Rating: 
Summary: Thought-provoking and soulful
Review: Here On Earth is a beautifully written novel that captures the complexity of real people's feelings. In real life there is ambiguity, there are paradoxes, there are people you alternatingly love/hate/feel indifference to, there are people who act "unethically" for the most part but once in a while act "ethically". There are people you are strongly drawn to for psychological reasons who are bad for you; if you are smart and insightful you will figure out why. (Some people can't or won't; March is in that category for the duration of the book. I wanted it to end with March going into a psychiatrist's office, but alas.) The book captures these things wonderfully, as it seamlessly skips from one character to the next. A premise is sometimes set up with one character and explored and resolved in the next. They are separate people who encompass all the sides of humanity. The book triggered a lot of sadness in me as I recalled my own life's version of Hollis. I've noticed that many of the reviewers of this book seem either frustrated with the characters because of their human weaknesses, "obviously" bad choices, unethical actions, etc., or maybe it makes them uncomfortable to face that this is how life is. But that frustration or discomfort does not justify their putdown of a fine book. To quote Louise's thoughts, "These girls think in black and white, love or rejection, yes or no." Life is not like that. And who cares if it is or isn't as good as Wuthering Heights? I don't find that relevant. This is a soulful book that stands on its own. Great job, Alice Hoffman. I'm looking forward to reading more.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I thought that Alice Hoffman's Here on Earth was amazing. I thought it was written with great wisdom and compassion. The way she described everything, it was as if you were a part of the little town or as if you too lived on Fox Hill. It brought both tears of happiness and of sadness, I felt anger and hurt by just reading the remarkable novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Dark!
Review: I took this book on vacation. What a poor choice! The whole book is just too dark. I cannot imagine a woman like March letting a piece of trash like Hollis totally dominate her life and I cannot imagine a mother who would let her daughter act the way she does. A very depressing book!
Rating: 
Summary: Good read, but very frustrating
Review: I agree with the first person that wrote a review here. I first started reading this book and was so p*&@# off at the main character, March, that I put it down for about 6 months. I don't know what compelled me to pick it up again, but I ended up getting reeled in around the middle of the book. I really loved the descriptive nature of her writing. You really felt like you could picture the town, the people, etc. Many of the characters were really likeable and quirky. However, I felt like she left out more character development in the main characters. There was just no explanation as to why March behaved the way she did. Her daughter's thoughts and words were a little too sophisticated for a fifteen year old girl too. I found that a little hard to buy into. I also wished that she had written the last chapter. I think she must have been sick of writing and just turned in the script without finishing. I really felt absolutely no closure; there was no direction I was sure to imagine the ending would head. Still, I found her writing to be enjoyable and would recommend this book to anyone to read. Just try not to get personally involved in March, she will make you want to rip her hair out!
Rating:
Summary: Adaptation or Theft
Review: This isn't an adaptation of Bronte's Wuthering Heights, it's a mugging of it. The author has stolen bronte's story and moved it from the Moors to Massachusetts. I find it very difficult to get past this. Especially when, having enjoyed Wuthering Heights so many times, I already know how the story will unfold. Very disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Readable but uninspired story about difficult relationships
Review: In "Here on Earth," March Murray and her teenage daughter Gwen return to a small town outside of Boston where March grew up. They plan to stay for a few weeks to help clear out the belongings of an old friend who recently died, but they end up staying once March reunites with her childhood "soulmate" Hollis, and Gwen falls in love with a boy from town. They stay at great cost, not only because it means separating from March's husband and Gwen's father, but also falling into the dangerous world of Hollis, who has become an angry, isolated, controlling man. Everyone else in the town knows this, but March can't see it because of the power of their earlier relationship. The book shows how March & Hollis' relationship unfolds as March goes deeper and deeper into denial. In the background are March's old friends who try to support her, and who are coping with the choices they made along the way. I think one of Hoffman's goals with this book is to show how some people can get drawn into abusive relationships without realizing what is happening. She also makes some comments about the compromises people make to keep the things that matter to them. She made her points, but I didn't find the story or the characters especially compelling. Although the narrator's point of view switches amont different characters, I thought that only March's motivations were fully explored; Hoffman switches to other characters mainly to move the plot along and to justify the turns in the story. Hoffman has an informal writing style that is clear and easy to understand, if not especially graceful or polished. In all, I didn't regret reading this book, but it wasn't one I savored or that stayed with me after I put it down each day.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible and pointless
Review: I don't understand why people enjoy this book so much. I read it because it was on Oprah's book club, but it was not up to her usual standards. It was an extremely odd story line that had no point. It as very twisted. It is also nothing like the movie. Skip it.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting and telling...
