Here on Earth (Nova Audio Books)

Rating:
Summary: Painful but strangely moving
Review: I picked up this book at a local charity store, having enjoyed Hoffman's style in other of her novels. I read it twice in about a week, and found its description of an abusive relationship painful, but reading Hoffman's prose is like swimming in the river. You step in, and are immediately caught up in its turbulent flow of emotion. I kept thinking, I know this story. I've read this before, haven't I -- but not in this form, not from this perspective. It's odd, all the characters live in this remote area with its dreadful weather, and everyone knows each other, and two characters from one family marry two characters from the other prominent family in the area, and the poor orphan from lowly background gets adopted but never loses his low self-esteem, and people KEEP DYING YOUNG. Seems so Victorian, I mused.
It wasn't until I was reading a different book, where the characters were discussing Wuthering Heights, that I recognized it. The characters were commenting that Hareton was going to make it, because he used both his head and his heart -- and the penny dropped. Hareton is Hank. AHA! And Heathcliff is Hollis, of course... Here On Earth is what might have happened if Heathcliff had got his Cathy back, at least for a time.
Did no one get this? NO ONE??!? I've read several reviews of this book, and so far I haven't read one that mentions it. It's hard for me to believe that book reviewers are so little versed in their classics that not one of them recognized this updating of the Bronte classic (with, admittedly, some twists). One reviewer calls Hollis "Heathcliff-like", but the whole setup is Wuthering Heights.
This book is not a great casual read, but I found it interesting that a good story is still a good story, even disguised. It all depends on the treatment, of course. Shakespeare lifted other people's stories all the time, and made them definitively his. Hoffman's prose is surprisingly lovely, given the subject matter.

Rating:
Summary: interesting take-off on an old classic
Review: Some people seem to be offended that Hoffman would dare use the plot of "Wuthering Heights" so blatantly for one of her novels, but I found it fascinating for just this very reason. What WOULD have happened if Heathcliff had gotten Cathy back? This "rewrite" of that wonderful classic into a modern setting and that unmistakeable Hoffman-like language is intriguing to say the least.

That a happily married woman can once again become snarled into an old erotic relationship and can't get out is a highly-charged story all in itself. That her daughter, who seems on the fast track to becoming a slut, finds peace through a horse, balances the first lurid story out beautifully.

For me the novel is a good study of how erotic attraction can blind a person, and just how worthwhile true friendship in a relationship is.

Still my favorite Hoffman novel (that I've read) so far is "Turtle Moon."


Rating:
Summary: March Rekindles A First Love!
Review: When the lady who raised March as her own dies suddenly, March returns to her hometown after about 19 years for the funeral. Her belligerent teenage daughter Gwen accompanies her on the journey, but once there, the stay becomes longer than they planned.
March rekindles an old flame with Hollis, her old boyfriend of years ago. Hollis never did fall out of love with March to begin with, and so he has been sitting back, waiting, and hoping all these years. When the two do meet up, sparks fly of course, but there is the problem of back home and what to do about her loveless marriage before March can move on in her life. And not only that, but many people in the small town of Massachusetts have spread rumors about what a bad man Hollis is. March isn't sure what to believe of anyone. So she'll have to see for herself.

A great read for the most part, and I recommend it.