In A Country Of Mothers

Customer Reviews:

Holmes disturbs the reader; but is it worth it? .......2007-08-05

I say no. I say no to the entire premise of this book. Well, not entirely. Holmes has an interesting plot she just doesn't do a good enough job of following through. There are some seriously disturbing issues here. A therapist crossing so many boundary lines the reader can barely see straight. A daughter with serious attachment issues and who is weak one day and strong the next. She clearly has no sense of who she is and gets tangled up in a web of a truly disturbed woman, Claire. I was really into this book thinking, somethings got to give. Something did give; the plot line. Jody's mother goes from being a doting, loving mother who wants the best for her daughter to a woman who pretty much abandones her daughter once she gets to film school. The way Jody's mother literally turns upside down as far as caretaker for Jody is quite absurd. Claire as an obsessed therapist doesn't hold together either, either she is or isn't Jody's mother. She begins the search, then stops, then starts, then decides with no reliable or confirming evidence that she is for better or worse Jody's real mother. The novel falls apart somewhere in the third sector. And there is a scene with Jody's boyfriend that is quite disturbing. Which makes me wonder what was the point of the scene, especially since Jody continues to see the abusive boyfriend, and doesn't share any of the details with Claire her therapist, its as if she is immune to the abuse. The ending scene is a farce. Totally ridiculous. I got a sense that Holmes was fed up with the book and just wanted to finish it all ready. A show down ensues between the two sparring women Jody and Claire, with Jody stabbing Claire in the arm with the stem of a champagne glass, that apparently barely fazes Claire. The plot is too rickety, and the ending. Hardly even believable. I put this book down and wondered why the ending hadn't been reworked. This writer is capable of so much more and the reader comes up short.

Great book.......2006-06-13

I loved this book. I thought the characters were very convincing and the relationship between therapist and patient was very real. The ending was a little weaker than the rest of the book but I was captivated. A true psychological thriller, intelligent, disturbing, unpredictable yet very convincing.

Not her best but her characters remain disturbed to the core.......2002-05-31

When I pick up an A.M. Homes book I am ready to settle into the tormented minds of her brilliantly colorful characters. I have never been let down. In a country is a gripping story about mental illness and adoption. Homes can marry the two like a dream. No emotion was spared on the doctor and her patient. Usually her books leave me haunted, thinking about the characters for days, this one didn't have the same effect but was still a great read.

Warped. . . .But in a Good Way.......2001-02-05

This one was a good read that perhaps could have been better. It starts off really strong but the ending, while good, is not as good as the rest of the book. It's the story of Claire, a therapist who many years ago gave up an infant daughter for adoption, and Claire's patient Jody, a young woman confused about her future. Claire begins to suspect that Jody is the daughter she gave away. Both women have slightly troubling personal lives. Many of their relationships have shortcomings that neither is particularly happy with and they begin to rely on the patient-therapist relationship too much. This is a witty, darkly comic psychological thriller that is very, very readable. I really could not put it down. As I said earlier, the ending is not as strong as the beginning, but it's still quite good. The not-so-rosy picture of the world Homes paints for us rings very true. If you like dark humor, you'll like this novel.

Something Is Missing.......1999-10-30

The first book I ever read by Homes was The End of Alice. I went into Mother trying not to compare the topics or the material, but expecting to see some of the flare Homes had in Alice, and Music for Torching; unfortunately, it fell short. Country of Mothers is a wonderful idea, a psychologist believing a client is her long lost daughter she gave up for adoption 23 years earlier, but poorly executed. The characters have conflicting actions to motivation, and are one dimensional at best. It seems Homes had not yet found her voice or talent for creating engrossing characters and motivations. I found myself fighting the urge to flip forward several pages at a time, certain I would not miss any plot twists, since they were few and far between. I encourage fans of Alice to read Mother if for no other reason then to see the very aparent evolution of a writer, as it is obvious Homes was not at her best during In the Country of Mothers.