Review: This book is for anyone who's ever loved fercoiously and and has been consumed by that love. Hoffman's novel is gripping and at times painful. Her writing weaves together notions of fate, love, redemtion, and loyalty. Is it beautiful and disturbing.
Rating: 
Summary: Literary Romance Novel With Teeth
Review: My tastes in tomes usually lean to non-fictional accounts. Alas, even the memoir and bio freak in me, does enjoy romance. So, I ask you, what makes Alice Hoffman's fiction so consistently compelling? Is it her story lines, reminiscent of Harlequin romances but with occasionally peppery dashes of cultural savviness? Or is it her characters, Anne Tyler-esque in their oddities, but without the irony? Or perhaps it's that quasi-New Age voice, lulling you into a Marianne Williamson world where one's fate is left to the movements of the sun, the moon, the planets or just some unnamed Higher Being? Hoffman's fans won't be disappointed by the airy-fairy "Here on Earth," which weaves all of Hoffman's usual themes into a dreamy, intricate family melodrama, complete with alcoholism, wife-beating, obsessional love and whiffs of murder. It's the story of March Murray, who returns to her ancestral home at Fox Hill in New England after spending decades away in "lemon-colored" Palo Alto. In tow is her difficult teenage daughter Gwen, who is described as "pretty ... in spite of all her sabotage." At issue is a death in the family, but we know that March is really back to face her old ghosts, this time in the form of her adopted brother Hollis, whom she has been obsessively thinking about ever since his disappearance 20 years earlier. Confused? Don't be. "Here on Earth," despite its convoluted plot threads and histories, is at heart a romance novel with a bite. As with a good made-for-TV movie, you can pretty much guess what will happen to poor old March, whose naiveté is at best frustrating and at worst unlikable. Nor is it any surprise that Hollis -- with his black, snapping eyes, and whose exits are followed by a blast of cold wind -- reveals himself to be Evil Incarnate: Subtlety is not one of Hoffman's strong points. Still, this novel's comfy, confident voice is enough to lure you into an armchair for the better part of an evening. Hoffman's world is a place where emotions become aromas: Longing is "the scent of grass on her pillow"; anger is a "scorching scent"; mourning is "the scent of roses sweet and ripe and sorrowful." Moons peep out behind trees, fox-colored dogs herald the advent of evil and dreams are to be courted and followed. "Here On Earth" is a literary romance with teeth. Find your quiet spot, curl up, and indulge.
Rating:
Summary: Here On Earth
Review: Alice Hoffman's Here On Earth is an excellent book about love, relationships, and family. All of Hofman's works are enjoyable to read. This wasn't the best novel that Hoffman ever wrote but it still was exceptional. The ending wasn't as good as her other books' endings were. The main character is March Murray. She and her daughter, Gwen, have to go back to Jenkintown, New England to go to her old housekeeper's funeral. She tells her husband it will be a short stay because she really didn't want to go back. After she reunites with her first love, her short stay turns out to be longer than expected. Her first love, Hollis, is a very bull-headed man who is only in love with one woman, March. They never got married because Hollis left and while March waited for two years for him to come back, he never returned. This book is filled with excitement, secrets, and lies. You will never go wrong when reading any novel by Alice Hoffman.
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