Rating: 
Summary: disappointing at best
Review: After reading reviews for this book I was given it as a gift several months ago. I completed the two books I wanted to read before "The Evidence Against Her" and, when I finally got to pick it up I almost wish I never had. What a disappointment! I realize that it is a slow-paced novel that takes place in a much slower time. But it's slow to the point of being stuck in the mud. The character development drags. You kind of know where the characters are going but by the time they get there you have lost interest. I did plod along and finish the novel. The story is somewhat interesting but the pace and dialogue dragged a bit too much. Hey, there is no slower town than Mitford but I can't put Jan Karon's books down!
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Agnes Claytor, one of the principle characters in "The Evidence Against Her," believes in "the inevitable serenity of the lives within." Dew's entire novel is indeed a study in the depth of lives beneath a serene surface. The Scofields, the Claytors, the Butlers are faced with innumerable challenges during the first decades of the century, but they are guided--like Agnes--by a faith in ultimate inner peace. Like other great chroniclers of Midwestern Life, Dew's prose skims the surface, inviting the reader to ponder the complexities of the lives beneath. Strongly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: The Evidence Against Her
Review: Although this book was well written and entertaining to a point, I was disappointed with it. The title implies that there is some sort of mystery involved and I kept waiting for it to happen. It was misleading, and left me feeling I'd missed something. I cared about the characters but found myself wanting a more definitive ending. I kept waiting for the characters to exhibit evidence of their dysfunctional (in most cases) homelives, but it seems to have had little influence on them at least not in the traditional sense.
Rating:
Summary: The Evidence Against Her
Review: Although this book was well written and entertaining to a point, I was disappointed with it. The title implies that there is some sort of mystery involved and I kept waiting for it to happen. It was misleading, and left me feeling I'd missed something. I cared about the characters but found myself wanting a more definitive ending. I kept waiting for the characters to exhibit evidence of their dysfunctional (in most cases) homelives, but it seems to have had little influence on them at least not in the traditional sense.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommended
Review: Both this book and this author were completely unfamiliar to me when it was loaned to me earlier this week by a friend. There's a special quality to the pleasure experienced in reading a fine book to which one has brought absolutely no expectations. It's a combination of delight and surprise that isn't possible if you're already familiar with an author's previous work, have read a review or have heard people talking about a book before you begin it. I enjoyed that special pleasure in reading THE EVIDENCE AGAINST HER, by Robb Forman Dew.
This is a stately tale told in formal, precise, carefully detailed prose, but it is by no means a reserved telling. It is surprisingly passionate in chronicling the history of one extended, privileged family in Ohio during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The amazing complexity of even a fairly ordinary existence is superbly rendered. The idea that something as small as an inadvertant gesture or an impulsive word can have lasting repurcussions within a family rings so true.
Why four stars instead of five? There was something about the author's style that tripped me up for about the first quarter of the book. I can only equate it to seeing a film with actors speaking in thickly accented English...it takes a while to accomodate yourself to their rhythm of speech. The same here: I had to work a bit, just a bit, at the beginning, but it was well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't hit the right chord for me
Review: I found this book flat - it just didn't draw me in. Although the characters started out interesting, they just didn't develop and, cardinal sin for me, they weren't characters which generated
in sense of sympathy or empathy in me. My book club members didn't like it either so I find it surprising it is so highly rated.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I had heard good things about this book, so I picked it up at the library (fortunately). However, I was maybe 20 pages in when I couldn't take it anymore and started skimming the book. I only really read the last 30 pages or so--there seemed to be more action in those pages than in the rest of the book. I WANTED to like this book, really I did. The idea of 3 kids being born on the same day and how that influences their relationships with other people in their lives sounded cool. Lily, Robert & Warren were joined at the hip during their childhood, but I think that the amount of displeasure from various people in their formative years affected them more than anything. If you are a fan of Ms. Dew's you may enjoy this book, but I don't know that I would ever pick up anything else by her. I will say that I really liked the cover & the ambiguity of the title...
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't pique my interest...
Review: I had heard good things about this book, so I picked it up at the library (fortunately). However, I was maybe 20 pages in when I couldn't take it anymore and started skimming the book. I only really read the last 30 pages or so--there seemed to be more action in those pages than in the rest of the book. I WANTED to like this book, really I did. The idea of 3 kids being born on the same day and how that influences their relationships with other people in their lives sounded cool. Lily, Robert & Warren were joined at the hip during their childhood, but I think that the amount of displeasure from various people in their formative years affected them more than anything. If you are a fan of Ms. Dew's you may enjoy this book, but I don't know that I would ever pick up anything else by her. I will say that I really liked the cover & the ambiguity of the title...
Rating: 
Summary: I Don't Know About This One....
Review: I have a standard when I am uncertain about a book- at 50 pages, I determine whether or not I am interested enough to keep going to 100 in the hopes the pace or storytelling might pick up. If I fail to care what happens to the characters, I put the book down. In this case, by page 43, I was hoping everyone would be wiped out by a meteor. The book meanders, doesn't connect, and there is no drive or development to the characters which left me feeling a little lost. I wouldn't rush out to purchase this one.
Rating:
Summary: I Don't Know About This One....
Review: I have a standard when I am uncertain about a book- at 50 pages, I determine whether or not I am interested enough to keep going to 100 in the hopes the pace or storytelling might pick up. If I fail to care what happens to the characters, I put the book down. In this case, by page 43, I was hoping everyone would be wiped out by a meteor. The book meanders, doesn't connect, and there is no drive or development to the characters which left me feeling a little lost. I wouldn't rush out to purchase this one.
| 
