Rating: 
Summary: Very well written, engaging, escapist fiction
Review: Gloria is a great ride, very fun to read, despite the fact that, at first impression, you'll probably think that you're not going to like the heroine all that much. Gloria is a beautiful, wealthy, intelligent young women with every single advantage a woman in the late fifties could possibly have. When I started this book, I thought, "why should I care about this person?" There is something about her story, however, that will drive you to read on. The novel takes place essentially over Gloria's summer between college and graduate school in the late fifties. As the summer wears on, Gloria flashes back over most of her life, her horrible experience at boarding school, and her more positive experiences of high school and college. She is trying to come to grips with what she should do with her life, trying to resolve all the unanswered questions that have plagued her since high school and have intensified in college. What does she want out of life? The country club steel executive wife life her mother leads, or something more, something more intellectual, more offbeat. Gloria's dilemma is believable, her story, compelling. It will be difficult to put this book down. The characters are well-developed and the plot is unpredictable (but not outlandish at all). Don't be intimidated by the 600+ pages, they are all worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the Length!
Review: I admit, I picked this book because of the cover. I loved the photo! But after reading about 50 pages, I realized sometimes you really can pick a book for its cover (albeit very rarely). This is the story of Gloria, a recent college graduate and member of a country club family. During the summer after graduation, she relives her experiences from a tortuous time at boarding school to successfully pledging her sorority at school. Nestled between her remembrances are Gloria's summer existence including spending time with her family and some potentially dangerous interactions with her father's old war buddy. Although this sounds pretty tame, wait until you read the book. Gloria is a master at acting the part of the society daughter, but underneath, she is just like the rest of us, dealing with her sexuality, her need to be accepted and loved. I completely loved this novel, both for its highly detailed descriptions of the time period and setting and for the author's talent in developing such a sympathetic, realistic main character. I can't wait for another book from Mr. Maillard!
Rating:
Summary: Simply Beautiful
Review: I needed a book for a research paper when I was in high school, it had to be about characters who were outsides in their society. When I picked up Gloria, on a whim because I had the U2 song stuck in my head, I realized this book would be perfect for me as we had just read Catcher in the Rye and I wanted to read something about conformity in the 1950s. Gloria deals with the title character the summer after she has graduated from college, and her struggle to decide to fufill her dreams or please those around her. Maillard's writing is slow, but gives great depth to the characters. He uses many elements of writing, such as symbolism, that aren't used enough in literature today. Although, perhaps the one thing that amazed me most about Maillard's writing is his ability to get inside the head of a young woman better than most female writers ever could, dealing with issues such as sexuality, self esteem, and ambition. This has become one of my favorite books of all time, and when I describe it to others, I call it "the female version of Catcher in the Rye, except Gloria grows up and learns to deal with her stifling community instead of drowning it."
Rating:
Summary: Breath Taking
Review: I picked up Gloria by curiosity of the beautiful cover and title. I skimmed through a couple of passages and was entirely intrigued with the story. I bought the book and read it in a manner of days. While reading the intimate thoughts of Gloria, I honestly looked more than once at the cover as if to correct myself that this book was written by a man! The details of thought and beauty of Gloria's life is exquisite. The fashion and inner thoughts of Gloria show what a complex and interesting character she is. I seriously recommend this beautiful story, my personal favorite. I have never related to a book as I did to Gloria, and am yet to find one as captivating.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: I purchased the hardcover of this book on a whim about a year ago and just recently got around to reading it. I'd never heard of Keith Maillard nor his work, but I will most certainly read more of him now.The greatest thing about Gloria, is that he's truly created a character to fall in love with. I don't think I've ever empathized with a character so much than I have for Gloria Cotter. That alone is worthy of my giving this 5 stars. I am eager to read more of Maillard's work.
Rating:
Summary: exquisite
Review: I think its a marvelous book. I found the swearing in the beginning rather distasteful, but as the book continued I just could not put it down. I really didn't like the incessant poetry reciting, but I grew to love it and found an affinity with the main character. I am not donewith the book yet. I hope she marries Rolland, he seems like such a sweet gentleman.
Rating:
Summary: Rona Jaffe Meets Proust
Review: It was astounding to me that a man could have written this book, that he could have transcended the gender gap so skillfully. Maillard delves into the mind of his protagonist as deftly as a brain surgeon, with a meticulous sensitivity for the zeitgeist, dogma, and idiosyncrasies of her background that puts most women authors to shame. In fact, this could be the best feminist novel I've ever read!
Rating:
Summary: Rites of passage
Review: It's hard to believe that this book was written by a man as he has everything right. As a female who is the same age as the heroine and who knew exactly what Gloria was talking about when she was describing clothes, customs and expectations of that era, I can empathise completely. Young women of today would probably find a lot of this story to be far fetched and totally unbelievable, but it really was like this.
The daughter of a wealthy upper middle class family, Gloria spent her junior and high school days in fear of "not fitting in", and trying to disguise her above average intelligence and academic aspirations, so as not to draw unwelcome attention from her peers. Having finished college with an excellent degree, she now intends to take her Masters at Columbia with a view to teaching poetry at college level.Her socialite mother is urging her to marry and to lead the "normal" life of the young American woman of the 50's, but although Gloria tries to conform, she finds her interim summer to be plagued with doubts about her whole life style.I would like to be able to read further into her future life to see what happens next.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Beautiful
Review: Keith Maillard does a fabulous job in this book. It's the story of Gloria Cotter. It's the late 1950s and Gloria has recently graduated from college, and is going to graduate school for a doctorial degree in English liturature. Maillard displays the repression of women in that time, the country club life, and personal stuggles whille mentioning great poets such as T.S. Eliot and Edmund Spencer. You'll lose yourself in this book, and won't want to be found.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, insightful!
Review: This book enthralled me from beginning to end. The implications of women's need for independence and self-worth are insightful and amazing. Gloria has struggled her way through graduate school. However, her family feels she ought to marry a well-off man to guide her through life. Gloria is torn between doing what is required from a woman and seeking her own dreams and ambitions. She's always lived the typical woman's role when all along she's been intellectual and ambitious. Will she continue to relent to society's wishes? Again, this wonderful book enthralled me. I had it in my bookshelf for quite some time, and I can't believe it took me this long to give this gem a whirl. Highly recommended...
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