Country Mothers Cookbook: A Celebration of Motherhood and Old-Fashioned Cooking

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Country Mothers Cookbook: A Celebration of Motherhood and Old-Fashioned Cooking
Jane Watson Hopping
Manufacturer: Villard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0394588746
Release Date: 1991-04-03

The Return of the Native (Modern Library Classics)

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The Return of the Native is a reader's return to the joys found in Hardy's Wessex
Return of the Native
An opera of a book
Eustacia and the Heath: Two Sides of the Same Coin
absorbing atmosphere

The Return of the Native (Modern Library Classics)
Thomas Hardy
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 037575718X
Release Date: 2001-02-13

Book Description

One of Thomas Hardy's most powerful works, The Return of the Native centers famously on Egdon Heath, the wild, haunted Wessex moor that D. H. Lawrence called "the real stuff of tragedy." The heath's changing face mirrors the fortunes of the farmers, inn-keepers, sons, mothers, and lovers who populate the novel. The "native" is Clym Yeobright, who comes home from a cosmopolitan life in Paris. He; his cousin Thomasin; her fiancé, Damon Wildeve; and the willful Eustacia Vye are the protagonists in a tale of doomed love, passion, alienation, and melancholy as Hardy brilliantly explores that theme so familiar throughout his fiction: the diabolical role of chance in determining the course of a life.

As Alexander Theroux asserts in his Introduction, Hardy was "committed to the deep expression of [nature's] ironic chaos and strange apathy, even hostility, toward man."

Customer Reviews:

The Return of the Native is a reader's return to the joys found in Hardy's Wessex.......2007-07-18

The Return of the Native is a great Victorian novel. It's author is Thomas Hardy who published the book serially in 1878 prior to book publication. The main characters whose live are interwoved into a tragedy of Greek proportions are:
1. Clyde Yeobright-He is the Wessex native who returns from his career as a jeweler in Paris. Clym returns to the bleak landscape of Egdon Heath to be plummeted into a maelstrom of passion, sex, suffering and deceit.
2. Eustace Vye-The sexy daughter of a bandsmaster in Budmouth (real name-Weymouth) she is a seductress who dreams of a life of luxury. Eustace will marry Clym; run away with Wildeve and die in a tragic manner. Whether her death is a suicide or accident is not stated. Eustace joins Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Bathsheba Everdene and other memorable femme fatales creates by Hardy's agile pen.
3. Thomasin Yeobright-She is the young cousin of Clym. She falls in love with Wildeve, marries him and bears the former engineer/present innkeeper a baby. As the novel ends she weds the reddleman Gregory Venn. She is a an uncomplicated woman who is a pale version of Eustace Vye.
4. Wildeve-A failed engineer he operates an inn. Though Wildeve loves Eustace he marries Thomasin. He will later leave Thomasin to run away with his true love Eustace. He will drown alongside his paramour.
5. Mrs. Yeobright-The bright, strong and virtuous mother of Clym who hates his marriage to Eustace Vye. She dies when Eustace refuses to open the door to let her into the Yeobright's home. Mrs. Yeobright is, probably, modeled on Hardy's own mother.
6. Gregory Venn-He is a reddleman (one who provides paint to shepherds who mark the sheep in their flocks) who is in love with Thomasin. He enjoys spying on the main characters. As the novel ends he is a respectable dairy farmer.
The characters are often compared to insects or animals who must exist in a godless world controlled by the uncaring fates. Coincidence and irony are used in the complicated plot. Hardy's vision is dark and forbidding.
This Hardy classic includes his usual close attention to the lives of the common people; descriptive pages on nature and criticisms of animal cruelty.
Perhaps the greatest character in the novel is Egdon Heath. Human characters love, suffer and die but it lasts forever.
Thomas Hardy is one of the best English novels along with such luminaries as Dickens, Eliot, Austen and Trollope. It is always a pleasure to read and reread his words.

Return of the Native.......2007-05-19

The book has been reviewed extensively. It is a modern classic and should be read. You will enjoy it. More important, the buying experience through Amazon was as expected. The books arrived earlier than I expected, in pristine, brand new, condition. What more could you ask for?

An opera of a book.......2006-10-24

I read this novel when I was living in Japan. There were no English books avaliable where I was living but a motley collection of classics in the local library.

