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lastpaige111's review against another edition
5.0
Anything I can think to say about this book would be a spoiler, beyond that it's one of the most lyrical texts I've ever consumed, and consumed it I did, like sour candy. There.
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Tassie Keltjin is a 20-year-old Midwest farm girl who is now away at college in a larger city than that in which she grew up. She gets a part-time job as a nanny to a couple who are eager to adopt a child; so eager, that she is hired before a child is placed with them, and she is asked to participate in the “parent” interviews. She has a roommate who is mostly absent - spending all her time at her boyfriend’s place - and a possible new romance with a Brazilian student she sits next to in “Intro to Sufism.” Her father grows organic, specialty potatoes that are all the rage in trendy restaurants as far away as Chicago. Her younger brother Robert is struggling in his senior year of high school and trying to decide whether to go into the Army, go to college, or attend the local truck driving school (the latter said only half jokingly), and he wants his sister’s advice.
If that plot summary doesn’t sound gripping, it is because it isn’t. This is more of a character study than a plot-driven story. Moore’s writing is wonderful in places; I kept reading aloud to anyone who would listen. She plays with words and images and completely entertained that part of my brain. But I kept wondering where the story was going.
There are some major things that happen to Tassie. And she is faced with issues of racism, terrorism in post 9/11 America, budding romance, loss of loved ones, etc. A lot of plot elements – big and small – seem to just … end, never to be mentioned again.
For example … Baby Mary-Emma is taken away, never to be heard from again. Reynaldo turns out to be not-only-NOT Brazilian, but probably a terrorist … or is he? Murph is nearly poisoned by a concoction made by Tassie’s nutso boss Sarah, apparently with the intent to poison her husband and/or his paramour … or not. The whole scene where she crawls into the casket with the remains of her brother is not just creepy, it’s completely unbelievable.
Okay then … what about character development? I like a character-driven novel. But I have to be able to connect to the character in some way, to understand her (even if I do not like her), to want to know what and how she thinks and feels and how her emotions and values affect her actions. I liked Tassie just fine. We do get a lot of her musings, but there is a lot of rambling in her thoughts and I don’t get a clear sense of who she is. I just didn’t connect with her strongly enough to overcome the lack of plot. As for the other characters in the book … I didn’t connect with them at all.
So I give it 3 stars primarily because I love Moore’s ability with words. Too bad she could not manage to give me a story line that engaged me and kept me wanting more Moore.
If that plot summary doesn’t sound gripping, it is because it isn’t. This is more of a character study than a plot-driven story. Moore’s writing is wonderful in places; I kept reading aloud to anyone who would listen. She plays with words and images and completely entertained that part of my brain. But I kept wondering where the story was going.
There are some major things that happen to Tassie. And she is faced with issues of racism, terrorism in post 9/11 America, budding romance, loss of loved ones, etc. A lot of plot elements – big and small – seem to just … end, never to be mentioned again.
Spoiler
For example … Baby Mary-Emma is taken away, never to be heard from again. Reynaldo turns out to be not-only-NOT Brazilian, but probably a terrorist … or is he? Murph is nearly poisoned by a concoction made by Tassie’s nutso boss Sarah, apparently with the intent to poison her husband and/or his paramour … or not. The whole scene where she crawls into the casket with the remains of her brother is not just creepy, it’s completely unbelievable.
Okay then … what about character development? I like a character-driven novel. But I have to be able to connect to the character in some way, to understand her (even if I do not like her), to want to know what and how she thinks and feels and how her emotions and values affect her actions. I liked Tassie just fine. We do get a lot of her musings, but there is a lot of rambling in her thoughts and I don’t get a clear sense of who she is. I just didn’t connect with her strongly enough to overcome the lack of plot. As for the other characters in the book … I didn’t connect with them at all.
So I give it 3 stars primarily because I love Moore’s ability with words. Too bad she could not manage to give me a story line that engaged me and kept me wanting more Moore.
timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
3.0
another recommendation from amazon
small college town story...
Eh...didn't hate it, didn't love it. Parts were really interesting, but other parts were slow, odd, didn't seem to fit in....and I never quite cared enough about any of the characters.
small college town story...
