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Summary: I dig it
Review: I found this book in the NEW FICTION section of my bookstore and read it in three days. I really loved it, and came online to buy it for my mother. It was great.
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Summary: Forgive the Moon
Review: I have enjoyed this book as much as any I have read in a very long time. Having grown up on the Atlantic shore the imagary took me right to the beach and I was able to see and smell the shore. Stahl has great style.
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Summary: Too good for just "summer reading"
Review: I loved this book. Maryanne Stahl has a style and expertise that raise this story of a woman trying to find her place in the world well above the simple romance it could have been. The protagonist's personal struggles--with her flagging marriage, a lover, her role as mother (and potential mother, because she might be pregnant), and the realization of her talents as a musician--are skillfully intercut with scenes from a childhood tempered by the mental illness of her mother. There is much going on here, and yet the book is a quick read. Almost too quick; I was sorry to put it down when I'd finished it.Sue O'Neill
Author: Don't Mean Nothing: Stories of Viet Nam
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Summary: Great Beach Read
Review: I picked this up to read on vacation. I read it on the first day. Once I started, I could not put it down. Best book I've read all year!
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Summary: A Great read.
Review: Maryanne Stahl tells a story the way we live it, in calm moments, quiet whispers, slices of memories. She presents a complicated life without relying on melodrama or a loud writing voice. Her voice is understated; it has no ego. She removes herself so we can see a family, one not too different from any family. In this way (at least for me) the book becomes a generic journey for all of us, particularly women who are pulled by maternal strings, creative urges and sexual longings. Amanda, the protagonist, struggles with neglect. It has haunted her all of her life. Her recently deceased mother was a schizophrenic, and her presence throughout Amanda's life was diaphanous. Her husband has grown distant and may be having an affair. Her cherished daughter has left the nest. And on top of all of this, Amanda thinks she may be pregnant. The setting is the Long Island beach where Amanda's family gathers for their annual family vacation. The story flows seamlessly, moving in and out of time gradually so that we gather the complicated pieces of history as we watch the family interact in the present. The mood is sensual, earthy, and peaceful, like Amanda who finds her comfort in the natural order of life-- the ocean, the fertile soil, the innocent animals. Ms Stahl plants the reader like a seed, with fine detail, allowing imagery to help her speak to us, and it does. By the end we understand more than Amanda and her family. We learn about how one evolves, rejuvenates and finds answers in a life that is like that ocean--complex, teaming with hidden, interconnecting lives, fluid and forgiving, yet tumultuous and unforgiving at times. But always, always demanding respect. A great read. Thoughtful. It will fly by, but take time to read it and think.
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Summary: Beautiful Read!!
Review: Spend a week on the beach with Amanda Kincaid and learn much about your own life. The book reads like one's inner thoughts, and I found myself relating to Amanda in more ways than one. Initially uneasy about her life and where it is going, Amanda emerges as a willing participant in the path of her life. I felt as if I was spending time with a friend. The ending is not an insult to the reader either. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable book...
Review: The publisher insults the reader on the front page with the slogan "Fiction For The Way We Live." (Who's we?) But if you're willing to ignore the publisher's silly marketing, this book is worth the purchase price, and then some. The prose is clear, polished, and unpretentious, and the characters are richly drawn and compelling. Unfortunately, the narrator tends to whine now and then, and I did wish she'd get off her duff and DO something, rather than just reflect on her circumstances and let fate have its way. Also, part of the plot turns on the actions of a mysterious woman who is characterized as an aging hippie-feminist a la Pinkola-Estes, all crystals and myths, which is an unfortunate stereotype indeed. Nonetheless, it's a good read.
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Summary: World's shortest/longest pregnancy??
Review: This book has a big chronological boo-boo. Did anyone else notice that in one flashback we're told that Amanda gave birth to her daughter in October of 1977, then later in the book she's talking to her daughter about the summer her father went away to Ohio with his friend, and how she found out two months later that she was pregnant with the daughter? How could she have learned she was pregnant two months into the summer, and then have given birth to the child in an October? This was either the world's shortest or longest pregnancy...the book is definitely not set in Australia!
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Summary: The flashbacks stick with you
Review: This novel was short and yet very effective. By taking a look at Amanda's life during a week of soul searching, we learn about her whole life and the incidents that shaped her. Stahl's use of the flashback is tremendous! Those parts of the book sing ina melancholy way. I agree with another reviewer about liking Amanda's father- wouldn't his story be an even better book?? Anyway, this is very well-written and as honest a treatment of schizophrenia as you're likely to find in a mainstream novel. If you like this, House Under Snow by Bialosky would also be your cup of tea.
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Summary: A summer of sun, sea, and soul-searching.
Review: This particular summer of Amanda's vacation on the east end of Long Island is different as her world is going through changes she can neither control nor is capable of facing: Her mother's death after years of mental illness during which she was emotionally absent even as she cooked dinners for her family (with that cigarette forever hanging at the side of her mouth, a feather of ash dangling at its end.) Amanda's husband, having recently launched a new business venture with a young female colleague, is asking for "space." Amanda's college-age daughter has made the next step of separation as she has moved in with her boyfriend and chosen to spend the summer away. By the end of the week, oh, well, things are different. Surrounded by a cast of wonderfully detailed and distinct personalities, starting with the absent mother and ending with the new sister-in-law who doesn't quite fit the family constellation, Amanda's perceptions of herself and others alter in ways that are both obvious and subtle.
Stahl's lyrical prose surfs the reader through the scenes of the place, which she obviously loves. From what I hear, she will return to this part of the country in her next novel, and I hope it is another summer vacation.
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