I found the book somewhat long and slow but loved the language and character desciptions, for example Hardy decribes the main female character Eustacia Vye as "Queen of the night whose passions and instincts would make a model goddess but not quite a model woman" with "pagan eyes, full of noctural mysteries. It is a opera of a book, long and slow but with moments of great beauty

Eustacia and the Heath: Two Sides of the Same Coin.......2006-03-25

Yes, the Heath is the centerpiece, but no more than Eustacia, for they are mirrors of one another, by turns cold and aloof, brooding, mysterious, somewhat wild, tempestuous, and a place where at times man must tread carefully. Some are inexorably drawn to the contours, shades and subtleties of Egdon Heath (Mother Earth) while others seek shelter from its periodic wrath. So, too, the people of the Heath seem divided about their Earth Mother, Eustacia - reading the worst into her or - in the case of many of its men - hoping against hope that the vagaries of nature will look favorably upon them.

This is the most descriptive portrayal of both woman and nature that I have ever read.

absorbing atmosphere.......2005-08-31

This is the 1st Thomas Hardy novel I picked up and one of his most visually striking; in that, you can see and feel the environment in which the characters live. The landscape here both traps and releases the people inside it. Eustacia is one of Hardy's best heroines, vulnerable and cunning within minutes. And part of the Hardy pattern where tragedy invades before the end of the story; tragedy, as he writes it, that is often accidental rather than forced. (the forced tragedy usually follows the accidental one.) Clym and Damon may be the 2 main sources of Eustacia's downfall, but she brings on her own fate, so to speak, by remaining disillusioned with where she is. Key other players bissect the main characters in equally helpful and not so helpful ways. The main "character" still remains Edgon Heath, the harsh, often beautiful setting, where everyone is almost destined to be doomed...

Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood

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Inspiring, shocking, eye-opening
wonderful, yet depressing
Good for morale
YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND-RX FOR ANXIOUS MOMS
Mother Reader Will Nourish Your Soul

Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood

Manufacturer: Seven Stories Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1583220720

Book Description

In memoirs, testimonials, diaries, essays, and fiction, 36 women contributors describe the changes brought to their lives by pregnancy, childbirth, and mothering. Because most of the contributors are writers - including Annie Ernaux, Adrienne Rich, and Alice Walker - the intersection of motherhood and creative life is an ongoing theme. Many of the writers articulate maternal anger and ambivalence, such as Jane Lazarre in "The Mother Knot." In other essays, such as Mary Gaitskill's "A Woman's Prerogative" and Joy Williams' "The Case Against Babies" the very fact of reproduction in an overpopulated world is questioned and probed. Selections also include Margaret Atwood's elusive story "Giving Birth"; excerpts from Sylvia Plath's passionate diaries and Tillie Olsen's ground-breaking Silences; and Mary Kelly's precise and intimate recordings of her son's early years from her epic artwork Post-Partum Document. The book also features literary criticism.

Customer Reviews:

Inspiring, shocking, eye-opening.......2004-01-02

Motherhood can be isolating, joyful, bewildering, boring, confusing, and exhilarating, often in a single day. This book helps mothers feel connected to other women who felt the same way, and were brave enough to express it in print. Amazing writers, including Sylvia Plath, Margaret Mead, Adrienne Rich, but more importantly, amazing women.

A great comfort to women who are struggling with the transition to motherhood, and good reading for anyone prepared to witness sacred stereotypes dismantled. Most of the contents truly challenge our established images of Mother, and as a result cause plenty of discomfort to read. But although the shiny, happy side of motherhood doesn't appear much here, one can feel the deep love, commitment, and passion these women have for their families, even if they are willing to admit they just want to be alone sometimes.

wonderful, yet depressing.......2003-01-06

This was the first book I ever purchased on-line as I was quite desperate to read something about motherhood that had some intellectual depth to it. I was not disappointed. The excerpts by Adrienne Rich and Anne Ernaux were especially revealing and mirrored many of my own feelings.
However, I was struck by the recurring theme that motherhood is an essentially depressing experience which renders a woman frustrated, over-burdened, and resentful. There was very little joy in this work and after reading it, I experienced a temporary drop in my own enjoyment of motherhood. Many of these women writers struck me as being pathologically selfish and unable to realize the temporariness of the whole experience; children are little for such a short time. And that any of these women were able to keep up with their writing while raising little ones leads me to conclude that a great deal of their energies were diverted away from their offspring. As an artist myself, I honestly cannot imagine how they do it.
If you're looking to be cheered up, this may not be the book for you. But if you're interested in viewing the darker psychological effects that motherhood presents creative women, I would highly recommend it. It is beautifully and passionately written.

