Rating: 
Summary: made me cry
Review: I personally loved this book. Ellen was easy to relate to as a woman who long ago left home and returns hesitatingly. It's not until she goes home that she realizes how little she knew her mother. But her mother isn't the only important parent in the story -- I felt that Ellen's relationship with her father was particularly poignant as well. Ellen clearly idealized her father, which she also comes to question in this novel. This is a really good book for exploring that weird, complex mother daughter bond, particularly if you're someone who finds your mother exasperating. After reading it, you may want to get to know her better.
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Summary: One true review
Review: One True thing is the story of a woman, Ellen Gulden, who quits her job to come home and take care of her mother, who is dying of cancer. Later she is accused of killing her mother. No, I didn’t give anything away, they tell you that much in the first few pages. Let me start by saying that I really liked the book, and pretty much just sat down and read it all the way through. I say this first because now I'm going to say some bad things about it. Most of the book was extremely well written, and was quite gripping and interesting. There were places though that I thought were pretty overwritten. The first few pages were like that. The narrator would go on and on about minutia which that I found neither interesting nor insightful nor useful to the plot. She got over it pretty quick, but did slip back into that form every once in a while. Overall, I thought her portrayal of men was pretty harsh and not particularly fair. The only decent men who played any big part in the story were the narrator’s (Ellen Gulden) brothers, and they rarely did anything particularly useful. All the strong and admirable characters who actually did things were women. Perhaps I only notice this because I read the book for a book club and it seems to be a fairly common theme in the books we’ve selected. Still, I felt that the Ellen’s father and boyfriend were so overdone in their selfishness that it was pretty hard to miss. The story itself was interesting and pretty thought provoking, but I don’t know that it said anything particularly unique. The story was predictable, but it didn’t really hurt the book for some reason.
Rating: 
Summary: Touching, gripping, but flawed
Review: As others have said, this is an excellent book. Remarkable, well-written, graceful and sincere. However, it is flawed by the fact that the characters don't quite ring true. Ellen comes across as much too mature for 24 or so -- not so much in emotional terms, more in terms of being worldly, confident and overly wise -- and her father's much-vaunted charm is never really in evidence much. Her mother is just sooo good and talented and dignified and gracious it's sickening. (Not only that but of course she's actually smarter and capable of much better original thought than her learned husband. Of course!). It's just totally unbelievable that Ellen would have been so attached to her father and so uninterested in her mother. Otherwise a good read and psychologically interesting.
Rating:
Summary: TOCHING AND SAD
Review: I SAW THIS MOVIE BEFORE I READ THE BOOK AND LOVED IT. WHEN I READ THE BOOK IT WAS 100 TIMES BETTER THEN THE MOVE. THE CHARACHTERS ARE UNFORGGETABLE AND THE END IS VERY THOUGHT PROVOKING. A MUST READ.
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Summary: Columnist Finds Her Calling as a Novelist
Review: When I used to read Anna Quindlen's column in The New York Times, I often felt I was reading fiction. I was shocked to dicover as I read this novel, I entered a world centered in reality. This is a powerful novel.
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Summary: What makes up a family?
Review: One True Thing explores the relationships within a family. What does it take to keep the fire alive? The tragedy of losing a mother who you do or do not identify with can lead to more self exploration than anyone can bear, but Anna Quindlen writes about this with unflinching care. Ellen Gulden, Anna's name for the main character, travels home from a busy and productive lifestyle in NYC with the intention of returning. After a surprise announcement, she is forced to stay based upon her father's assumptions that the daughter, especially the single and only daughter, should stay at home to care for her mother who is dying of cancer. Ellen stays after convincing herself that it is the right thing to do. After long months of caring for her mother, Ellen learns who her mother really is and the place that each person has in the family. Throughout the book, you are right there with Ellen through her doubts and finally her decision to work with other patients.
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Summary: A+. I bought this book for my mother.
Review: My mother passed away (not from cancer), but from heart failure due to a condition called Mitral Regurgitation. All she really needed was a valve replacement but it was too late. My mom's death was very sudden & unexpected on January 24, 2000. In any case, my mother told me she loved this book. I had to read it...especially after she passed away. The story is a sad one about a mother who is dying of cancer with a bit of a twist about 'who killed her'! It taught me that time is precious and to spend your time with those you love. There's a line in the book about the best time of year to die which is January or February during the winter season. God chose that time of year for my mom, but is there really a "best time" to die? Probably not, yet, death is inevitable for everyone and anyone. Who knows though...the recent June 2000 'Human Genome Code' discovery could make human lives last for 200 or more years someday. This book has much more detail than the film version, although, Meryl Streep does an outstanding performance as the mother in the film. She was even nominated Best Actress for the film. The most interesting line in the book for me: "February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead, the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots tow months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long."
Rating:
Summary: One True Thing-reviewed
Review: After reading Object Lessons I knew that Anna Quindlen had a gift in telling a young girl's "coming-of age" story. In One True Thing we read the story of a young woman whose mother is diagnosed with cancer very early on in the book. As the book progresses we begin to care very much about Ellen and her family. The book does not drown us in medical jargon nor are we spoken down to yet we understand fully the exact nature of Ellen's mother's illness. Every facet of Ellen's life changes during the course of the book. She is an aspiring journalist, has moved out on her own and must move back home to care for her mother. Ellen's relationship with her professor father is fascinating, as a daughter learns that her father isn't the perfect man she thought he was. While I expected a predictable outcome I was surprised because the book did not go in the directions we would assume. Very well written and gut-wrenching as it is, I was left with a strong opinion of Ms. Quindlen's abilities as a writer.
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Summary: Touching, yet distant
Review: I found this to be a very interesting look at the mother/daughter relationship during a time of great stress. The mother in this novel was very believable to me, yet there was something that didn't quite work for me about the daughter. I didn't feel that her voice matched her personality. This was a very touching novel and the plot flowed very well, with only appropriate side tracking. I highly recommend it, but not to those who have recently lost a loved one to cancer. Having watched someone die in a similar way to the novel, I definitely felt that it was an accurate portrayal of the process, if not the emotions one goes through.
Rating:
Summary: ONE TRUE THING -- A MOTHER'S LOVE
Review: In the past three years, there are only three books that have brought me to tears and this was one of them. I would also note that if I had anyone close to me that had died of cancer, I don't think I would have been able to get through this book. This is the beautifully told story of a mother and daughter who learn things about each other that they never may have had the chance to learn under different circumstances. Unfortunately, these circumstances are heartrending. Ellen Gulden has a promising career as a journalist; she also has a mother who has cancer and a father who is laying a guilt trip on her. Ellen takes a leave of absence from her job and moves back home to care for her mother. What ensues is a loving story of communication and understanding and passing of the torch from one generation to another. While all this is going on between mother and daughter, there is another underlying story of a father who's not the person his daughter thought he was. When Ellen's mother is near death, her family also faces the inevitable question of "the right to die". This is a complex yet thoughtful novel written by someone who was obviously close to a situation such as this. It is told through tearful yet realistic eyes. This was my second Quindlen novel but it won't be my last.
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