Rating: 
Summary: A Great Deal in a Brief Book
Review: This book is the first from Alice McDermott since, "Charming Billy", won the National Book Award in 1998. A book with that type of success is certain to create very high expectations for the next work, and while, "Child Of My Heart", is very good I think it is unfair to compare it to the writer's previous work. Few authors turn out books that routinely are considered the best by those who decide awards.The book is a narrative as shared by a woman of her memories of a summer when she was 15. I think this is an important point, for some seem to find this 15 years old girl as lacking credibility. These are memories and they are subject to all the forms of error that define what memory is. There is no doubt the narrator is precocious by any measure, she has an almost Mary Poppins like effect on the children she cares for, and by her account the animals she watches as well. She is an only child, she is clearly very bright, and if she was as mature as her stunning good looks, the memories seemed to me to be credible. Certain of the remembered thoughts may be enhanced or edited, but I do not believe they are made from whole cloth. She is far from perfect and the one error she does make has consequences. Whether her taking action with her little cousin would have made a difference is unlikely, but the author keeps that to herself. Our narrator may know what she is dealing with and chooses to make the most of the summer as she can, not fighting the inevitable. For this is a confident young woman as becomes apparent in how she portrays MaCduff in her school play, defying her teachers, Nuns, to do as she feels appropriate. She also has been put in the strange situation of being an only child situated to live amongst those who might help her become more than her parents are. She lives on a portion of Long Island that is not fashionable but gives her access to the people and the homes they occupy to network, and be exposed to them, whether she pursues it or not. My main criticism is that there is too much in too short a book. Extremely complex relationships are touched on as opposed to explored. This may have been intentional as memories are never as complete as the real time event, but again that is a detail only the author knows. I very much enjoy the manner by which Alice McDermott writes, and for me that is always a great part of any book. All of the issues and situations may not have been completed for the reader, but that hardly makes the book unique. The book is definitely a worthwhile read from a talented author.
Rating:
Summary: My mother and I agree on something finally! We love it.
Review: This book just flows. I had trouble getting into it or I would have given it a highter rating. Once I did get into it, I loved it.
Child of My Heart is the tale of the South Hampton local -teenage babysitter and ersatz mother to the children of some fairly complex summer guests. She is a loving, sweet and at the end of the book...curious and insightful. If you ever loved your babysitter, your neglected little cousin or your summer neighbors, give this one a try. Not much action but a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Alice in Wonderland
Review: This book was a disappointment after the first 50 pages....I guess that once you are famous anything can get published ....there was no recognizable character in this novel. The main character is obviously a loner, conceited and self-centered....seducing a 70 year old man and not revealing a child's medical condition because she's be parted from her makes her selfish....read Charming Billy and then stop.
Rating: 
Summary: impossible to believe
Review: This book was completely spoiled for me by the relationship between Theresa and the painter. I kept re-reading sections, trying to figure out what would attract any 15-year-old girl to a 70-year-old lecherous drunk, but nothing in McDermott's writing seemed to explain it. It actually turned my stomach and I almost didn't finish the book, but I had to find out what happened to Daisy and the Moran kids.
The prose in this book is really first rate, and I enjoyed the rest of the book, but I'm still trying to figure out the painter-thing. I picked this book up at the library because I had read Charming Billy and really enjoyed it, but this one makes me not want to read anymore of Alice McDermott.
Rating:
Summary: Melancholy
Review: This is a difficult book to appraise. My reaction is based on the affection I have for the characters, especially the girls Theresa is nurturing the summer this story takes place during. There is something lonely and unsettled about Theresa's life and about her charges Daisy and Flora. Parents and adults in this book are not very imaginative or involved but are not dilikeable either. The novel is really about loss and the beautiful frailty of remembered moments. McDermott is a stunning writer. Many other readers took offense to the 'creepy' relationship between the artist father of Flora (who seems very Picasso-like to me) and Theresa but I felt there was a certain reality to it. Beautiful young women, which is precisely what Theresa is becoming, are often drawn to old men with talent. It is a fact of the world. His sexuality must be potent for he is still a man who commands several women in his life. As inexplicable as it may seem to some of us, it does happen. Theresa almost behaves in a dreamlike maner around him, perhaps a form of rebellion against the cautious dreams her parents have formed on her behalf. A book I would recommend to anyone who likes a nostalgic, yet not sugary coming-of-age novel.
