Colony

Rating:
Summary: Her writing is pure magic!
Review: I have read all of Siddons' books and this one and Peachtree Road are my favorites. Her characters dance off the page and burn themselves into your memory. Never have I read an author who has evoked such pure emotion from me. Her stories start off slow but pick up speed and end spectacularly!

Rating:
Summary: An all-time favorite
Review: I just reread this book for the first time since it was published in 1992. Back then I would have given it five stars if this system had been in place, and now I wish there was a way to give it even more. In the decade since I first devoured this 600+ page novel in one weekend I have become a wife, a daughter-in-law and a mother, so those relationships in this story now have an even deeper meaning to me. I don't think I can express strongly enough how thoroughly I was pulled into this tale, caught up in the weave of Siddons masterful storytelling and reluctant to extract myself at the end. I cried for these characters, laughed with them, hated some of them as passionately as I loved others, and finally thanked God that I am not, and never will be, anything like them. Siddons has created a world that I fervently hope has no equal in reality, as the thought of the extremes encountered in good and evil in this tale coexisting in one place, in one lifetime, is almost too much to bear. This is an enchanting story that may put you through the wringer, but it is so very worth it.

Rating:
Summary: One of Siddon's best....
Review: I loved this novel. It was the second I have read of Ms. Siddons (the first being the spectacular Outer Banks). The characters in this novel are so believable and so real. I really think it is one of her best. You feel you are there with each character.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect book to take to the beach
Review: I read this book oh so many years ago and it's still my favorite Siddons book to read again and again. The setting in The Colony reminds me of the little village in Michigan by one of her numerous lakes ~~ where I had spent my summer vacation. The love, passion and friendships, complicated relationships span over the years and the ending is just as enthralling as the opening paragraph. You just don't want to put this book down. Out of all the Siddons books, this is the best written one.

Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable book, great for afternoons at the beach
Review: I totally loved this book. Maude Gascoyne Chambliss became like an old friend - I feel like she was real. There are however, two BIG mistakes. The first one, is when a friend of her mother-in-law is dead and then a few pages later is still alive. The other I can't tell you because it will spoil the surprise near the end, but it relates to the father of the baby that cries all night in the Prologue. Apart from those mistakes, it was very good.

Rating:
Summary: A great read to share with others
Review: I'm giving this book to my mother-in-law as a gift. This book is not just about the life of Maude and her time spent in Retreat, it's about family. There is a special bond between female family members, even in-laws. Anne Rivers Siddons has a special talent for writing about real women, real life, real pain and real families.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book
Review: I, like one of the other online reviewers, read Colony as my first Anne Rivers Siddons book. The book was so well written and so engrossing that I found it hard to put down. I have read all but 2 of her other books and am looking forward to reading, those, too. I have and would highly recommend Siddons to anyone who is interested in reading good, well written fiction! Now that I have read most of Siddons' work, can anyone recommend another author in the same genre?

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic characterizations and descriptions.
Review: If Danielle Steel were a flower, Anne Rivers Siddons would be a garden

Rating:
Summary: boring
Review: If it wasn't for bad luck. They would have no luck at all. Goes from one bad scene to another. The descriptions of the scenery are they only interesting parts of this book.

Rating:
Summary: I wish Maude lived next door.................
Review: If you like "Lifetime" television, you will love this book. It follows the basic formula of rich Princeton student falls for poor (but beautiful) southern girl. They get married. Her mother-in-law detests her, but Maude (poor little southern girl) survives. Of course her husband turns out to be a weak sap. Anyway, I had to read it for a book club that I am in. I was bored to tears. Yes, her descriptions of Maine were wonderful but you have to bear with these stereotypical characters to get to the good parts.Check it out at the library. It is not a book you will want to read twice.