Helpful Score: 2
didn't enjoy this as much as "Ordinary Times", but she writes so well.
Helpful Score: 1
Very good novel - created a very real sympathy for a man trying to regain his life against overwhelming odds.
Helpful Score: 1
Great read! I had trouble putting it down - read until 2 am to finish it.
Helpful Score: 1
I never would have thought that I could root for a murderer, which would be a sign of an author who is very good at characterization. Gordon returns to his hometown after 25 yrs. in jail, starting over where everyone thinks they know his story. His 13 yr. old neighbor is just trying to survive, with a crack addict for a mother. The girl decides to latch on to Gordon. Then there is the elderly neighbor, watching her neighborhood fall apart. Book would lend itself well to a book discussion.
As usual for Mary McGarry Morris, this book literally allows one to experience another life style or perhaps, the same as one is living in. The ending is quite predictable yet not entirely expected.
Morris offers the story of three unique and different people -- a just-release convict, the teen daughter of a crack addict and a love-starved woman -- and weaves them all into a compelling tale as they each search for a place in the world and with each other. At times the relationships are so real, as the characters truly struggle to understand each other and their own compulsions, needs and desires. This is not a book to be taken lightly, for the author makes the reader examine his or her own demons, prisons and crimes.
Another fabulous story by MMM! This author knows how to develop characters and make the reader feel a part of the story. I felt so connected to these people with their flawed lives and pathetic situations...the sign of a very good writer.
