ROXANNA SLADE: A NOVEL

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Summary: My favorite book from Reynolds Price
Review: Although so many of his books are wonderful, this one of Price's spoke most clearly to my heart and soul.I felt that I was being given the privelige of sharing the life of a remarkable woman, although her life would seem ordinary to most - the life of one "average" woman living in the South, a woman often struggling with great hardship, trials and challenges. I've rarely read a novel which looks so honestly at the realities of the racial views of those times, the ways blacks and whites were so separate and why. The often constrained life of women is also portrayed, the endless days with long stretches of time between chores and mealtime and nothing else to do. What is so amazing is how Reynolds Price can make a riveting tale out of such seemingly trivial material - and make the lives of these people reveal a view of the world that is both spiritual and real and absolutely believeable. While the book is far from overwhelmingly gloomy, Price's description of the four year depression which Roxanna suffers at one point in the book is the most honest, unsentimental and yet vivid portrayal of depression I've encountered in a novel, one that those in the mental health professions would do well to read. The real heart of this book lies in Roxanna, of course, and she is a woman both flawed and saintly. An unforgettable character, the kind that will be walking beside me in my thoughts for awhile.

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Summary: some good features, but overall only okay
Review: I felt as if I had lived Roxana's life along with her...the 'sweep and swope' carried me along...her thoughts echoed those in my own mind..made me reflect on the then-now-later of my own life. Very enjoyable.

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Summary: My Book Group Recently Read This
Review: I did not like this book as well as most of the other reviewers did. They have more or less accurately described the plot - the book is the reminiscing of a 90-plus year old woman who has lived her entire life in North Carolina. The problem with the book, for me, is that for the first 60% of the book, she has little to say, and very little interesting happens to her. I did not find any noteworthy insights coming from her statements or observations, just a dry recitation of not-very-interesting facts and events. The last 40% is better; I finally got to feel as though I was listening to a flesh-and-blood person and hearing some of her more intimate and perceptive ideas. But considering how many outstanding books there are out there in the world that I haven't read yet, I don't think this one was the best use of my reading time.

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Summary: Roxana, I wanted more from you!
Review: I was so touched by Roxanna's look at the world - her words of wisdom, her experiences, what she admits to feeling and being... I hope to be as lucid and content with my life at 90! So many of her thoughts had me laughing and thinking and looking inwardly... I'm going to recommend this to the special women in my bookclub - and I look forward to reading more by Mr. Price (emphasis on "mister" - can't believe a man wrote this and could understand a woman so deeply and as if he were looking through our eyes).

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Summary: I knew Roxanna Slade.. I called her Mother.
Review: Once again, Reynolds Price amazed me with his insight into the mind of his character. Roxanna and the other characters were real, human and admirable. This is a book to be read slowly, so that the language can roll around your tongue and the experiences sit in your brain. Like life, it is to be taken one event at a time.

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Summary: Roxanna Slade had an ordinary life and extraordinary insight
Review: One of the best books I have read in years. From an ordinary life with its share of sorrows and joys, Reynolds Price shares wonderful insight about what life is really made. How can a man creep into a soul and body of a woman with such authenticity? Just reading this book reminds me of the pleasure of reading KATE Vaiden, another book I enjoyed. Bravo, writing well can still be moving.

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Summary: Thank you Mr. Price for another wonderful woman.
Review: Roxanna Slade was the first Reynolds Price book I ever read. Price's ability to make Roxanna become a flesh & blood person through words is amazing. He puts the reader right in the middle of the story and it's like YOU ARE THERE. The other characters are very sharply drawn also, expecially Roxanna's mother-in-law. Naturally, when I read Roxanna Slade, I couldn't wait to check out his other works and the first one I chose was Kate Vaiden. In my estimation, this book, which was widely acclaimed, fell far short of the mark. Of course, since Price seems to be headed in the right direction, I'll be waiting for his next venture.