Helpful Score: 9
I'm just not into the books with tons of descriptions and excess words discussing things completely unrelated to the story. I don't need 3 pages to tell me what color the curtains were. I made it about 10 pages in before I finally gave up. I was so not into this book that I didn't even realize I'd left it behind at a restaurant until a few hours later.
If you enjoy the book versions of books like "White Oleander" you might enjoy this book. Although, I at least finished (and somewhat enjoyed) white Oleander despite all the excess.
The main character is an author and the book spent the entire first chapter detailing her curriculum vitae, story by story and book by book. I thought this was supposed to be about how this family dealt with having their daughter suddenly decide she wanted to live on the street and how it affected them, but in the 3 chapters I read that only seemed to serve as a side note to the main characters narcissism.
If you enjoy the book versions of books like "White Oleander" you might enjoy this book. Although, I at least finished (and somewhat enjoyed) white Oleander despite all the excess.
The main character is an author and the book spent the entire first chapter detailing her curriculum vitae, story by story and book by book. I thought this was supposed to be about how this family dealt with having their daughter suddenly decide she wanted to live on the street and how it affected them, but in the 3 chapters I read that only seemed to serve as a side note to the main characters narcissism.
Helpful Score: 4
A real page turner, couldn't wait to find out the ending, and when I did, it reminded me...........never make assumptions! Great book, by a very talented and gifter writer.
Helpful Score: 3
I find Carol Shields to be a talented writer and her interweaving of the heroine's personal story with the characters in the book she is writing is masterful. The mystery of why her 19 year old daughter has chosen to live on the streets of Toronto kept me glued to this book to the last page. I highly recommend it.
Helpful Score: 1
Deeply moving, particularly to a parent.
Helpful Score: 1
First time reading her books......disappointing....found it to be too depressing.