Good for morale.......2002-02-04

I read this during my first month of motherhood. Some of the essays really spoke to me and what I was feeling. Others - well, you can skip them (I did). This is a unique book offering a shoulder to cry on when you really need it!

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND-RX FOR ANXIOUS MOMS.......2001-08-05

This book is an absolute gem with excerpts from many ( not some but MANY) of the best writings on maternal emotions ever to see print. Most of the pieces contained here meet the exacting twin standard of being both compellingly written, and unflinchingly honest and real. Moyra Davey has created the ultimate collection, making MOTHER READER my #1 gift for new mothers, especially if they appear to be in any of the following mental states: overwhelmed; exhausted; insecure;ambivilent

If you know a new mother who doesn't meet these criteria, well, - perhaps she won't need this book, but for the rest of us, MOTHER READER demonstrates how great literature can also be great medicine, bringing catharsis, healing, revelation, and comfort., enfolding us, assuring us we are not alone.

PS I don't mean to say that you have to be a mother to treasure this collection. For example, I know of no better model for memoir writing.

Mother Reader Will Nourish Your Soul.......2001-07-08

This is a book for mothers, for writers, for readers, and for anyone to whom life and books are intertwined. The writing is some of the finest modern literature written; just check out the list of contributors. The essays, journals, and stories are powerful enough to inspire laughter, tears, outrage, and love -- powerful enough even to change the lives of those who read them. Mother Reader IS an absolutely essential collection of writings. If you are a mother, a writer, or a lover of fine writing, you need this book the way you need food and drink.

More Perfect than the Moon (Sarah, Plain and Tall)

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Excellent next chapter
More perfect than the moon
'More Perfect than the Moon' is a perfect read
A STELLAR READING
Kaitlyn, an 8-year-old reader from Lafayette, CA

More Perfect than the Moon (Sarah, Plain and Tall)
Patricia Maclachlan
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060751797
Release Date: 2005-07-26

Book Description

Cassie spends her days watching Grandfather and Caleb in the barn, looking out at Papa working the fields, spying on her mother, Sarah, feeding the goslings. She's an observer, a writer, a storyteller. Everything is as it should be.

But change is inevitable, even on the prairie. Something new is expected, and Sarah says it will be the perfect gift. Cassie isn't so sure. But just as life changes, people change too. And Cassie learns that unexpected surprises can bring great joy.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent next chapter.......2007-07-15

to the series "Sarah,Plain and Tall." It is read by Glenn Close which makes the audio version perfect. Baby grows up to find out she isn't going to be the last baby in the house! She goes through a few transitions of whether she wants to have a new one in the house or not. The ending is - More Perfect than the Moon!

More perfect than the moon.......2006-02-07

This book was not my favorite book in the world but i definitely learned from it. I learned that people can change. I learned that you should't ddoubt someone when you don't know the details. I would recomend this book to people who like realistic books.

'More Perfect than the Moon' is a perfect read.......2006-01-31

Author Patricia MacLachlan, most famous for "Sarah, Plain and Tall," invites us back to re-visit the Witting family in "More Perfect than the Moon." Mother Sarah is pregnant in "More Perfect than the Moon," much to youngest daughter Cassie's chagrin. Cassie chronicles her feelings and emotions about the upcoming arrival of the 'terrible baby' in a private journal she keeps. Cassie's private journal entries are sometimes true happenings around the Witting farm. Other times, the entries are what Cassie wishes would happen. Either way, the entries had me smiling and laughing out loud. MacLachlan holds true to her typical writing style and shows us that change is inevitable and made bearable by the love of family. Another heart-warming, laugh-out-loud, easy read by MacLachlan.

A STELLAR READING.......2004-10-16

Versatile and always impressive actress Glenn close surely merits all the accolades and awards she has received (4 Oscar nominations, 3 Tony Awards, 1 Emmy Award, and 3 Grammy nominations). Few will forget her over the top performance in Fatal Attraction then a remarkable switch of gears to 101 Dalmatians. She uses her considerable gifts to vivify the narrator in this, the fourth installment in the Sarah Plain and Tall stories.

Much has happened since we first met the Witting family. Young Cassie is now the journal keeper, and she has a knack for writing in a diary. True, sometimes her imagination does carry her away and she records events as she wishes they might be. Nonetheless, she has a journalist's eye for details and relishes putting down her thoughts.