Eh...didn't hate it, didn't love it. Parts were really interesting, but other parts were slow, odd, didn't seem to fit in....and I never quite cared enough about any of the characters.
tamilynn1313's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
mepresley's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A coming-of-age story. I really enjoyed the narrator, Tassie--her sense of humor, her tendency to over-think and philosophize. In some ways, this is a retelling of Jane Eyre. A girl leaving her childhood behind takes a job as a childcare provider with a semi-mysterious employer. Rochester's ward is replaced by Edward (the name another nod to Jane Eyre) & Sarah's soon-to-be-adopted Mary- Emma. Their last name, Thornwood, invokes Thornfield Hall. Mary-Emma can also be viewed, however, as Bertha, significantly the middle name that Sarah gives her,--an Other who is in some ways entrapped and victimized. Mary-Emma's room is even in the attic of the Thornfield house.
The employer's dark secret comes out into the open and our Tassie/ Jane figure parts ways with the household. Ultimately, where Jane Eyre ends with Rochester and Jane reconnecting and the line, "Reader, I married him," A Gate at the Stairs ends with Edward calling Tassie to ask her out and Tassie telling us, "Reader, I did not even have coffee with him." LOL.
Sarah was also a compelling character, and I would have been interested to see (that part of) the story from her perspective, too.
Moore explores racism and the post-9/11 world: Mary-Emma is half-black; Sarah starts a support group for other parents of minority children; Tassie dates a secret Muslim extremist ; Tassie's brother, Robert, joins the military directly out of high school and is immediately sent to Afghanistan after Basic Training.
The employer's dark secret comes out into the open and our Tassie/ Jane figure parts ways with the household. Ultimately, where Jane Eyre ends with
Sarah was also a compelling character, and I would have been interested to see (that part of) the story from her perspective, too.
Moore explores racism and the post-9/11 world: Mary-Emma is half-black; Sarah starts a support group for other parents of minority children; Tassie dates a secret
chloekg's review against another edition
1.0
In this New York Times bestseller with unnecessary post-9/11 ghosts, the book's quirky-yet-featureless protagonist bumbles through a series of uncomfortable and unsuccessful relationships that could have interesting social commentary except for each of them ending with incoherent and abrupt tragedy. Everything turns out poorly, and the only lesson of it is a bleakly unrealistic, "that's just how it is sometimes."
liambetts's review against another edition
4.0
Phenomenal on a sentence / paragraph level but the structure / plot was really all over the place and it felt like it was trying to do too much and not giving enough time or focus to any particular thread
telemanusjellybeanco's review against another edition
1.0
Did not enjoy at all. I have no clue what the book was supposed to be about. There were too many little stories within this one novel, and they weren't even good. I enjoyed the main character, but everything else was just dull. I skipped most of the last 10 pages, just reading dialogue so I could get through it. That was pointless...I could have put the book down 200 pages ago...
hectaizani's review against another edition
2.0
What did I just read? I really can't figure out why some books are picked for the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. In A Gate at the Stairs, a fiftyish author is trying to write about a twenty-year-old co-ed and failing miserably. Tassie wasn't really sympathetic or believable to me. Her job as a nanny seemed thrown in because there wasn't any closure with her experiences with Sarah and Mary-Emma. Edward's characterizations were flat and he turned out to be a
Oh well, I can put another checkmark in my 1001-Books and hope that the next one is better. I hesitated between 1 and 2 stars. Many people did like this book and it wasn't completely unredeemable but it really wasn't for me. Honestly, a 1.5 is my real rating. I personally didn't like it but the writing wasn't horrible. It just didn't reel me in.
Spoiler
pervert. Who calls the 20-year-old nanny after the divorce to ask her out to dinner? That was absolutely unnecessary and a terrible ending.Oh well, I can put another checkmark in my 1001-Books and hope that the next one is better. I hesitated between 1 and 2 stars. Many people did like this book and it wasn't completely unredeemable but it really wasn't for me. Honestly, a 1.5 is my real rating. I personally didn't like it but the writing wasn't horrible. It just didn't reel me in.