The movie was okay, but it wasn’t exactly memorable. I rented it after reading Jenn’s “Good in Bed” that I’d picked up at the airport and devoured in a few hours. To me, this movie was equivalent to Stephen King’s first novels made into movies. It lacked a certain chutzpah that makes Jenn’s writing so engaging as the first movies based on King’s novels lacked. For example: Cujo as a book rocked. But the movie SUCKED because you just had to be in Cujo’s head to really appreciate what was transpiring. When King became directly involved in the movies, they worked. I know Jenn was involved to a degree in the production of this movie but got the gist it wasn’t a hands-on experience and being that it was her first, I’m certain she was too giddy with the whole idea to really feast upon it and mold it into what she saw in her head when writing it. I’d recommend reading Jennifer Weiner’s novels instead.

Review to come soon!

Kathie
http://ejourn.net/journal/

I’ll have to come back to this entry when I have the book next to me to do a decent review. But I wanted to give it a rating and here’s why:

Anitra Sheen does an excellent job of weaving a tale that draws the reader in as she tells the story from the view of a young woman who at a very young age is left to forge her own way beyond her older brothers’ influences and behavioral changes as they come to age and her father’s manner of raising them which is well outside the norm for any generation. The voice of each individual is clear, something I think many writers are challenged with when writing from a first person narrative.

As “skalla” says, it’s a very sad story. But I also found it to be a well written story about a middle aged man coming to terms with the death of his son and the ruinous effects that loss has had on the entire scope of his life, the reaffirmation of how devoted his friends are, the differences between grieving and harnessing blame so many of us succumb to in the wake of such a tragedy and so much more. I may read it again because Alison McGhee tends to write boldly between the lines and if my husband can’t tolerate it when I talk that way, I might as well enjoy it when someone can write that way!

I highly recommend this book, even more so if you’ve experienced an unexpected loss in your family or close circle of friends.

I recently discussed this book with a friend whose a librarian and whom actively participates in a book club (where they actuall do read the books). She said didn’t feel the younger club participants will be interested because it doesn’t have a “storybook” feel to it with dialogue and such. However, I found this accounting to be startling, driven and written with a flair I didn’t expect from someone whose life was engulfed in a very different and highly unacceptable family lifestyle. Dorothy gives a historical explanation as needed to help better understand how events she covers during her own lifetime were affected by those historical aspects. There are other books regarding polygamy, one that I still have on my shelf and can’t make it through the rather stifling research marked over with footnotes and such, but I found this one to be the most sincere and done in a way that I felt welcomed into that world long enough to get a better understanding.

I do feel there were areas where Dorothy or her editor left out details as I did find a want, especially when she delved into her teenaged years and then again when she married. For this reason, I’ve rated it 4 stars. Nonetheless, I highly recommend it.