What she does not relish is the arrival of a new baby in their family. She's concerned about what her place will be once this usurper joins them. But, once again, Patricia MacLachlan and Glenn Close remind us of the boundlessness of love.

- Gail Cooke

Kaitlyn, an 8-year-old reader from Lafayette, CA.......2004-09-07

"More Perfect Than The Moon" is the fourth in a series by Patricia MacLachlan about the Witting family. In this author's books the stories are told through the journal writings of the children. In this latest book, Cassandra Sarah Witting is now a third grader who discovers that her mother is once again pregnant. She is afraid that she will lose her parents' attention. She hides her fear by announcing that the baby is not a "special" gift nor even a real baby. In fact, it is really a sheep named Beatrice. When the baby finally comes, Cassie realizes that he is truly a gift "more perfect than the moon".

You do not have to read the previous books to enjoy this short 80-page one. Ms. MacLachlan uses simple language and tells a beautiful story with such few words. Some may say that this is a "girly" book. After all, there are no wars, no fights, no monsters and no superheroes (boys my age love this stuff). But any kid, boy or girl, with a new baby in the family, will probably have the same feelings as Cassie. An important theme in the book is Journaling. It is important that all children learn this craft. After all, everyone has a unique life story to tell.

Average customer rating:

Great bedtime book
Just precious
Excellent book
Annie Bananie
Vigor, Vim & Vitality

Coat of Many Colors
Dolly Parton
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064434478

Amazon.com

The rolling hills of Tennessee farmland, framed in lovely patchwork quilt patterns, set the stage for Dolly Parton's (of Grand Ol' Opry fame) warm childhood memories. The text comes directly from Parton's autobiographical hit country and western song of the same name. Perhaps the grammar is imperfect, but what C&W song ain't rife with grammatical errors--it's part of the vernacular. The story centers on a poor, but happy and loving, family (yes, they do exist) who find clever ways to deal with their poverty. As winter approaches, Mama sews a coat for her daughter from a box of scraps that someone has given her. Of course her classmates make fun of her for having a coat made of rags. But sticks and stones... "And although we had no money / I was rich as I could be / in my coat of many colors / that Mama made for me." That doesn't mean the child's feelings aren't hurt, or that she didn't feel angry. But the message comes through loud and clear (like Parton's voice): the child's mother has provided her with the strength to deal with other children's jeers, and family love can sometimes be enough to pull a person through.

Book Description

Winter is coming to Tennessee and there's no money to buy a new coat, so a little girl's mama sews one for her out of rags. The little girl wears it to school proudly, and when the other children laugh, she gives them a quick lesson about what it means to be rich. Judith Sutton's beautiful paintings bring one of Dolly Parton's best-loved songs to life. "The heartfelt verses are imbued with the same genuine, infectiously likeable spirit Parton herself projects."'Publishers Weekly.

Download Description

A delightful story based on the classic song by country music legend Dolly Parton.

Customer Reviews:

Great bedtime book.......2007-04-14

I am a huge Dolly Parton fan and I had to buy this book for my little girl. It is a great book for beginning readers and it has a nice message about being different.

Just precious.......2007-01-20

The book was so very well written and illustrated. The publication was colorful and the paper was first class. It definitly is a book our family will treasure for many years. Even though I ordered the book late, I received it in plenty of time for Christmas.

Excellent book.......2006-11-08

Beautifull illustrations. Bought for our grandaughter as my lovely wife made her a coat of many colors too. A sweet story with good moral value. Read aloud to your children and your grandchildren.

Annie Bananie.......2006-04-27

I love this story because it teaches me friendship because it
shows caring.

Vigor, Vim & Vitality.......2005-08-05

Dolly had a hard life growing up in the wilds of East Tennessee at the foot of the Smoky Mtns.; she started out poor and indeed did have a 'coat of many colors' as her children's book explained. She wore hand-me-downs in the backwoods of Sevier County where my paternal grandfather's people lived. She's funny. Coming from the country, it took some doing and lots of help to get where she is today. She has re-invented her personality through the years from the young lovesick girl who write 'I Will Always Love You' to Porter Wagoner. He gave her the first 'big' break, singing on his show in Nashville. She had been on local talent shows in Knox County, Cas Walker's for country music.

Like most successful people, she has humility when it comes to feeling indebted to others for her success. She has talent galore, and I wish Dolly could live forever. She will in the figure on Sevier County Courthouse Lawn, as a young country girl. Dolly is everything to everybody.

