Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Family Saga
Review: Most authors are hard-pressed to create a story with realistic characters and plots. In *My Mother's Daughter*, Judith Henry Wall makes you feel and understand the characters in the best way! When you read most books, how many can say that they could imagine the characters as neighbors? Or perhaps any 'Joe Blow' on the street? The players in this family saga came across as THAT real to me. Everything they did was realistic as per their unique personalities and I could imagine this family as any on my block. If you're looking for realism, a change from the overblown "fiction" usually read, this story is a must read! A definite (A) in my book!
Rating: 
Summary: A Pleasure to read.
Review: Once again Ms. Wall has written a very moving and sensitive book. The one aspect of her books that I have always enjoyed is the way she makes the characters come to life. The way this book deals with how families hurt one another and hold grudges for endless times is so true and unfortunately happens too often with families today. A very good read.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasure to read.
Review: Once again Ms. Wall has written a very moving and sensitive book. The one aspect of her books that I have always enjoyed is the way she makes the characters come to life. The way this book deals with how families hurt one another and hold grudges for endless times is so true and unfortunately happens too often with families today. A very good read.
Rating:
Summary: My Mother's Daughter
Review: Once I started reading this book I didn't want to stop. Justine and Martha Claire seemed to be people I could actually know and care about. Martha Claire nursed a grudge for so many years, which resulted in the alienation of her family. I felt sorrier for her than any other character. She missed so much. Her husband, Grayson, was almost too saintly to be believed. I can't say I laughed much but I did cry and I was pleased with the way the story ended. I am definitely going to read more of Judith Henry Wall's books!
Rating:
Summary: Warm, funny at times, superb reading.
Review: This is a fabulous story of a family growing old together. It includes all of the family secrets, all of the rough times, all of the good times, and a growing hatred between two sisters that will touch your heart. There is treachery of the worst kind, and love of the best kind. There is a kind father, a bitter mother, confused children, and an ending that will leave you very glad you invested your time in reading this book. Martha Claire is a character you will love and adore, and then resent, and finally despise, a trick I have yet to see any other author pull off so beautifully. The children will touch your heart, and a man named Grayson is one you will not soon forget. READ THIS BOOK!
Rating: 
Summary: A Definite Woman's Book
Review: This is not a bad book. It does get a bit melodramatic, and Martha Claire is a bit too much to be believed. Would a man like Grayson stick around all those years with a woman who is as self-suffering as she is? I liked the interplay within this family, and I liked the setting. I have never seen Columbus Texas, but Ms. Wall certainly writes like she knows it well. Justine and Iris are wonderful characters. I would not have enjoyed the book without them. As for Cissy - I found that I didn't get to feel the same affinity for her. I found her a bit "milksoppy". Still the book is worth the read for the sense of belonging in this town and in this era.
Rating:
Summary: A Definite Woman's Book
Review: This is not a bad book. It does get a bit melodramatic, and Martha Claire is a bit too much to be believed. Would a man like Grayson stick around all those years with a woman who is as self-suffering as she is? I liked the interplay within this family, and I liked the setting. I have never seen Columbus Texas, but Ms. Wall certainly writes like she knows it well. Justine and Iris are wonderful characters. I would not have enjoyed the book without them. As for Cissy - I found that I didn't get to feel the same affinity for her. I found her a bit "milksoppy". Still the book is worth the read for the sense of belonging in this town and in this era.
Rating:
Summary: Small-Town Texas Families
Review: This novel is set in a small town in Texas and begins when Martha Claire is hastily wed on the eve of her husband, Grayson's, departure for World War II. Her sister, Justine, far more adventurous than Martha Claire, also heads off to war to join the WACS. Grayson returns years later a changed man, and Justine returns pregnant and unwed. In order to preserve the family's reputation, a dead spouse is invented for Justine, and after the child, Iris, is born, she is turned over to Martha Claire and Grayson to raise while Justine pursues a glamorous career in photography. Since Martha Claire and Grayson are childless, Iris is as beloved as their own daughter would be. Several years later, they adopt two other children, Cissy and Buddy and for some time their family seems complete. Martha Claire eventually learns who fathered Iris, and the news devastates their home life. She becomes bitter and resentful, drives Grayson away and her unhappiness infects everyone around her. Cissy becomes obsessed with knowing the secrets of her real parents and trying to unravel the mysteries that caused the deterioration of their happy home. Happiness, pain, bitterness and forgiveness are woven throughout this novel into an enthralling combination that will keep you turning the pages to learn why the characters are motivated to act as they do, and to discover how they can rebuild their lives. The characters are finely drawn, real people whose joy and misery become your own through the masterful storytelling of Judith Henry Wall.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Story that kept me reading
Review: What a wonderful story spanning several decades! I found myself unable to put it down until I found out how the lives of all involved turned out. Although it was depressing at times because I was so caught up in the lives of the characters, I enjoyed the entirety of the book. I've been reading quite a bit lately and this is the one book this year that has really made me think that there was something underneath just the story - which is this: Each and every choice you make in life, can not only change the course of your own life, but the lives of those around you quite profoundly. In this book, it only begins with Justine choosing to join the WAC during WWII and Martha Claire choosing to raise a family in her hometown with her high school sweetheart. Those seemingly separate choices intertwine to affect all that join their family subsequently in ways they never imagined. I love this book and will surely read it again someday. I rated it 4 stars, because of the sadness I felt for some of the characters at times. Ironically, for that, it should be rated 5 stars.
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