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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Enjoyed this book from beginning to end. The end, in fact, was surprisingly satisfying for me. Elisabeth is not always a sympathetic character and some of her choices are not realistic to me, but I liked her nonetheless and found her relationship with Sam easy to connect to.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is about the friendship of two women and two different transformative parts of life, a soon to be college graduate and a new mother in a new town. I loved reading about the growth of the college student, Sam. She watched the adults around her and compared them to herself and her own family and what she wanted for her future. You could see her shift her perspective as she saw the people around her in a more nuanced way.
“The hardest lessons are the ones you have to learn over and and over again”.
This is a beautifully written book. The kind of book you finish and think about for days to come. It is quietly brilliant. About the people who come into our lives, and the hurt we cause one another. About relationships, and family, and growing up. It is a little too long, and a little slow in parts, but I really enjoyed it.
This is a beautifully written book. The kind of book you finish and think about for days to come. It is quietly brilliant. About the people who come into our lives, and the hurt we cause one another. About relationships, and family, and growing up. It is a little too long, and a little slow in parts, but I really enjoyed it.
Well written, great social commentary and relatable.
Although it took me awhile to get engaged, I think that was because of my personal work schedule and the holidays, not the book. Once I had time to read without the burden of other tasks that I had to complete, it was an easy read. An enjoyable story about two women from two different phases of life, who came together and proceeded to ebb and flow together and apart. The Hollow Tree was a thoughtful thread woven into the story.
This feels like the most personal of all the Sullivan books. She understands the mind and heart of a new mother as clearly as she empathizes with the same in a college student. Though the book has fewer plot twists and turns than some of her other novels, it plunges the reader deeply into the lives of the protagonists and their families, their passions and their losses, their responsibilities and avoidance of those. The complications during one year in two women's intertwined lives makes for enjoyable and thoughtful reading. It is hard to come away from the book without feeling like you have two new friends in Sam and Elizabeth. Just as they must reluctantly distance themselves from each other, the reader must relinquish their friendship and move onto other pages, wishing them both well in their separate life pursuits.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a while before I actually read this book since it came out months ago but the library wait was worth it to me. This book is a solid character study of two women who spend the better part of a year becoming 'friends' before they become strangers again. This book is a tale about privilege and class. As it takes place mostly in 2014-2015, its "pre tRump era" time frame is a relief in the sense we remember a time we had at least good leadership. While it isn't necessarily a political book, issues of class and privilege intersect with race in this book in a very refreshing, eye opening way.
Elisabeth is a 30+ something mom to a baby Gil with her husband Andrew, as they recently moved from Brooklyn to some fuzzy upstate suburb. Elisabeth comes from money but out of her principles has refused support from her a** hole dad. She has lofty ideals and her opportunities and the privilege to say no to her dad's dirty money. (How exactly it is dirty isn't said but just shady) she has a younger sister she helped and is keeping secret from her husband. Some details about why she hates her dad are a little unclear but once we meet him, we know enough as readers.
Sam is a senior at the local women's college, an unnamed strong academic program. She becomes Gil's part time babysitter and their worlds collide. Sam is from a middle class background with a supportive family. She's been doing work study in the dorm dining hall and sees the other side where the university employees are treated like sh*t because they aren't faculty. In a few short years there will be a fight for fair pay and benefits, and the MeToo movement but at this time Sam gets involved with Elisabeth's father in law's pet project The Hollow Tree. The Hollow Tree is about how big corporations have driven small businesses under water and what used to be solid middle class are now 'working poor'. Some of this may get derailed by the m a g a folks but we know the 'founder' doesn't give a shit about these people. Sam also has an older boyfriend Clive who lives in London and wants to marry Sam. He constantly puts her down in ways that don't seem obvious to her but clear to Elisabeth once she meets Clive, she viscerally hates him.
Elisabeth and Sam test their boundaries as boss/nanny and that's where things go badly. I did relate to both women in some ways but it was a good reminder that you cannot be friends with your employer. They both misstep and make mistakes that will cause a chasm. This book was an easy read but the plot was a bit slow and subtle.
One plot point made me want to scream. (Who rips up a check for that much money??)
Elisabeth is a 30+ something mom to a baby Gil with her husband Andrew, as they recently moved from Brooklyn to some fuzzy upstate suburb. Elisabeth comes from money but out of her principles has refused support from her a** hole dad. She has lofty ideals and her opportunities and the privilege to say no to her dad's dirty money. (How exactly it is dirty isn't said but just shady) she has a younger sister she helped and is keeping secret from her husband. Some details about why she hates her dad are a little unclear but once we meet him, we know enough as readers.
Sam is a senior at the local women's college, an unnamed strong academic program. She becomes Gil's part time babysitter and their worlds collide. Sam is from a middle class background with a supportive family. She's been doing work study in the dorm dining hall and sees the other side where the university employees are treated like sh*t because they aren't faculty. In a few short years there will be a fight for fair pay and benefits, and the MeToo movement but at this time Sam gets involved with Elisabeth's father in law's pet project The Hollow Tree. The Hollow Tree is about how big corporations have driven small businesses under water and what used to be solid middle class are now 'working poor'. Some of this may get derailed by the m a g a folks but we know the 'founder' doesn't give a shit about these people. Sam also has an older boyfriend Clive who lives in London and wants to marry Sam. He constantly puts her down in ways that don't seem obvious to her but clear to Elisabeth once she meets Clive, she viscerally hates him.
Elisabeth and Sam test their boundaries as boss/nanny and that's where things go badly. I did relate to both women in some ways but it was a good reminder that you cannot be friends with your employer. They both misstep and make mistakes that will cause a chasm. This book was an easy read but the plot was a bit slow and subtle.
One plot point made me want to scream. (Who rips up a check for that much money??)
This book was a bit slow for me but I appreciated thinking about motherhood and relationships, secrets, how we define ourselves etc.