Rating: 
Summary: Creepy
Review: In this fascinating -if maddening- book, Hoffman does a remarkable thing: she makes the criminal into a good guy (too good, frankly - she practically canonizes him) and the law-abiding informant into a criminal. In a too-neat reversal, the man who destroys a young girl's life has his life, in turn, destroyed by a young girl. The fascinating thing is that the criminal has repented and turned his life around: he regrets his actions and confesses immediately. The informant, however, is cold-blooded and easily shrugs off her few qualms. It's chilling to see how evil a person can be within the confines of the law, and how beatific someone can be outside them. Other reviewers have mentioned their distaste for the wife character, Jorie. It's universal: she's so spineless as to be invertebrate and her actions toward her husband are more disgustingly hateful than the Bad Seed character who rats on him. Sadly, the book's world view is probably frighteningly true: the penitent sinner is always at the mercy of the self-righteous judges who surround him - and who are unaware of how black their own hearts may be.
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Reviews - Somewhat hard to believe plot
Review: I found the fact that a woman could marry a man she knew absolutely nothing about to be somewhat unbelievable thus putting a damper on the book as a whole. I think the author could have developed a more realistic background of what Jori believed about his previous life. Also, since she accepted him sight unseen without any explanation of a past, then she could have shown a little more compassion when she found out the truth. I kept wondering if it were not possible for a man to have a wild, reckless moment where he made a horrible mistake including an accident that he regreted and wanted to move away from. I thought he should have suffered the consequences of his act, but the actions of his devoted wife didn't seem reasonable. I struggled with this book and all the implications. It was certainly thought provoking, well written and extremely interesting. I did wonder why all the subplots where more developed than the main plot. All in all I found it a good read and a good book for discussion.
Rating:
Summary: Some Truths Are So Powerful They Can Break A Heart
Review: Rather than being a story about a main character, this is a novel about people and the community that they make up. Ethan Ford is a local handyman, much beloved by the townfolk of Monroe, Massachussetts, who married the prettiest girl in town. He's a volunteer fireman and the kids baseball coach. He has also committed an unspeakable crime earlier in his life, in another state, that only comes to the surface as the story opens. The story is told through intervening chapters that focus on different people and their relationship to Ethan and his family. Ironically, very little of it is told from his point of view and that's good as it does not prejudice our view one way or another. It is through these other characters that we make our value judgement on his candidacy for forgiveness. His wife Jorie is perhaps the most sympathetic character as she must wrestle with the fact that 13 years of her life were spent with a man she didn't really know. She travels to the scene of the crime and walks in the shoes of the man she knew as her husband. This is the most hearwarming part of the novel. It is here that Jorie reads the blue diary of the title, but what is in it? If you're looking for closure, you may not find it here. Who to root for? Ms. Hoffman leaves that up to you. But this story speaks of truths and, in the end, it is those truths that would crush us that also allow us to see the same light that shines from heaven.
Rating: 
Summary: Where Did The Garden of Eden Go?
Review: This novel opens in paradise. Ethan and Jorie Ford are the perfect couple. Married for 13 years and still madly in love we find them surrounded by flowers, trees and a beautiful blue sky. In fact the the number of botanical species described in the first chapter made me think that I had perhaps opened a gardening book by mistake. Short of that I worried that this was a novel that would bury me in literary molasses by page 25. Yet the birds singing outside the Ford's bower on this fine day would soon turn silent in mourning. You see Ms. Hoffman sets it up this way in order that the end of paradise would be more striking. Unknown to anyone Ethan had commited a serious crime before meeting Jorie, and now the police have arrived to take him into custody. From this page on the author takes us on a ride down a dark road where her characters are trudging along looking for the light. Ms. Hoffman really knows how to portray unhappy people; a sister who can't feel for others; a neighbor girl who can't love; a boy who wants simply to disappear; a man who lives in seclusion after a family tragedy many years ago. And the list goes on. Sounds depressing doesn't it. Well, not exactly. The story is an intriguing one, and the characters and their problems are always of interest. Even the bit players make an impression on you. This novel is not a mystery or a police procedural yet you constantly wonder what is going to happen to all of these citizens of Monroe, Massachusetts. Will Ms Hoffman stick more pins in them or will she relent and offer them some sort of peace? I enjoyed the book, and was content with the ending. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of time and money!
Review: What a piece of junk! I had never heard of Alice Hoffman but decided to buy this book because it looked attractive on display in the book store. This taught me never again to be fooled by the words "New York Times Notable Book." I tend not to read fiction because so often the plots seem utterly implausible to me. This one wins the prize for implausibility. Ms. Hoffman needn't worry about my ever again reviewing one of her books. Pffft.
Rating:
Summary: Lots to think about
Review: I liked this book a lot. It made me think how well I know my loved ones and whether having a past matter. Can we forgive someone for the horrible things they did in the past? This was a question that the main character Jorie faced after 13 years of marriage. A question to ponder for all people in relationships. I liked the way the author explored relationships between women as sisters and friends. Rosarie and Kat almost stole the show. I found their story and relationship more interesting than that of Ethan and Jorie. Overall, I think this book is about death. Everyone is touch by it and each character is affected differently.
Rating:
Summary: Shallow characters ruined this book
Review: The plot was not the most original, but it was the depth (or should I say lack of depth) that really tanked this book. The main character of the story is hardly explored, nor was the son who was also a key character. When I finished reading this book, I felt nothing for any of the characters. Sorry Alice, I will not read your work again!
Rating:
Summary: A bit "literal" for me, but parts were beautiful....
Review: Reviewers were right that the flaw in the book comes with
Jorie's ignorance of her husband's past, or rather, denial
about the fact that he comes with no past at all. It is not plausible that a woman as smart and "with it" as Jorie did not ask more questions about this stranger she fell in love with...at least, over the years. I can see her falling for Ethan as a girl, but into her more savvy thirties? And you would think her even smarter friend, Charlotte, who was there the night Jorie met Ethan, would have squeaked up at least once with the question, "But where does he come from?" or "Who are his parents?" However, there were many charming, heartbreaking moments in this both lyrical and literal book...I particularly loved the part about Charlotte and Barney finding each other at such a difficult place in their lives. It's also rather interesting...the whole idea of one's
"perfect" life being turned upside down due to a dark secret.
Rating:
Summary: Portrait of a Sociopath...
Review: I haven't read many of Hoffman's novels in the past, but I got through this one in a single evening. The perfect novel for a long plane ride! The main character is a classic sociopath; he does what he does because it's "necessary". Even for thirteen years' worth. The wife's character isn't fully developed in this story, so we don't know what she comes from or how she managed to stay in a fog for so many years. I would have probably though this a better story had more time been taken earlier on to present the cracks in this so-called "perfect" family. As presented however, Hoffman still manages to do a great job in showing what lives turned upside down can look like.
Rating:
Summary: Not Hoffman's best, but a good read
Review: The premise was interesting, sin and redemption. I think most of us have read about similar situations, a person who committed a horrible crime, disappeared, lived a perfect life, and was found and brought to justice. Should they be punished? Should their "perfect" life excuse them? Have they paid their debt? Hoffman asked these questions and that kept me reading. The descriptions of the town and the characters were a bit much. Perhaps a good editor would have helped Ms. Hoffman condense some of them and built up the backgrounds of Rosarie, James, and Charlotte, for example. I love Hoffman's lyrical style of writing and even if the plot is a little thin, I enjoyed this book.
| 