Average customer rating:

Tammy's Daughter's
IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN
THIS IS THE TRUTH!!
Sad Telling But People Don't Want to Know the Truth
i think its great. get off her back!

Tammy Wynette: My Mother's Story
Jackie Daly , and Tom Carter
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0399145982

Book Description

A loving and astonishingly revealing portrait of America's most popular female country vocalist by her daughter, Jackie.

Tammy Wynette arrived in Nashville in 1964 in a dented station wagon with her three young daughters, whose tricycles were tied to the car's roof. Raw talent, gritty determination, and a bit of luck soon lifted Tammy from poverty to fame and ultimately fortune. Tammy Wynette: My Mother's Story looks behind the extraordinary success story, exploring Wynette's life from the vantage of her closest confidante: her daughter, Jackie--a life that continues to make headlines even after her controversial death.

Wynette was a survivor, but her journey was more than bumpy: five marriages; twenty-six major surgeries; multiple platinum hits; a stint at the Betty Ford Center for drug addiction; a mysterious 1978 abduction during which she was savagely beaten; millions of fans; the loyalty and friendship of Nashville's greatest stars, who would turn out in droves to mourn her passing. And always the little-known constant in her life: motherhood.

With the aid of veteran biographer Tom Carter, Jackie Daly recounts the tragedies as well as triumphs--and probes the final mysteries--of her beloved mother's remarkable life. Never-before-seen personal photographs, revealing interviews, and treasured memorabilia help bring Wynette's dramatic, inspiring story to life.

Illustrated with 16 pages of black-and-white photographs

Customer Reviews:

Tammy's Daughter's.......2006-09-14

I enjoyed most of this book. It was very informative. I didn't care for the part where she went over the same things that her mom did in her autobiography. They could of left that out and told it more from their perspective. I felt bad for the girls because of George Richey being greedy. Money parts friends and he must of decided to keep it all. I don't think he liked her daughters. I am glad they did uncover the cause of her death and they must of got a wrongful death settlement which is good. I know how it is to have your mother leave due to medical errors. I related to these girls. I understand how it is to have your dad remarry so quick after your mother's death. I think men don't like to be alone and they are looking for someone else to fill that void.

IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN.......2005-08-04

Wynette's death will always be shrouded in mystery. She was gone long before she should have been (a lot of it brought on by herself but most of it brought on by her dependence on others who thought they knew best, namely George Richey (the fortune hunter who used Tammy's name for exploitation and furthering his own selfish purposes. And her doctor who kept filling her up with "drugs" until her body shut down because she couldn't take any more!) Jackie Daly takes us through the painful memories of the sad day of her mother's death, shrouded in mystery (WHY DID THEY WAIT SO LONG TO CALL THE CORONERS TO PICK UP THE BODY??? WHY DID THIS PARTICULAR DOCTOR HAVE TO FLY IN FROM WEST VIRGINIA OR PENNSYLVANIA OR NEW JERSEY OR WHEREVER HE WAS FROM TO CONFIRM THE DEATH??? WHY DID GEORGE RICHEY, NOT LONG AFTER TAMMY DIED BEGIN DATING A DALLAS COWBOY CHEERLEADER?) I give props to Tammy's daughters for standing up for the truth. The only people here who gave one star reviews were probably George Richey advocates who knew his agenda long before Tammy's daughters did. And it was clear..he did have an agenda. We certainly did not need this book to tell us that.

THIS IS THE TRUTH!!.......2004-07-10

Believe it or not, what Jackie Daly wrote is nothing but the truth. George Richey did not love her mother the way he claims he did. Tammy's daughters are her blood. George Richey was the 5th in a long line of husbands who was only a stepfather to the girls if he was even that. God Bless Tammy and her daughters.

