Rating: 
Summary: ONE OF MY TOP 20 ALL TIME!
Review: I have always been an avid reader, but unbelievably I have never read Alice Hoffman because I mistakenly thought her books were "wierd". Boy, was I wrong, and I have read four of them in the past month. This one is my absolute favorite. I worried the whole book about Billy, but I underestimated his mother, Nora, and her love for him. She would have done anything for him. Nora is the most unusual heroine I have come across, and I wanted so much for her to triumph, which she did. This book will hit you in the gut - read it!
Rating:
Summary: Good. Mysterious. Sad but not depressing.
Review: I have never read Alice Hoffman before but I liked this book. There is an air of mystery to the strange little neighborhood she describes. The stories were sad but not at all depressing and I definitely felt I was there in their homes. An easy read but not light weight. A page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Her Best
Review: I have read just about every Alice Hoffman book that there is, and I have to say that this one was definitley not one of my favorites. I finished the book thinking, what was the point? There is no real story about any one character, just a bunch of stories of each person's lives in the comunity. I kept thinking that she was eventually going to center around Nora Silk, but she really never did. I think if she had done that, then there would have been more of a storyline. Unfortunatley, I would not recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not Her Best
Review: I have read just about every Alice Hoffman book that there is, and I have to say that this one was definitley not one of my favorites. I finished the book thinking, what was the point? There is no real story about any one character, just a bunch of stories of each person's lives in the comunity. I kept thinking that she was eventually going to center around Nora Silk, but she really never did. I think if she had done that, then there would have been more of a storyline. Unfortunatley, I would not recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Hoffman Enchants Again
Review: I just finished re-reading this delightful book of Alice Hoffman's. I have had a hard time finding new fiction which interests me lately, so I went back to some old favorites.This story takes place in the late 50s in a community on Long Island, a former potato field where all the houses look so much alike that sometimes women wander around for hours trying to find their houses. Into this cookie-cutter community of stay-at-home mothers with perfect homes arrives Nora Silk, divorced from her magician husband, with two small boys. The house she moves into is reputed to be haunted and is slowly disintegrating. Nora is not welcomed by the other mothers, as they have never known anyone who is divorced and they are suspicious of her (and afraid of what their husbands will do). One look at Nora in her stretch pants and spike heels and you know what the husbands thought! Her son Billy is shunned at school--it does not help that he can read others' thoughts. All Nora wants is to be accepted, grow flowers, and have some friends. But to her credit, she never succumbs to artifice in this quest. Instead of acceptance, Nora is labelled as a witch and Billy fails every subject except penmanship. As for the rest of her life, she "crossed her fingers and waited, she thought good thoughts and experimented with casseroles that contained olive loaf and hoped that would be enough." There is some of Hoffman's magical realiam woven into the story, but so adroitly that the reader hardly realizes it and must go back and re-read the passage. Hoffman's character descriptions are subtle and spare, but draw a complete picture of this neighborhood. Another great book by this author!
Rating:
Summary: Luminous, beautiful, magical!
Review: I read Seventh Heaven in college and now I read it every two years or so because it's a favorite. It's a bit magical, so suspend disbelief a little and enjoy. It's the portrait of a rude awakening for a 1950's suburb on the cusp of the 60's, due simply to the arrival of Nora Silk, newly divorced (quel horror!) mother of two. I love Nora's brassy ness, her desire to fit in with the other Tang stirring, Velveeta serving moms. But she won't budge on who she is; long red nails, tight pants, big hair and all. So you get to see the other moms (and husbands) change instead. A must read; easy and wonderful, not sappy.
Rating: 
Summary: Divorced in the 1950's with 2 kids: Taboo and no easy task
Review: I was hoping for so much more! Interesting insight on life as a divorcee in the 50's. I lost respect for Nora (the main character), due to her irresponsible, lustful behavior (similar theme in Hoffman's "Here on Earth").
Rating:
Summary: Decent portrayal of suburbia from a feminist perspective.
Review: I was recommended Hoffman by my sister and decided to check out what she is about. A smidge of magic realism mixed with a portrayal of a community and the characters that comprise it. As a man who holds some distaste and disdain for my suburban roots, I enjoyed the pinpricks at the balloon of suburban conformity. I was also genuinely surprised by this book at points, especially in the Ace/Nora axis. I was not fully satisfied with this book, but I feel that any dissatisfaction reflects my own situation more than the authors' failure to achieve her aims. The change agents in this book are women who throw off the shackles of an imprisoning 50s ideal of woman and the children these women have birthed. The men in this book do not grow in the same kind of ways. I may read more Hoffman to develop a greater understanding of her work. I feel that I have read a good book but I may not be the intended audience for it.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put this book down!
Review: I've read a few Alice Hoffman books, and she is certainly becoming one of my favorite writers. This book has everything. Nora and her son Billy bring out such raw emotion. Donna Durgin's plight made me want to cry out for her. The mystical, magical, and even voodoo are included. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Too Much of the Same Old Stuff
Review: More of Hoffman's same old stuff--divorced woman trying to make it, troubled young boys trying to make it, troubled couples trying to make it, et cetera, et cetera. If this is the first of her books that you read, maybe you'll like it better. But having read several others, the familiarity was too much--couldn't get through it.
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