You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
I really, really enjoyed this in audiobook form, narrated by Mary Beth Hurt. She was almost perfect for the voice of Hildy Good. Her Frank had me thinking of Red Green, but I love Red Green, so it wasn't terrible.
Hildy is a great example of a complicated, unreliable narrator. There's some foreshadowing that, combined with Hildy's alcoholism, really left me guessing. She was such a great character because she seemed fairly real. She was funny, selfish, vulnerable, strong, sad, disappointing, sweet, and endlessly frustrating. The side characters were all people we know in real life, especially if you've ever lived in a small town. Frank was the best.
Hildy is a great example of a complicated, unreliable narrator. There's some foreshadowing that, combined with Hildy's alcoholism, really left me guessing. She was such a great character because she seemed fairly real. She was funny, selfish, vulnerable, strong, sad, disappointing, sweet, and endlessly frustrating. The side characters were all people we know in real life, especially if you've ever lived in a small town. Frank was the best.
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
The interview with the author revealed that this book was originally supposed to be about a patient having an affair with her psychiatrist, but the enigmatic character, Hildy Good, kept inserting herself into the narrative to such an extent that Hildy became the main character. Indeed, Hildy has a big personality and made this realtor-fiction with a bit of mystery and a bit of magic an enjoyable read.
Starts out slow. KEEP GOING! WORTH IT! ::buys more Ann Leary::
Narrator Mary Beth Hurt was excellent for the audiobook
#bookreview #readfineprintreviews I’m a new follower of the Modern Mrs. Darcy and she recommended this as an amazing audio book. I downloaded it immediately from Scribd and SHE WAS RIGHT. I’m a new fan of Ann Leary AND Ann Bogel.
•
The audiobook reader of this book, Mary Beth Hurt, brings this book to life. The plot builds slowly with Hildy Good, a sixty something year old, divorced realtor as the narrator.
•
And that’s the first reason the book is amazing: Hildy’s character. I think years from now I may forget she was a book and I will think she was someone I knew. Is this book character driven? Yes. But it’s also a great story. In the end it actually turns into a mystery. Second reason this book is so good: the setting of Wendover, Massachusetts was so real to me that when the author (in the interview afterwards) said it was fictional I let out a big sigh. I seriously want to go there! She said it was modeled after her hometown.
•
Alcoholism is a huge theme in this book and also: adultery, raising a disabled child, motherhood, and also there are horses
•
The audiobook reader of this book, Mary Beth Hurt, brings this book to life. The plot builds slowly with Hildy Good, a sixty something year old, divorced realtor as the narrator.
•
And that’s the first reason the book is amazing: Hildy’s character. I think years from now I may forget she was a book and I will think she was someone I knew. Is this book character driven? Yes. But it’s also a great story. In the end it actually turns into a mystery. Second reason this book is so good: the setting of Wendover, Massachusetts was so real to me that when the author (in the interview afterwards) said it was fictional I let out a big sigh. I seriously want to go there! She said it was modeled after her hometown.
•
Alcoholism is a huge theme in this book and also: adultery, raising a disabled child, motherhood, and also there are horses
I keep waiting for the main character to develop a personality besides being a whinny spoiled rotten drunk. The writing was solid and i liked some of the peripheral characters, but was not worth the time that it took to listen to this book.
I kept waiting for a climax that never came. This was disappointing, and made all the potential foreshadowing and side-plots seem more like filler because they didn’t lead to anything. There were times in the story that I became bored, but decided to hold on because it seemed like something life shattering was just around the corner. Though this book was great in the way that it chronicled the stages of alcoholism/denial, I felt that could have been done in less time and without the side plots (very random, unrelated and unresolved side plots). I like Hildy as an unreliable narrator, and I like how we are left to fill in what happens during her blackouts much like she herself would have to. However, some of the things she believes she experienced were a little far-fetched. A lot of her actions were very unsafe like driving after drinking and being around her grandson in that state, but these things are never touched on. I get that the authour may have attempted to imitate real life by showing the way that people ignore things that are awkward, and that doing this can have serious consequences, but I feel like, for Hildy, there were zero consequences. She never hit someone with her car, she never had a real fallout with someone in her life that lasted more than five minutes, and she never risked her career. We also never really heard much from her daughters about why she was sent to rehab in the first place. Just a mildly mundane, uneventful story for me.
I liked the narrators voice, I could really visualize Hildy Good as a person. I also really liked the allusions to magic and witches, I like that this was a small touch that was simply a way of life and wasn’t overly expanded or focused on.
I liked the narrators voice, I could really visualize Hildy Good as a person. I also really liked the allusions to magic and witches, I like that this was a small touch that was simply a way of life and wasn’t overly expanded or focused on.
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes