Rating: 
Summary: Songs in Ordinary Time
Review: A fascinating story about a poor and lonely woman who tried to raise 3 kids with an alcoholic husband. It described her pain and frustration very realistically living in a small town... The plot was amazing, taking the reader through a forbidden romance and a crime as well as other family mishaps. McGarry Morris painted an overall sense of urgency and hopelessness that made you feel sorry for the characters. My favorite part was when Marie Fermoyle decided to take control of her life and sell soap powder for a living.
I was easily pulled into the plot and I had trouble putting it down until I got to the end!
Rating: 
Summary: Unworthy of Oprah's endorsement
Review: I agree with the first three reviews I read...simply not worth the time. Maybe Oprah saw something I didn't, but I can honestly say I've never been so frustrated by ANY fictional characters as I was with the entire Fermoyle family. What a bunch of losers! Usually I can empathize with downtrodden characters, but Ms. Morris took these past my limit. I finished the book only because I kept hoping it would get better.
Rating:
Summary: Unworthy of Oprah's endorsement
Review: I agree with the first three reviews I read...simply not worth the time. Maybe Oprah saw something I didn't, but I can honestly say I've never been so frustrated by ANY fictional characters as I was with the entire Fermoyle family. What a bunch of losers! Usually I can empathize with downtrodden characters, but Ms. Morris took these past my limit. I finished the book only because I kept hoping it would get better.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the Faint-Hearted!!
Review: I had a love-hate relationship with this story as I read it. In the end, my verdict is that it was well-written with Morris' characters intricately formed. The story had me turning the next page and mulling the characters and plot over even when I wasn't reading it. This is the sign of a good book to me.
It seemed that Morris gave a generous helping of human flaws to each of her cast of characters with none playing the role of "good guy". The story demonstrates to me a truth: that no one is all bad or all good.
Rating: 
Summary: Despite all its flaws, a readable book
Review: I really, really wanted to dislike this book. Few of the characters were likeable, there were far more subplots than necessary, and as a previous reader noted, it could have easily been 300 words shorter. But somehow, the story of a small town in 1960, with all its meandering plots, its residents' twisted lives, secrets, desires, and blind spots, pulled me along. As unlikeable as the characters were, they were believable, and ultimately, that is what kept me going through 740 pages. At least they were 740 relatively fast pages. The one exception to the believablity quotient was that Norm, after 650 pages of hating Omar Duval, suddenly fell under his spell for about 50 pages. The sudden change of heart made no sense and seemed entirely plot driven. At least Norm did come to his senses pretty quickly!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was ready to put this down after 150 pages because it was SO depressing, but I stuck it out on principle. After about 350 pages I decided to finish it just because I already had so much time invested in it, and I was curious to see how all the plots would come out in the end. Well, nothing was tied up neatly. I was hoping for at least one of these sorry characters to have an uplifting experience, but alas it was not to be. This was the first book I have read by this author, and I believe it will be my last.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't get past first chapter
Review: If you can get through the first 150 pages, you'll be happy you did. With a slow start, that's when the story really starts to pick up & you start to remember the characters, there's a lot of them! I agree with an earlier reviewer in that there were too many sub-plots & characters.
I did end up liking the book, and I was VERY close to putting it down & not finishing it. I am glad I stuck it out.
The characters are memorable. Their plights, long & hard.
You will cringe with them when things go wrong. It's a story that is so believable it feels real. I see why Oprah picked it.
Just remember, there are many books that start off slow, but they don't always have such a rewarding ending.
Rating:
Summary: A rich, engaging, wonderful read
Review: There's been a lot of earlier discussion about how dark and depressing this book is, and I don't disagree that the characters largely lead stunted, often miserable lives. But the gentle humor imbued in the writing helped lighten the load -- I didn't come away from each chapter depressed at all, only eager to get back to the book and see what happened next. Wally Lamb's "I Know This Much is True" was FAR darker and more depressing, as far as I'm concerned.It's amusing to watch all the irony involved in Omar's twists and turns to avoid being found out -- you just want him to get caught, get flat-out caught, but you know he's too much of a snake and Marie too trusting, that he'll wiggle out of it somehow. I love long reads, where you can really dig in and live with the characters for a while, and this book delivers. The writing is direct and precise, but lyrical enough not to feel too "modern." Some sentences were so well-crafted I'd go back and read them again, just to savor them. I'd put this novel near the top of my all-time favorites list, no question.
Rating:
Summary: A Snoozer
Review: This book was very difficult to keep my interest. Aside from it being a depressing story, it had too many characters. I often found it difficult to keep track of who was who. This book was not the worst I've ever read, but it did not keep my attention. I usually like to finish a book once I begin reading it, but this book I had to put down. It was more like a bedtime story opposed to an interesting read. I definitely would not recommewnd this book to others. Honestly, I have read other Oprah's book club picks and this is the first one I did not like at all.
Rating:
Summary: Like Seeing the Skeletons Inside The Closets of Everyone
Review: This was the first McGarry Morris book I've ever read and I have mixed feelings on it. The entire mood of the book was quite depressing. No happy endings here, no sir. I also found the behavior of many of the characters to be unbelievable, thereby causing the entire tale to lose credit. For instance, I found it amazing that, after commiting murder, con-man Omar Duvall chose to take up residence in the same town where he killed a man, and the rotting, putrid body still lies. I'm not a criminal myself, but if I commited such an act, I imagine I'd want to miles away from the scene of the crime!
Next, we have Marie Fermoyle and her three unusual children. I found it sad that she was so desperate for love, that she fell for the fat, slovenly Omar Duval in his one and only shabby suit and his see-through lies.
Overall, the entire cast of characters and their individual miseries interweave into an overall story that plays out rather well. Basket-case USA.
One thing that really stuck in my craw was Alice Fermoyle's treatment of Blue Mooney. Maybe because I've always been attracted to just such a guy, I thought she should have given Blue more of a chance. Oh well. That's my opinion.
If you want to read a book that has a multitude of characters and sub-plots, this is a good choice. But don't expect a happily ever after.
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