Rating: 
Summary: Zzzzzzzz
Review: Although enjoyable enough in parts, neither the writing nor the story are good enough to justify the book's considerable length. By the end I resented the time I could have spent reading other books. Many characters have no reason to exist - some don't even exist. Why does the protagonist repeatedly mention having had nine children, yet only ever refer directly to six (and name four)? Ultimately disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Less than the Sum of its Parts
Review: Although enjoyable enough in parts, neither the writing nor the story are good enough to justify the book's considerable length. By the end I resented the time I could have spent reading other books. Many characters have no reason to exist - some don't even exist. Why does the protagonist repeatedly mention having had nine children, yet only ever refer directly to six (and name four)? Ultimately disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Deleting the passage of time...
Review: Here I am, writing this review of a book I read at least 7 years ago. But, like any great book, I still remember Lucy Marsden.
(Like I remember David Copperfield, Don Quijote, Natty Bumpo, etc.)
Perhaps Gurganus's novel doesn't belong with those other classics, but I remember Lucy!
I agree that the book should be shorter. That doesn't change the fact that you should read this story.
The most powerful impression that this book gives is that the flowing of time separates us from other generations but there are messages and memories preserved for us to experience and from which to learn.
When Lucy compares the confederate veterans hanging out in the town square to the vietnam vets hanging out in that same town square, the effect is dizzying. We came from previous generations and others will come from us, live in our houses, drive down the same streets we do, etc. Lucy serves as a reminder that time passes but things don't necessarily change.
The novel's portrayal of history is indeed special.
Rating: 
Summary: great characters non linear plot
Review: I am fascinated by Southern hisotry, civil rights and the civil war --this book contained all of these ingredients --it's not really a novel with a linear plot; instead, it's a collection of recollections --just as if you were listening to someone tell you his or her life story which would meander back and forth from early to more recent events as one event triggered memory of another. Some of these stories, though fiction, gave me a truer sense of what certain events must have been like than any other real history I've read. As an example, the story of Castalia's forced journey from Africa to Charleston gave me what felt like the truest view of that passage that I have read; likewise, the story involving Sherman's assault on the Marsden plantation made me get a sense of what that must have felt like to those living on the plantations who were either freed or lost their possessions. The writing is very rich and requires careful attention; my only criticism is that some of the stories seemed to drag and could have been more tightly edited --that made the book, at times, tedious and is the reason for 4 rather than 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Zzzzzzzz
Review: I bought this book in Bangkok and read it because it was in English. Otherwise I would have chucked it aside. Ditto to what other reviewers have said about the bogged-down prose style, plus several other serious flaws, including but not limited to:
characters that are developed at ponderous length and suddenly disappear, never to be heard from again; the incomprehensible pattern of events which the narrator chooses (giving us every random detail for about a 12-year period and then skipping over a whole lot of stuff that would have been nice to know); stomach-churning prissiness that attempts to pass as womanspeak ("I then scolded my prettiest girl for lisping so"), and a burning-of-the-plantation scene that is laughably stupid as well as flat-out physiologically impossible. Not for the literate.
Rating:
Summary: If you let it, this book will stay with you forever...
Review: I have never written a review for any book, but then again, no book has ever affected me the way this book has. As a Southern woman, weaned on stories of life in the South, I was so affected by this novel that it touched my heart like no other. Lucy Marsden seems like a favourite Aunt of mine now, one that has told me the story of her long life and it's highs and lows, and I feel, after reading the book, that I have lived that life with her. There is a sadness in the last pages as you realise that, in many ways, Lucy won't be with you much longer. I have come back to this book time and again, and have lost count of how many times I've re-read it. I seem to find something new each time! I know it is not a book for everyone, but those who take the time to read it and to melt into the pages as Lucy's guest and audience, you will be rewarded in ways most novels promise but can't deliver. It is a story that sizzles when it hits the fat, and any reader who allows themself the pleasure of reading this book will feel forever changed, as if they, too, have lived a lifetime with Lucy Marsden. The story of her youngest child's death never fails to move me; likewise the story of 'The best Christmas pagent ever' always makes me laugh. You want to be her champion and her best friend, and when she speaks near the end of what her perfect quilt would be comprised of, you can see each and every fabric in your mind's eye, and mourn the fact that they are all gone with time, and will never make that perfect quilt. It's the one book I recommend to every passionate reader, and the one that I call my favourite out of many wonderful books.
Rating:
Summary: Oldest Living Confederate Widow tells too much
Review: In Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, Allan Gurganus' superb writing style and vivid vignettes makes it worth reading the first 250 pages or so. After that, however, the chapters become somewhat repetitive and seem neverending. His style is more suited for short stories, which he writes very well.
Rating:
Summary: One Woman's Perspective
Review: Lucy Marsden presents a unique perspective on the South as it once was. This book is a real testament to the past - one woman's perspective. Lucy's memories are long lasting and span an eternity reaching from the horrors of the Civil War right through to the frightening sight of the Challenger disaster. Though Lucy is 99 years old, blind, and confined to a charity home, her memory and insight remains astute.Lucy Marsden's narrative speaks vividly of her experiences as a child-bride, married to a crazed but earnest vet, of motherhood, of gender-dominance, and, of course, of love-making, the historic "battle of the sexes". She speaks of the popularity of love-making right through its title changes and shifting styles of the times, but still coupling into the same old shenanigans. She muses over how strict she and her man looked by day, and at church, and how wild were their night actions in their own "legal playpen for adults". Beware of feeling sorry for yourself, she advises. Its mighty tempting. War itself is a form of pouting and self-pity. She empathizes with the soldiers when confronted with the dire statement "South Loses It" and questions where the soldier is when his war is yanked from under him: he lies caught in the middle with no idea of how to behave. Lucy exposes a gallery of characters, aristocrats & free men, sharecroppers & slaves, blacks and whites, and offers her own unique perspective on folks such as General Lee and President Lincoln. In her own inspired, ungrammatical voice, she tells it all - as she saw it and as she lived it. This book is a "must read" for all who want a plain-folks perspective on life in the Old South. I enjoyed it. I think you will, too. Lois Bennett
Rating:
Summary: Just tell the story and get it over with!
Review: Ordinarily I love a novel I can settle down and read - something really engaging. This book was more frustrating than engaging. The choppy sentences and haphazard storyline were too much to bear past the 6th chapter. For those of you who loved it - I admire your stamina. I just couldn't slog through another page and it's RARE that I don't finish a book.
Rating:
Summary: Too much, too little
Review: This book was a big disappoint and maddening at times. I am not one to not finish a book, so I slugged through. Waste of my time. I hated Lucy. I thought she was a pathetic woman with a sad life. Her horrible grammar was excrutiating to read as well, and the author even wrote an entire (long, like all the others) chapter on it! If people from the south really speak like that then it's no wonder northerners stereotypically think southerns are stupid and ill-educated. The entire book jumps around timewise - one minute Lucy is a 90-some year old in the nursing home (and this part of the story, to me, has no interest and appears at random interludes), next she is a young bride, next the story jumps to the Captain and to a time when Lucy was yet to be born. Information is missing - she had 9 children. Only four are named in the book, little information is given as to how or why they are all dead and if Lucy has any grandchildren. While I did find many of the individual chapters/stories interesting, the author draws them out and unnecessarily makes them last 50 pages when they could have been adequately portrayed in 20-30. I could not wait until Lady burned as I thought that would bring me to the end of the chapter.
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