Sad Telling But People Don't Want to Know the Truth.......2004-07-06

I have always been a Tammy Wynette fan. Three months after Tammy's passing George RIchey marries a "Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader"? So much for the grieving widower. Tammy's death was shrouded in mystery and no one will ever know for certain what happened. But even Loretta Lynn states in her new autobiography "Still Woman Enough" that she thinks its sad that Tammy never found true love in real life. Tammy was fragile, vulnerable and naive. Its obvious she let George Richey use her and milk her until she could take no more. I do not blame her daughters for wanting to know the truth. The sad thing is that people don't want to know the truth or the truth to be told. If my mother had died under such circumstances I would want to know the truth too. This book is a must read...Jackie truly cuts to the chase and George RIchey should be ashamed to show his face anywhere. Its obvious he never loved Tammy the way he said he did.

i think its great. get off her back!.......2002-10-30

j, tell GG to call me.
scotty
256-495-3514

ps tell her in private thnx

Average customer rating:

Not quite as irresistible as it's predecessor ...

when is summer going to get here?

A great, relaxing read.

Didn't want it to end!

Summertime: A Novel
Raffaella Barker
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Hens Dancing: A Novel

Phosphorescence

Green Grass

Come and Tell Me Some Lies

Gardens of Delight

ASIN: 0375503870
Release Date: 2002-05-07

Book Description

For a year, Venetia Summers has been buffered from single motherhood by her boy-friend, David, but when work takes him to a Brazilian rain forest, things begin to unravel. Phone lines crackle, e-mails languish unanswered, and long-distance love proves to be a bewildering experience. Meanwhile, Venetia’s children and dogs run wilder than ever, brother Desmond’s outrageous wedding takes over her home, and her relationship with an eccentric new neighbor gets off to an unfortunate start. Still, there are the everyday rewards, not least among them the dazzling beauty of the changing Norfolk seasons.

How is Venetia to cope alone with an army-style camping holiday, a foul-mouthed Amazonian parrot, and the demanding, if endearing, personalities of three exuberant children? Her burgeoning fashion career, creating outlandish garments for a London boutique, provides much-needed diversion. But when a moonlit walk takes an unexpected turn, she finds herself with a real dilemma on her hands.

With Summertime, Raffaella Barker, whom Publishers Weekly called “a postmodern Erma Bombeck,” gives us another sparkling comedy of English rural life, sure to delight fans of her first novel, Hens Dancing, and new readers alike.

Customer Reviews:

Not quite as irresistible as it's predecessor ..........2005-04-28

... but a good dollop of Venetia Summers & crew nonetheless. Don't let the "Brit-Chick Lit" label scare you -- Raffaella Barker is an accomplished writer with pockets full to bursting with wit and wry insights. She's penned a regular column for English Country Life for ages, lives in the English countryside, and so knows of what she speaks. There is a wonderful cast of characters in these books (Hens Dancing, the first one, and this follow-up, Summertime). I couldn't wait to get my hands on Summetime when it came out, and though I was a bit disappointed (how could I not be after being so disarmed by the first book? Perhaps a bit of the novelty had worn off), I am still glad that she brought back the whole gang for another installment.

Besides, any book that mentions "the Aga" (famous British brand of stove, which they always call a cooker, apparently) at least a dozen times can't be all bad, can it?

This book deserves WAY more attention than it's received ... but do start with "Hens ... ", because the story will make more sense if you do. It's not "serious" literature, but if you are serious about enjoying what you read, and making room for books as friends in your life and on your shelf, give this a whirl.

Cheers!

when is summer going to get here?.......2004-05-08

This book was quite a book to get through. I'm a younger reader, probably too young to understand the material and feel the feelings the writer was protraying. The book was extremely slow for me from the beginning to the end. A single mother grieves and gets through every day with a grudge, supporting three children. Venita's boyfriend David is gone which makes things worse. She calls him and e-mails him to keep in touch, but the feeling isn't the same.

Venitia goes through the troubles of raising her three kids. She has to take them to church, deal with car problems, raise The Beauty, deal with her mother and occuring weddings.

Lonely as ever, Venitia does get to meet a man Hedley. He asks her to marry him and she agrees. The thing is, her heart has been given to David. She does not truly love Hedley with her heart and soul, and soon with help she realizes the man who she's destined to be with.

The book was set in a depressed mood which made it boring to read. Definately not a fun read.

A great, relaxing read........2003-01-05

I highly recommend this book as a follow-up to Hens Dancing (see my longer review under that book).

