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norahbringer's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book--it was a good story to get my mind off of the bar exam, and I definitely got sucked into the characters. However, some of the writing was (for lack of a better word) simply annoying. One of the characters is a Thomas Jefferson reenactor, and some of the Jefferson quotes were way too long for their level of connection to the story. I also just didn't like one of the main characters, which made it difficult to read.
However, I'd still recommend it as a good story and a usually remarkably realistic depiction of a small town responding to crisis. It just isn't one of my new favorites.
However, I'd still recommend it as a good story and a usually remarkably realistic depiction of a small town responding to crisis. It just isn't one of my new favorites.
bupdaddy's review against another edition
5.0
Partly I miss Virginia, so this book by somebody who really knows her through and through was a welcome drink of water.
The characterizations are wonderfully vivid. In fact, I realized part of the way through, when I was having trouble getting through parts, it wasn't that I didn't like the book, or the careful, observant, dry-humored writing, it's that I detested some of the characters. On purpose, of course. Books aren't interesting if everyone's an angel.
Nobody in this book is perfect. One character comes close.
If you love Virginia, you'll love this book. If you like Thomas Jefferson, you'll love this book. If you simply appreciate somebody who writes what they know, you'll love this book.
If Sheri Holman reads this, I apologize for the following, but I'm obsessive, and some stuff I could not get past:
-Rhode Island does not have 2 electoral votes. I know vote distribution changes with every census, but no state will ever have 2 electoral votes.
-The Federalist Papers were written and published in 1787 and 1788, not 1786. I'm reading them now. They couldn't have been written before the constitutional convention.
-Comets are not one-night events.
-You said 'spared' once when you meant 'sacrificed.' 'Spare one cow for the sake of the herd' doesn't make sense.
All this happened within one or two chapters around chapter 10, so I blame the editor around those parts.
I hope you write more books like this. This is like reading someone's soul.
The characterizations are wonderfully vivid. In fact, I realized part of the way through, when I was having trouble getting through parts, it wasn't that I didn't like the book, or the careful, observant, dry-humored writing, it's that I detested some of the characters. On purpose, of course. Books aren't interesting if everyone's an angel.
Nobody in this book is perfect. One character comes close.
If you love Virginia, you'll love this book. If you like Thomas Jefferson, you'll love this book. If you simply appreciate somebody who writes what they know, you'll love this book.
If Sheri Holman reads this, I apologize for the following, but I'm obsessive, and some stuff I could not get past:
-Rhode Island does not have 2 electoral votes. I know vote distribution changes with every census, but no state will ever have 2 electoral votes.
-The Federalist Papers were written and published in 1787 and 1788, not 1786. I'm reading them now. They couldn't have been written before the constitutional convention.
-Comets are not one-night events.
-You said 'spared' once when you meant 'sacrificed.' 'Spare one cow for the sake of the herd' doesn't make sense.
All this happened within one or two chapters around chapter 10, so I blame the editor around those parts.
I hope you write more books like this. This is like reading someone's soul.
skyring's review
3.0
Well, I didn't leave the book in Amsterdam. I hadn't finished it and I wanted to see what happened to all the characters. Took it with me to Switzerland and read it in the car, but didn't get it done until San Francisco.
Some fairly satisfying conclusions, but I guess the real character was American democracy. How it's changed since the Revolution. And what happens to the cheese. There's a few deaths, a few loves, a few dramas. No flat tyres, but car accidents and breakdowns.
It's also yet another look at small town America. Worthwhile for that alone!
Some fairly satisfying conclusions, but I guess the real character was American democracy. How it's changed since the Revolution. And what happens to the cheese. There's a few deaths, a few loves, a few dramas. No flat tyres, but car accidents and breakdowns.
It's also yet another look at small town America. Worthwhile for that alone!
kpolhill's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
marilynsaul's review
1.0
Well...I stuck with it. I was determined, despite many negative reviews, to give this book a fair reading. Holman had a bone to pick with fertility drugs and she made her point. But that wasn't the core of this book, which, sadly, just ended up being individuals who, though I started out liking, ended up being singularly unlikable, with August being the single exception. A protestant Priest obsessed with himself and giving out singularly bad advice to people in his role as pastor, advice that benefits only his own self importance in his view as himself as the center of the universe. A strong woman (whom I originally admired) who hasn't the parenting skills of a slug and raises her daughter in a prison designed only to further the mother's self obsession in the guise of protecting her daughter from the world. Then there's poor Manda, talked into taking fertility drugs because her idiot, worthless husband wants a son, and then talked into keeping all eleven embryos at the risk of bearing all eleven damaged rather than saving some to become wholesome survivors; never a thought by anyone of how horrible this is for her own body and spirit, how thoughtless to manufacture through drugs a passel of damaged infants, all the time spouting "God's will" when it is really just modern medicine playing god and the pastor hoping to put their small town on the map and claim fame and fortune. I made it through about 300 pages before I started hating everyone (but August); then did a lot of skipping through way-too-long passages of sermons by the despicable pastor, and Thomas Jefferson quotes and analysis (enough already), finishing, finally, thank goodness, the last 150 pages. I'll pay attention to the other reviewers next time, especially those who said the book is way too long. Oh, my....it is WAY too long!
carlislerose17's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual violence
qofdnz's review against another edition
4.0
A moving story of small town american life with cheese on the side.
logophile's review against another edition
5.0
Sheri Holman is a new favorite author. She writes about her characters with great compassion, empathy, and humanity, even the most evil ones.
Sheri Holman is a master at creating memorable characters that will stay with you long after you finish the last page. She portrays even her villains with such humanity and compassion that they are always understandable and even sympathetic.
This is a departure from her previous two historical fiction novels, but she paints the community of Three Chimneys, Virginia, in as much detail and vividness as her historical settings.
Sheri Holman is a master at creating memorable characters that will stay with you long after you finish the last page. She portrays even her villains with such humanity and compassion that they are always understandable and even sympathetic.
This is a departure from her previous two historical fiction novels, but she paints the community of Three Chimneys, Virginia, in as much detail and vividness as her historical settings.
anndouglas's review against another edition
3.0
An intriguing, multi-layered novel that paints a portrait of life in very small town America. Features an interesting cast of gloriously imperfect characters -- my favorite kind! My only quibble is that the novel sometimes gets bogged down by detail, causing the story to drag. Still, a very well written novel that made for an entertaining weekend of reading.
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