Rating: 
Summary: Luscious language, rich details, but somehow unsatisfying
Review: Very similar in scope and outlook to Jane Smiley's "The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton," Ms Gibbons shows off her thorough research and love of dialect and archaic terms. I enjoyed the book on that level. But I'm left unsatisfied and annoyed somehow. It seems as though the book just runs out of steam, as though she intended a much longer (and to my mind a much more satisfying) book, but decided to leave the heroine after the death of her husband. I felt cheated somehow. I was intrigued by the interactions between slaves and slaveholders in this book. Though at times characters like Clarice seemed too good to be true, I think Ms Gibbons has done a good job of showing how slaves and slaveholders were inextricably linked to each other, if only because the one could not exist without the other. That fact may make us uncomfortable, but it was and is the truth. I do think Ms Gibbons stumbles, however, when she backs away from showing too much of the anger of the servants who were not told they were free all along until the War was almost over. That oversight by Emma and Quincy was wrong, and made me like them less. My opinions change like Seattle weather! I'll think about it some more and let you know if I change my mind on any of this.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellant novel.
Review: This was an excellant novel about a Southern woman's life. At 12, Emma Tate despises her domineering father, who abuses her mother and drove her older brother from home. Emma grows up to find love, however; she marries Dr. Quincy Lowell of the Boston Lowells, despite her father's disaproval. I am 13 and I loved this book. I highly reccomend it.
Rating:
Summary: I drew strength from this book.
Review: I did not like the first few chapters of the book because I found it so disturbing... Emma Garnett's father was a little to similar to the tyrranical father I grew up with. However, as I read on, I became more and more drawn to how Emma Garnett coped with the trauma in her life. I loved reading the words her husband said to help her through it: "Say it again. This time dry-eyed." I loved reading about how she fell in love with her life. I even loved reading about her guilt for being so happy, because I related so much to it. I really connected with this woman. Though it wasn't a fairy tale ending (the hurt never really went away), it was a happy ending because Emma Garnett didn't allow herself to be a victim. I drew strength from this book. It reaffirmed my belief that I can be happy despite the crappy things that have happened in my life. It doesn't have to all "go away" for life to be good. Thank you, Emma Garnett, and thank you, Kaye Gibbons!
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece and a sample of beauty
Review: Set primarily during the Civil War, this novel speaks beautifully in Emma's formal voice of that cruel era. In the process, it shows survival.
Rating:
Summary: Literate, well-researched, interesting story
Review: The author made the setting come alive by the inclusion of details such as the medical treatment in use at the time and the unique figures of speech and dialect. The story moves along well enough to keep your interest. I did think that both Quincy and Clarice were too good to be true, and that Emma's father was too awful...As this was my first Kaye Gibbons novel, I can't compare it to her other books, but I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it.
Rating:
Summary: A vivid look at the civil war from a fresh perspective
Review: The dichotomy between the way Emma's father reared her and what she knew in her own heart to be true is the conflict that makes this book interesting. Fiction set in the civil war South tends to romanticize or demonize the characters. But Ms. Gibbons offers a realistic cast of three dimensional characters who as in life; are neither completely good nor entirely evil. Her depictions of twisted family relationships are hauntingly accurate. Is it possible that the author has met my family?
Rating: 
Summary: Eerily dreaming and haunting, real but not real...
Review: I was easily swept up into the narrative, that these were the actual memoirs of Emma Garnett. Kaye Gibbons brings that era of the South (pre-Civil War) to life so well I could feel the heavy air and see the flickering candles. The prose was purposely arcane, and after awhile it read like poetry. I find myself thinking it over and wondering about characters and situations that were hinted at but not developed. Well crafted and very memorable.
Rating:
Summary: Kaye Gibbons at her best
Review: I have been a fan of Kaye Gibbons' writing since Ellen Foster. This may be her best. Totally different from her other novels, this book is the story of a woman's life from the 1840's to 1900, which of course spans the Civil War. The book made me think of that war in a new way, especially through Emma's and her family's experience, which is the story of all the families who lived during that time. I liked the fact that I encountered a lot of new words and phrases, some of which I haven't found the meaning of yet. Like gold chargers, pumpton tart, asafoedita bags. Other phrases delighted me; stepping children, first footer come to mind. Beyond that, I liked the way Emma, her mother and Clarice adapted to their circumstances, horrific as they sometimes were. Although the men in the story are the kind you will remember, it's the women who triumph.
Rating:
Summary: southern woman in Civil War recalls her stormy childhood
Review: Emma Garnet is too good to be true! She always does the right thing, treating her slaves with respect and dignity, defending her mother against her abusive father, and nursing the wounded during the Civil War. This story was beautifully written in the voice of the Civil War era, but it often reminded me of The Oldest Living Confederate Widow. I liked this book much better. Ms. Gibbons is one of my favorite authors because she understands southern womanhood.
Rating:
Summary: NOT read by Kaye Gibbons
Review: While Kaye did read her previous works, Polly Holiday read this one. (The narrator is 70 -- far older than Kaye.) Of course, the writing is up to Kaye's usual high standards - beautiful story, full of strong characters and fascinating historical details.
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