Rating:
Summary: Unsatisfying
Review: This is a novel about a 15 year old girl who invites her "poor" 8 year old cousin to her house on the east end of Long Island, so she can spend the summer. Theresa, the heroine, is a lonely beautiful girl, daughter of hard working parents who are not as rich as their summer neighbors. To make money, and get noticed by the right people, Theresa babysits, walks dogs, etc. This is not a coming of age story, it is a reminiscience of a brief moment in time. THe good thing about this book is the writing. Much of it is lyrical and beautiful, and flows from page to page. But hte plot of the book leaves much to be desired. Things happen, but they are vague and underplayed. I assume this was done on purpose, but it doesn't work for me. It just makes everything that happens unimportant- days meld together. And the character development is weak, as the main character is weak. Theresa NEVER hangs out with anyone her own age. For a girl who is supposed to be so beautiful, no one between the ages of 11 and 35 ever approaches her. There are no girls from school calling, no trips to the ice cream shop, etc. It is just weird. All the adults we come across are strange as well- nasty socialite women, leering older men, the drunken next door neighbor, uncaring parents, including Theresa's own parents, who don't seem to care too much about what she's up to, or if she's happy. Because of the time frame of this book, we never see Thersa grow, or change, which leads me to the question- what was the point of this book?
Rating:
Summary: Unsatisfying
Review: This is a novel about a 15 year old girl who invites her "poor" 8 year old cousin to her house on the east end of Long Island, so she can spend the summer. Theresa, the heroine, is a lonely beautiful girl, daughter of hard working parents who are not as rich as their summer neighbors. To make money, and get noticed by the right people, Theresa babysits, walks dogs, etc. This is not a coming of age story, it is a reminiscience of a brief moment in time. THe good thing about this book is the writing. Much of it is lyrical and beautiful, and flows from page to page. But hte plot of the book leaves much to be desired. Things happen, but they are vague and underplayed. I assume this was done on purpose, but it doesn't work for me. It just makes everything that happens unimportant- days meld together. And the character development is weak, as the main character is weak. Theresa NEVER hangs out with anyone her own age. For a girl who is supposed to be so beautiful, no one between the ages of 11 and 35 ever approaches her. There are no girls from school calling, no trips to the ice cream shop, etc. It is just weird. All the adults we come across are strange as well- nasty socialite women, leering older men, the drunken next door neighbor, uncaring parents, including Theresa's own parents, who don't seem to care too much about what she's up to, or if she's happy. Because of the time frame of this book, we never see Thersa grow, or change, which leads me to the question- what was the point of this book?
Rating: 
Summary: Boring and motionless...
Review: This is almost as bad as Charming Billy, in which McDermott makes a laughable attempt to get inside an alcoholic mind. She doesn't understand yet that no matter how 'pretty' the language is, it amounts to nothing if the story doesn't propel you forward. I'm not talking Tom Clancy compel, nor Scott Turow compel - but even the most 'literary' novel has to have some forward movement, and give the reader some reason to turn pages. McDermott hasn't learned this simple principle yet; she's too wrapped-up in prettification for its own sake. Instead of using language as a tool to tell a story, she lets language control her narrative. Gimme the energy of Joyce Carol Oates any day. Despite the reviewers going dumbly ga-ga, I find nothing of any substance in this book at all. I hope Alice takes a sabbatical soon....
Rating:
Summary: Sunday afternoon read
Review: This is the type of book I would (and did) read on a boring, lazy Sunday afternoon. It's short, lyrical in places and somewhat intriguing. I only gave it two stars because it has obvious flaws. Some reviewers have said that Theresa, the protagonist, comes across as much too wise and smart for 15. I was like that myself, so I couldn't see it as much. What I could see was Flora, the baby, being extremely articulate and acting like an adult herself. The author puts Theresa's voice into all of the characters and doesn't really distinguish them well after that. The ending was the other major flaw of this book. It was contrived and rushed at best. I realise the author is trying for that simple, innocent, dream-like quality, but instead the ending is vague and pointless. (Yes, I did catch the extremely obvious part with the baby rabbits. I thought it was overdone.) I didn't care for this author at all. From this book, I can't see how she won any awards.
Rating:
Summary: I guess we missed it?
Review: This was our bookclub selection for Feb....and it was unanimous, no one liked the book...in fact we didn't even want to talk about the book at the meeting, which is unusual for this group of book lovers. We tend to stay focused on the book we've just read. I found it uninteresting. I didn't like Theresa, the artist or his absent wife. There was no depth in explaining or analyzing the characters and what made them tick. Why were Theresa's parents so out of touch with their daughter? What was with the artist? What was with the Moran family? No babysitter is that perfect! What were Theresa's hopes and dreams...lots of unanswered questions about the characters and too much flowery descriptions about the setting. I knew I had to read the book for our bookclub meeting..but it took great effort.
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