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Summary: Women in Life & Love, same issues in any generation
Review: I enjoyed this book. It shows that woman face the same issues of Life and Love no matter what century, generation, or life style. There is always issues of women working or not, having faithful husbands, and dealing with 'family' secrets. There were very few times, that I could not focus on the story. And it was an easy read, since there are plenty of break points to put the book down(if possible) when needing to interrupt,etc.
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Summary: Too Jumpy
Review: I found myself being sidetracked by the author telling us what happens later as she discusses the present. Does that make sense? Well it didn't to me. The first half was very good but as we left Hanna as the focus, I got lost in the others.
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Summary: Good yarn
Review: I found this a readable and enjoyable novel, set in a part of the world about which I have little knowledge, and whose literature does not always reach us. The novel does not break any new ground in literature, but is one that kept me interested and lost in another place and times. And what more can be asked of a 'good read'?
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Summary: Disconnected
Review: I found this book kind of bland, and even though I just finished it last night, I'm already forgetting the characters. As I read it, I tried to think of things that were really affecting me, but I think the bottom line is that the book just felt too removed for even the sympathetic points to hit home.As the characters were further back in history, they were less 'real' to me. So I really didn't connect with Hanna. In fact, I got fairly annoyed at the author for Hanna's grammatical oddness, which seemed more like an affectation than necessary for characterization. Her story was pretty terrible, but Hanna herself was so emotionally removed from it that it was hard to take it to heart as a reader. This continued with Johanna and to some extent with Anna. The best parts of the book were the ones dealing with Anna's life. Since I don't think the author did very well with making distant/different lifetimes real, it was better to be reading about a timeframe (and, to some extent, a life) that was inherently more real. Since I've read many other books set in places and times which are foreign to me but which nonetheless engaged me, I don't think the lack of connection with an older time in Scandinavia was my problem, but more the author's. An example of something set in a similar time, but which connected much better, is Barbara Vine's "Anna's Book." Interesting that the names of the characters are so similar - and even bits of the stories, as I think about it.
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Summary: An unfortunate mess.....
Review: I found this book so badly written (or translated, at the very least) that it actually made me angry. Such poor use of language, and the attempts at dialect were plain embarrassing. I only persevered reading it because of a friends' recommendation, and it got worse as it went on.The content of the story, if you could find it, was passable, and might even have made a good book! but the way it was delivered was a huge handicap. It is a very sad reflection on modern life and literature that women are so desperate for a discussion of womens' roles and relationships that a work so lacking in skill with language,structure and characterisation can become a popular hit.Perhaps these women have never read anything of lasting merit to recognize the truely mediocre (if not the execrable) when they see it.
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Summary: Absorbing characters, confusing read at times.
Review: I found this book very good and eagerly looked forward to reading it in the evenings. I became absorbed with the characters and the stories they told. I did not find so compelling the ties of mothers to their daughters. The first half of the book I found confusing, and had to really think who was who. I also could not understand at times who the narrator was. I did not understand the fascination with the 'sofa'. I will read it again sometime in the far future, as it wasn't a bad book.
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Summary: Excellent!!!
Review: I found this story so moving. It made me realize that no matter who you are, mother or daughter, father or son, each of us is a Real person. We all have stories of love, fear, anger, etc. to share AND we should share with our family members. A very emotionally filled book. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Three women through hundred years of history
Review: I had a hard time putting this book down. The chapters on the three different women (mother, daughter and granddaughter) and their history was fascinating. It was very interesting how their roles as women/mothers/wifes developed through their own lives which made me think about the bonds of mothers and daughters in my family.
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Summary: Not for women only.
Review: I had the pain and pleasure to translate this novel from Swedish to Italian. Pain because of the dialect dialogues spread all over the first part of the book, pleasure for many reasons, among them the fact that as I was translating one page I was forced to read further to see what would have happened next. Marianne Fredrikkson is a great storyteller, yet there are some bad points in the book, as in all best-sellers: too many semplifications, the characters not very well delined in their inner psychology, too many friendly winks to women's studies feminist maniacs. I must admit I still prefer Fredriksson's early books, those about Adam & Eve and other biblical characters: they were very powerful, from an archetypical point of view. This book is often presented by publisher houses as a "book for women", and in a way it is, as many of my friends who mostly enjoyed it were women; but also men can learn a lot from the author's wide understanding, compassion and wonder in front of the paranormal. Yes, I think the great capacity of "understanding" is Fredriksson's best quality.
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Summary: Excellent reading for daughters, mothers and grandmothers
Review: I loved the book! I gave it to my mother and grandmother to read and they enjoyed it just as much as I did. Being Swedish helped us relate to the book but I think women of all generations and nationalities can recognize themselves. It makes you realize that your mother and grandmother were your age once and that their thoughts weren't far from your own. READ IT!
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