly because I had a hard time liking the main character.
Olivia Jones restores old photographs for a living. She's a single mother, with a daughter (Tess) who has a learning disability. The reader will discover that Olivia is a person that deals with a rough reality by hiding behind daydreams. She in particular finds herself dreaming about the people in the photographs she restores, including a series of them sent to her boss, Otis, by a woman who runs a vineyard.
Natalie Seebring is Otis' client, a woman who is in her twilight years and needs an assistant to help write her life story. Olivia accidentally comes across this request for Otis to recommend someone to fulfill this task, and soon she is dreaming of being that assistant, imagining what each person in those photographs is like. Believe it or not, she soon finds herself working for the matriarch of this family, and she and Tess move to the vineyard to spend the summer there.
The story takes on two main plots. While the story of Natalie's life is being told, the reader will learn about her childhood, how she meets her deceased husband Alexander, as well as how she met her current fiancé, Carl. The second plot involves Olivia, and a man she meets at the vineyard, Simon, who also happens to be Carl's son. Simon and Olivia seem to have something in common, and that is, they are both afraid to venture forth into a relationship with the opposite sex. But both are obviously attracted to each other, and their romance evolves slowly as the story moves on.
Other characters come into play, in particular the grown children of Natalie, Susanne and Greg, and a third child, Brad, who remains a mystery throughout most of the book. His story comes out at the very end, and although I had suspected some of what was to be revealed, I was still somewhat shocked, just as the characters in the book were, too.
While I don't recommend this book as a first time reader to Barbara Delinsky's books, I believe that those who enjoyed her more recent books may enjoy this one. The irritating characters of Olivia and Tess, however, may grate on some nerves, as it did mine. Olivia is a very weak, naive, type of person, and I found it very difficult to feel sorry for a woman that dealt with reality by hiding in daydreams and believing them to be true. Her daughter was a bratty young girl who unfortunately got picked on a lot by her peers, mostly because of her attitude and inability to make friends with others, and not by her disability as mother and daughter are led to believe.
On the other hand, I think an author is doing a good job if a reader can feel intense dislike or like for an invented character. I had no problems with the writing. And I looked forward to reading each chapter as I read about Natalie's life story. Overall, I enjoyed THE VINEYARD and as always, look forward to reading more by Barbara Delinksy.
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Summary: Trite, trite, trite - HELP!
Review: I really like Barbara Delinsky's style of writing. You feel as if you are an actual part of the story rather than "remote viewing" as is the case in nearly every other romance fiction writer. Nor is there any sordid, soft porn sex scenes to tittilate voyeuristic lust. She builds her love scenes as a gradual, gentle and deeply insightful awakening. She reveals romance in an elegant, classy and very tasteful manner that engages the reader in the reality of the eventual mating without grossing out the reader with the vulgarity found in Stephanie Laurens or even Nora Roberts show-all-tell-all graphic manner that forces some readers to skip those "steamy" pages. Delinsky's books are like opening a box of treasures and never being disappointed or repelled by the contents. Delinsky also has a wonderful sense of philosophy about family relationships and the manner in which to build strong ones despite setbacks and condemnation by said family or friends. In this book she examines the greatly flawed assumptions that middle aged children dump on their elderly 76 year old mother when she elects to marry her vineyard manager and childhood lover after the death of her husband and father of the kids.
Also this fascinating story is about the labor intensive work of farming a vineyard and the whole issue of sacrifices made by a very strong woman for her entire life to ensure a long term goal of security which makes this story very empowering to women. I did not care for the manipulative, self pitying, pathological liar Olivia, a photo restorer, who happens through connection to her retiring boss to find a position in the vinyardist's own household for the summer to help organize memoirs, restore old photos and write the book that will explain to Natalie's adult children why she is marrying Carl and the truth about their biological father. Olivia's learning disabled and dysfunctional child dropped into the mix is just plain annoying, but the author deals with this difficult topic in an informed and proactive way. Then, there is Simon, the sour, recalcitrant, rejecting vineyard co-manager whose lost his mother, wife and child in a freak sailing accident caused by drunken sailors in another watercraft. After 4 years he is still wallowing in anger and self pity. Both Simon and the child Tess make the book grating at times, especially the kid's rebellion against authority and her special education teachers. Then there is Olivia's whining about her long lost alcoholic mother whose rejection has forced her to live in fantasyland her entire life. She even fantasizes that she is a long lost member of Natalie's household. This is all a bit much. However, I do recommend this book for the elegant prose and style that the author brings. She makes me think of Guy Gavriel Kay's exquisite writing style as she unfolds a story in a rich tapestry of life in a microcosm. I will definitely read more of her stories.
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Summary: Great Read!
Review: I can't think of one thing to change about this book. It was so good, vintage Delinsky. I have read half a dozen books by her and she never disappoints.
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Summary: A Great Read Anytime
Review: This novel is a great light read. The story flows, the characters come alive, and the setting is magnificently described. What I liked most about the story was that it didn't necessarily go where I thought it might. Refreshingly creative and a buy not borrow book. Vacation with The Vineyard and you will quite pleased about your selection. I look forward to my next Barbara Delinsky read!
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