Scan barcode
hobbs1's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ovenbird_reads's review against another edition
3.0
An enjoyable book, though not as compelling as Late Nights on Air. Norma Joyce is a well crafted character, but I felt that this book kept reminding me of other Canadian novels. There was something about it that I feel has been overdone--something about the desolation and the landscape and the unrelenting press of the weather on the land. However, I really liked the organic images, and the way plants wind their way into the plot. Worth reading.
sara_harvey's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
snowmaiden's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book very much, especially the first section that tells of Norma Joyce's childhood in Saskatchawan. Her later travels take her first to Ottawa and then to New York City, and she finally ends up back on the prairie where it all began. It's a very gentle book and well worth reading.
_mallc_'s review
3.0
For the most part the book was mighty depressing. It reminded me a bit of "Fall on Your Knees." Norma Joyce was an interesting character and the Hardy's were an interesting family but I found both the women to be a tad pathetic. The neatest thing about reading the book was that during the first half I happened to be driving through southwestern Saskatchewan and passed all the little towns mentioned in the book (even Willow Bend!).
suannelaqueur's review against another edition
4.0
HOLY CRAP. This book was amazing. A little draggy at the end, like it couldn't decide whether to end, but I really didn't want it to end anyway. Just gorgeous.
nathanstrem's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
betag1013's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
maxfrost's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gef's review against another edition
4.0
In 1937, when she is 8 years old, dark, homely and unloved little Norma Joyce falls in love with a handsome stranger 15 years her senior. The problem is, so does her beautiful 16-year old sister Lucinda. Maurice Dove has come to the family's farmhouse in the Saskatchewan prairie to study the weather during the long dry spell. He is charming, weak-willed, and utterly oblivious to the havoc he leaves behind him. Norma Joyce will spend the next decades, in Ottawa and New York City, seeking and partially finding the love she was denied by Maurice -- who fathers her son -- and her embittered father Ernest, who ends up dying in her care and wishing she were Lucinda. It's a story of sibling rivalry, prairie hardship, weather, many kinds of trees, and growing wiser. It's beautifully told.