Halfway Home

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing end....
Review: Although I did enjoy reading Halfway Home, I was especially curious on how the 2 women (mother and daughter) would meet after so many years.
That motivated me to keep on reading, the more I read the more curious I was on how the confrontation would be, I was ready for very emotional feelings, ready to cry, wanting so bad for them to meet again and be a part of how that would be. I was also hoping that the grandmother would play a bigger role and would somehow be forced to tell 'the truth' about the missing letters etc.
For those who have read this book, you can imagine my disapointment the way the book ends. For me, totally an abrupt & boring end....

Rating:
Summary: A HEARTFELT AND COMPELLING TALE OF TWO WOMEN
Review: Critics who call Halfway Home Mary Sheldon's debut novel apparently weren't of reading age when she authored Portrait of Rosemary, Under The Influence, Perhaps I'll Dream of Darkness, and other novels, going back some twenty-one years. Like her superstar father Sidney, Mary Sheldon has always been eminently readable, both in her fiction and nonfiction works, but, this time around, new maturity, texture, and depth are revealed and reflected.

Rich and famous, Alexis is a married, Manhattan-based interior designer, blessed with everything, excepting a talent for happiness. Maggie is the controversial actress-mother who abandoned Alexis in childhood. In alternating chapters, Alexis and Maggie tell their sides of the story. Alexis tells her tale directly to the reader. Maggie's side of things is revealed during a rare and uncharacteristically frank print interview. Both women's versions are compelling, thought-provoking, and thoroughly convincing.

Alexis writes new personal history when she begins teaching three teens from a Hell's Kitchen halfway home. Eventually one of her students becomes too close for comfort - both for her husband's comfort, and, ultimately, for her own. Throughout the novel, the author's fictional creations seem more like flesh and blood reality than fabrications.

Although Mary Sheldon explores adult themes, this deftly-written volume is one that you can buy with confidence - first, for yourself, and then for your favorite teen or adult reader. Start to sobering finish, Mary Sheldon takes us on an artful, heartfelt, and entertaining ride.

Rating:
Summary: A HEARTFELT AND COMPELLING TALE OF TWO WOMEN
Review: Critics who call Halfway Home Mary Sheldon's debut novel apparently weren't of reading age when she authored Portrait of Rosemary, Under The Influence, The Shadow Girl, and other novels, going back some twenty-one years. This is not a promising freshman. This is a promise fulfilled. Like her superstar father Sidney, Mary Sheldon has always been eminently readable, both in her fiction and nonfiction works, but, this time around, new maturity, depth, and texture are revealed and reflected.

Rich and famous, Alexis is a married, Manhattan-based interior designer, blessed with everything, excepting a talent for happiness. Maggie is the controversial actress-mother who abandoned Alexis in childhood. In alternating chapters, Alexis and Maggie tell their sides of the story. Alexis recounts her tale directly to the reader. In Paris, Maggie's side of things is revealed during a rare and uncharacterically frank print interview. Both women's versions of their lives are compelling, thought-provoking, and thoroughly convincing.

Alexis pens new personal history when she begins teaching three teens from a Hell's Kitchen halfway home. Eventually one of Alexis's students gets too close for comfort - both for her husband's comfort, and, ultimately, for her own. Throughout the book, Sheldon's fictional creations seem more like flesh and blood reality than fabrication.

Although the author explores adult themes, this deftly-written novel is one that you can buy with confidence - first, for yourself, and then for your favorite teen or adult reader. Start to sobering finish, Mary Sheldon takes us on an artful, heartfelt, and entertaining ride.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing end....
Review: The end was very much disappointing. I couldn't believe that such a nice book to read had such an abrupt end, it's a real shame!!

Rating:
Summary: Halfway Home Goes All The Way
Review: This is a truly wonderful novel. The story centers around a succesful career woman's struggle to learn about her mother while at the same time working to help a class of at risk teens. The plots are woven flawlessly together like a tapestry excpet these people are three dimensional and they feel very much alive.