Helpful Score: 3
Hard reading but well worth the effort! Make you very grateful for whatever you may have.
Helpful Score: 2
The story itself is excellent, about the strengths ,dreams and hardships of a displaced Southern family who moved to Detroit during the war to get work in the factories
Helpful Score: 2
This book is a classic. I found it depressing but very well written. It shows how far woman have come to gain equal rights in marriage. It also shows how much, in hard times, families give up to stay together.
Helpful Score: 2
Kentucky woman follows her husband to Michigan during war times so he can work in the factory there. Still in poverty life is very tough. An excellent book, but a little depressing
Helpful Score: 1
This is a book that stays with you long after you've read it. Great story but it is a pretty sad story. Would read again. Gives a different view of those who worked in northern factories, immigrants, the men who started unions and their families.
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of my all-time favorite books. The characters are so well developed and described that I feel like I know them. The tragedy and hardship that they endure is overwhelming and I felt like I was right there with them. I have read this book several times and each time, I enjoy it more and more.
Helpful Score: 1
It was hard for me to get into this book but I was so glad I did.A woman's family life from the hills of Kentucky to the city which she hated and how she learned to cope by using her talent in wood carving.
I have loved this story since high school and I am in my 70's now. It is beautiful love story and reflective of the times in the factories during war and the sacrifices of families. Gave my copy away years ago so was thankful to find this one. I have a movie of "The Dollmaker" with Jane Fonda which is so very well done. Found it on website that makes DVDs from old VHS tapes.
One of the best books I have ever read. Not for the faint of heart. Very stark, realistic, haunting - definitely not a happily ever after book. The author makes the characters in her book live. Even weeks after I finished reading this book, I still miss Gertie.
I did not care for this book......only read the first 100 pages and it just did not interest me enough to continue reading.
I loved this book. Ms. Arnow's words goes right to the bone--this is a tough story, about a woman who packs up her children and follows her husband to Detroit so he can find work in a factory. Depression has a strong hold on the country and they have nothing. Leaving the south for Detroit is heartbreaking. But her will and strong heart, her ability to keep moving forward in order to stay alive and together is unmovable. This is a read that you will think about when you eat your next meal. The power of The Dollmaker is strong when the book ends.
One of the books I have read in the past that has touched my soul!
Ms Simpson Arnow is a master storyteller, and this is a masterpiece!
Ms Simpson Arnow is a master storyteller, and this is a masterpiece!
Excellent read. Reminded me of Grapes of Wrath.
Probably my favorite book - ever.
This is a fantastic book! A gripping story!
I wanted to love this. The story mirrored my own grandparents....leaving Kentucky to go to Michigan. But I just couldn't finish it.
Realistic and moving account of a farm woman who moves her family from Kentucky to Detroit during WWII when her husband finds a job at a factory. Like many others drawn to the higher urban wages, they do not factor in the high cost of living in cities. The title refers to the woman's hobby of whittling toys and dolls.
