Book Summary and Reviews of Five Days by Douglas Kennedy

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Carolyn

Reflections
From the opening of this story author Douglas Kennedy introduces the reader to three people who are in the throes of questioning their family relationships. What is so brilliantly captivating is the dialogue in this story. Laura's conversations, aloud and privately with herself, could be any woman,s conversations..about obligations, disappointment, disconnecting, and finding the love of oneself.

For me, this was not a casual read. I was caught up quickly into the story and stayed with the turbulence of commitment and desire for Laura, her husband Dan, Richard, and the children. This is a story that most families experience at different stages in a marriage, if we are to be honest. Just the scenario might be different.

The story has a tone of honesty and sincerity, for everyone. After closing the book the reader must take a moment to question where they are within their own circle of the universe.

Sharing this book, FIVE DAYS, on many levels, with a glass of wine and small group of friends, would be lovely way to engage in a conversational adventure!

Christina

Interesting Concept, but Heroine Hard to Like
Five Days is the story about one woman's life and how everything can change in the blink of an eye.

We're introduced to the character in her "every day" life. Her job, her family, her husband, and just day-to-day routine. The next three days entail a work trip to nearby Boston and how events are set in motion to change her life forever. The last day is a year later, checking in on the storyline and seeing where the dust settled after those events.

The beginning and end of the book are well written. Pretty captivating, hook you in to the story, develop characters, and hold your attention.

The middle of the book is incredibly long winded and slow. I actually had to set the book down and didn't pick it up again for about a week because this part was so boring to me.

The heroine is very hard to like. In the beginning of the book we see snippets of her being short tempered, jumping down a stranger's throat, undermining her husband's parenting, and the like. By the center of the book she is a complete pompous snob. Exactly like Diane Chambers from Cheers. You want to like her, and she's the star, but boy does she REALLY grate on your nerves sometimes. Even making her husband a very pessimistic jerk doesn't do much in the way of pleading a case where you take sympathy and feel sorry enough to like her or bond with her.

Overall it's a very cool concept to have a whole novel showcase such a short part of a character's life and the impact that moments in time can have on a person's life. I just wish the heroine was more likeable and that it moved faster in some parts. Not a book you would re-read, but not a book to overlook either.

Jeannie

5 days
As a great fan of Douglas Kennedy, I have bought and re read every one of his books, apart from Woman on the Fifth, which I didn't like either.If 5 Days had been the first one I read I'd never have bought another one. I found it boring, unrealistic and overly linguistic. It was as though DK was letting us know how very erudite he was. I just hated it, and was really glad when I got to the thoroughly unsatisfactory end of it.

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