Helpful Score: 9
Although certainly not her best work, this is Hoffman's typically lyric prose, brimming with metaphor and similie. The stories are engaging enough to hold your interest throughout, but a few I wish she'd written more about, as I'd become a bit more intrigued with the characters than I'd expected to be.
Helpful Score: 3
Beautifully, lyrically written, as are all of her books. Each powerful "story" focuses on the inhabitants of a particular house isolated out on Cape Cod through the centuries of its existence. Definitely recommended reading for Hoffman fans!
Helpful Score: 3
I love Alice Hoffman and this book didn't dissapoint. It is basically a group of short stories that take place in a 200 yr period in the same cottage in New England. Some of the stories are connected in some way, some are completely different. The book is a quick read but thought provoking. I highly recommend this book especially if you are a Hoffman fan.
Helpful Score: 3
I didn't really see the point to the collection of stories. I thought that they would all have something in common in the end, but no such luck. Each story seemed more depressing than the first. The tragedies that occurred in the blackbird house were very sad and made me feel sympathetic toward the characters. I don't believe that this was her best book.
Helpful Score: 2
The stories in this book were interesting but a little confusing, because it is almost a series of short stories, except that some of the people were related and the house was always involved. I kept going back and trying to figure out how people related to each other. It was a good read.