Didn't want it to end!.......2002-05-28

I read this book in 2 days, and wish it took longer because I didn't want it to end! The story revolves around diary entries made by a single mother named Venetia living in Norfolk England with her three children two boys 9& 10--Giles and Felix, and a three year old girl that the author refers to only as The Beauty. Venetia is supported by a fun cast of wacky characters, from her flower power sixties mother to her lovestruck brother I just opened this book and wanted to be part of their world. What I really enjoyed about this book was that they left in all the british words for things, like nappies (diapers) and instead of darn it she would say bugger...etc. For an anglophile like myself I loved that. If you like Bridget Jones's Diary your sure to like Summertime, though it is not a knock-off, but a completely authentic work in its own right. As soon as I finished the book I found out there was a previous book by Mrs. Barker called Hens Dancing, which also features Venetia and the same cast of characters. Just ordered it, and I can't wait for it to arrive!

Average customer rating:

Preventing Maternal Deaths(1150322)
Erica Royston
Manufacturer: World Health Organization
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Disability | Specialties | Law | Subjects | Books

Obstetrics & Gynecology | Specialties | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9241561289

Average customer rating:

A story of inspiration, courage and determination!

A Mother's Story
Betty Trimble , and Betty McMom Trimble
Manufacturer: D'Agostino/Dahlhauser/Ditmore Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Ya Gotta Believe!: My Roller-Coaster Life as a Screwball Pitcher and Part-Time Father, and My Hope-Filled Fight Against Brain Cancer

ASIN: 1886371326

Customer Reviews:

A story of inspiration, courage and determination!.......1997-01-16

This Startling autobiography by country music superstar Tim McGraw's mother, Betty "McMom" Trimble reveals her ultimate triumph over a life of astonishing pain and hardship. Illegitimate teenage pregnancy. A husband who beat her to unconsciousness. Extreme poverty. Life-threatening cancer. And the sexual molestation of her daughter. A chain of challenges that could have defeated anyone. But Betty would not give up. With each new hurdle she summoned the strength to survive. Tim McGraw A Mother's Story begins with 11-year-old Tim's accidental discovery that his real father is baseball great Tug McGraw. In a heart wrenching passage, Betty "McMom" Trimble describes her young son's struggle to come to terms with an onslaught of painful truths: that the man who Tim thought was his father for 11 years was not; that Tim's real father was a wealthy and famous athlete whom he idolized and whose baseball card was taped to his bedroom wall; and that that same famous celebrity, baseball great, Tug McGraw, had chosen a life without him. Trimble recounts her fateful encounter with McGraw in 1966, then a minor league pitcher with the Jacksonville Suns. When she became pregnant after her first and only sexual encounter, McGraw chose a baseball career over Trimble and their son. Betty chose motherhood over her plans for college and a career as a dancer. Tim never saw his father until he asked for a meeting following his discovery of the truth. "Tug's treatment of Tim broke my heart," said Trimble. "But Tim has always been a survivor. Instead of becoming angry, the experience made him stronger and more compassionate." His father's rejection was but one of many hardships endured by Tim and his family. Trimble recounts her struggle to survive extreme poverty and protect Tim from the abuse she suffered at the hands of her first husband, a truck driver in rual Louisiana. In simple, moving prose Trimble documents a bleak existence for her family. One painful episode after another unfolds, leading up to Trimble's diagnosis of life-threatening cancer at the age of 27. Ironically, the desease saved her life. After a successful operation, she determined to make a better life for herself and her family. Trimble left her abusive husband, completed her education, became a bookkeeper and bought a house--all while raising three exceptional children. The family still lived hand-to-mouth, never receiving any money from Tim's increasingly famous and wealthy father. And more hardships followed, including the sexual molestation of her daughter by her second husband. But Trimble's spirit would not be crushed. "I hope others can learn from my experience," Trimble said. "No one should have to endure the kind of pain I lived through." Betty Trimble is affectionately known as "McMom" by a growing circle of fans and admirers. She recently saw history reverse it's self. As a young dancer, Betty received an audition for Dick Clark's Action Dancers in 1967. Her audition date found her well into her pregnancy with her son, and not able to attend. Hearing about Betty's story, the ever young Dick Clark, feeling "your never too old" chose to present to Betty during an appearance on the Leeza Show, a contract, some 30 years after she had made the extreme sacrifice of giving up her career for her unborn son; a choice his father refused to make. This story will make you laugh, cry, and most of all moved to take action on what ever you maybe facing. Trimble's unshakable faith in herself, God and the decency of others gave her strength. That victorious spirit was passed along to Tim McGraw, who has guided his career to the top of the country charts

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