Rating: 
Summary: Good Depiction of Teenage Perspective
Review: Although NORA NORA is not as riveting as COLONY and UP ISLAND, it is a good read. Siddons does a good job of depicting the thoughts and feelings of a teenage girl. Any woman will be able to recall similar thoughts and feelings as those experienced by the protaganist, young Peyton. Siddon's imagery in Peyton's physical transformation after Nora gives her a makeover is excellent. The characters are multi-dimensional, and Nora, as a teacher, will be familiar to and heart warming for all high school teachers. It was nostalgic and entertaining, a quick and easy read.
Rating: 
Summary: The times, they were a'changing
Review: 12-year-old Peyton McKenzie's life in the small town of Lytton, Georgia, is gliding by in a somnolent haze in the summer of 1961. Her mother died at her birth and her father is distant and reserved. Much of Peyton's nurturing has been left to Clothilde, the family's housekeeper, though her father has recently turned her over to Aunt Augusta's untender ministrations for advice on becoming a young lady. All of the dread and prissy Aunt Augusta's straightlaced instruction is about to come to a screeching halt, for Peyton's redheaded, flamboyant second cousin Nora has just barrelled into town in her pink T-bird and Lytton, Georgia, will never be the same. Aunt Augusta's back gets stiffer and her lips tighter when freewheeling, whiskey drinking, cigarette smoking, swear word spouting Nora moves into the McKenzie guestroom and befriends the lonely Peyton. Young Peyton is like a sponge, parched and aching to soak up the ambience of life outside her small town prison, and Nora is the perfect water-bearer. There are many elements to this wonderful story, from small town prejudices and changing mores to rites of passage to selfishness to selflessness, all masterfully woven together by the imcomparable Ms. Siddons. While this is Southern fiction, its message is universal and timeless.
Rating:
Summary: Fast and fun read
Review: This is the first Anne Rivers Siddon novel I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are interesting and while there is a nod to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, this book is excellent in its own right. You get a feel for what it's like to grow up in the South during the 60's. However, the story is also great at grasping the complexity of how people deal with change in society and their own lives, while dealing with the past. The title of this review says all.
Rating: 
Summary: Dear Nora, shades of good and bad.
Review: The era is the 60's and shades of black and white are very much in the news. Peyton is a 12-year old girl who lost her mother at birth and is being reared by her all too distant father, a loving housekeeper and an aunt who is so staunch she'd make a Baptist run for cover. Peyton's long lost cousin Nora arrives on the scene with the morals of an alley cat, a mouth that could keep up with the 7th fleet, and driving a pink T-Bird that not only turns heads but starts tongues wagging in this little town in Georgia just outside of Atlanta. Nora, a transient, has spent time in Cuba, which gives her an exotic air. She is a teacher by trade and is hired to teach the first biracial English class in the local school. Nora is a mixture of good and bad but her head and heart are in the right place. One thing is for certain no one she comes in contact with will be left unchanged and that is a good thing. 1/25/01
Rating:
Summary: A Georgian "Pygmalian"
Review: Peyton McKenzie is an unfortunate child. Her mother and older brother have died and her father is a distant, if well-meaning figure in her life. Her Aunt Augusta tries to guide her rearing but only succeeds in antagonizing Peyton with her selfish and materialistic values. Her closest connection is with 2 other outcasts who join her to form The Loser's Club. When they meet, they share their most humiliating experiences with one another and revel in their shared failures. Peyton's own favorite failure is her notion that she killed her mother by being born. Suddenly, this circle of negativity is broken by the appearance of Petyon's father's cousin, Nora. A liberal and free-spirited person, Nora slowly begins to change people's perceptions of themselves. She has a particular influence on Peyton and begins to open up her world and demonstrate the young girl's many strengths. Nora is not without her faults. She is tactless and brazen and succeeds in alienating many of the town's inhabitants. She also has a shameful secret which Peyton finally uncovers. This is not Siddons' best book, but her insight into human nature and her beautiful writing style begin to be more evident in the second half of the book. It is an interesting narrative of the emergence of a young woman from her self-imposed exile.
Rating: 
Summary: Anne Rivers Siddons has done better.
Review: This book was a great disappointment, the quality of her writing is usually much better. The worst of it was her shallow, superficial characters and obvious "borrowing" from Harper Lee on the setting, the racial conflict, young girl in transition, etc. The foul language was not necessary. Nora was so blatantly a "good" character, most of the other characters and townspeople were "bad". What was really laughable was the number of historical inaccuracies, they could have been checked out so easily beforehand. The movie Breakfast at Tiffany's was mentioned as a favorite several times in, February '61, when in fact it was not even released in the US until Oct. '61 (also Audrey Hepburn was said to have short hair in it when in fact her hair was long). Then Headstart was mentioned (or a pre-Headstart program) when it was not even developed until 1965. In one paragraph Nora says she can't cook. A few later she is bragging about the Cuban specialties she makes and how she will teach Peyton to cook. The family's prior dog was in one place a setter, in another a beagle. Give me a break, if the author can't even remember what she has written from page to page, there is too little attention being paid here (I also wonder where the editor at Harper was). A waste of time and money.
Rating:
Summary: A New Favorite
Review: This is the first book I have read by Anne Rivers Siddons and it won't be my last. She is a wonderful writer whose characters are real and wonderful. Her prose is exquisite. This is a terrific novel, reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird. Maybe a hint too reminiscent but not enough to put me off, only enough to distract me a bit. It was interesting that the title character reads To Kill a Mockingbird to her class. It seemed that ASR was saying, "See, I know there's a similarity here. It's intentional." I didn't want this book to end. I loved watching Peyton evolve and grow up. I loved getting to know Nora and all the other colorful characters. This is a fabulous book and I have found a new favorite.
Rating:
Summary: Once again, Siddons transports me to another world
Review: I read Anne River Siddons to escape from the daily stresses of an average life. My favorite book by her is still The Colony, but Nora, Nora transported me away to the deep South as well. I read it in one sitting, while swinging on the porch swing drinking iced tea. It's a perfect book to read on the beach as well. If you're looking for something light to read, this one is it. It also has a bittersweet, happy ending to leave a smile on your face for rest of the day.
Rating:
Summary: A welcome change
Review: After reading Siddons other novels, all with a sad mid-life crisis that turns out oh-so-rosy in the end, I nearly didn't pick this one up. Boy, am I glad I did. Siddons refers to "To Kill A Mockingbird" in the book, and "Nora, Nora" evokes the same sort of Southern town at the crossroads feeling. But more than recent history, it explores emotions and relationships. I think this is Siddons' best work yet. I'm glad she abandoned the divorced/abused/misunderstood woman formula.
Rating:
Summary: disapponted
Review: I have enjoyed Anne River Siddons' previous books, but it took me a long time to get through this one. The characters were somewhat implausible and the plot was even more so. Furthermore, the foul language was offensive and unnecessary. Why be so explicit? Give this one a pass!
|
