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There are currently 36 member reviews
for Next to Love
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Susan P. (Boston, MA)
Next to Love
The best part of this book revolving around wives of soldiers going overseas during WWII was in-depth understanding of the women. The issues of army wives following husbands from camp to camp was unknown to me, especially the strong feelings people had about it. However, I felt as though I had pages missing from the end of the book. There seemed to be no resolution or decisions made or at least statements about accepting one's life. The characters started out interesting and ended up one dimensional. A good read but the end was flat.
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Deborah C. (Orlando, Fla)
Next To Love
Really got hooked in the beginning; held my attention through the middle, but a tiny let down at the end. Would recommend for the character intricacies and especially for the female leads.
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Mij W. (Bainbridge Island, WA)
Historical Fiction About WWII, Three Women & Their Husbands
In Next to Love, I escaped back to WWII and saw life through the eyes of three women and their husbands, all affected by the war. As I followed their stories, I often found myself thinking of my mother and my aunts, picturing their lives as young women, starting out in life, and then with families, through the years, seeing what was expected of them as wives and mothers.
The brutality and tragedy of the war was vividly brought out, and how each of the three women responded to events affecting their husbands and their own lives. I liked how some of these effects were spread out over a span of years, which is the way life is sometimes. Sometimes in life, an event will happen that jars. It can take years for a resolution, for healing.
History buffs will find this book very satisfying.
Some criticisms:
Throughout the book, it felt like there was a narrator standing in the background, telling the story. This worked for me sometimes, but at other times, no. Sometimes I wondered whose voice it was--the narrator’s, or the character that was being portrayed in a particular chapter.
The other thing about the narrator’s words--it felt like “telling” instead of showing. I was being instructed about some idea about WWII or other things. When I read a novel, I do not like to be “told” something. I prefer to “see” it in a picture of words painted by the author. I realize this is not always possible, that some telling has to be there. But here, I thought it was too often, too much.
Finally, what I really wanted more of, but which would have required a novel of many more pages, was more knowledge of the three women’s characters, more of their personal stories, or whatever ways authors use to “develop” their characters. Although each of the stories in the novel were interesting to read, I never felt like I really knew them intimately, never truly got inside their shoes.
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Erin S. (Springville, UT)
Soon Forgotten
Next to Love is an ambitious novel that suffered from trying to fit too much story into too short of a book. Three very different women face challenges that should have created a real emotional impact given the subject matter. However, I never felt connected to any of the characters. Trying to tell their stories over so many years left less room for the development of their characters. The pacing and cohesion of the book always felt off. There were some moments of great writing and times when I did want to see what would happen next. I do think there was a lot of potential. Overall it was a book that I do not regret reading, but not one that I will remember for long.
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Nan G. (Mazomanie, WI)
Next to Boring
I wanted to like Next to Love. The premise--following a group of friends from WWII until the 60's-- seemed to offer a different twist to the usual "women & friendships" novel. Instead I found myself struggling to finish, in spite of some beautifully written phrases and intriguing plot lines. The characters were one dimensional and felt stereotypical---the girl from the wrong side of the tracks; the good girl. What could have been a fascinating glimpse of history through the eyes of women who lived through it left me cold by the end.
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Wandel (Morrilton, Ar)
Next to Love
I found this book very ordinary. At times she wrote beautiful sentences, other times I could hardly follow. There was not one character that I really liked. I felt like there were to many unresolved situations.
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Molly K. (San Jose, CA)
What is Next to Love
Next to Love came with promise, excitement, nostalgia, and expectations that were well beyond what I found. Ellen Feldman created a tableau of interesting players. In the mix were whites, blacks, Jews, a rich banker, and a woman from the “wrong side of the tracks”. The story is told through chapter sets, each chapter covering several years with a sub-section devoted to each of three women. I liked watching the characters change over time as the country changed with them.
But, in the end, the story was boring and somewhat predicable. The dialog is often stilted and the characters unsympathetic. Only twice did I find myself wanting to know more about how they were dealing with the issues at hand.
Told in the present tense, the writer often seemed to be an invisible wall between me and her characters. I suppose present tense is intended to make the narrative more intense, perhaps create a sense of urgency. For me, though, it is overused, intrusive, and annoying. Feldman dots her story with historical snippets to let us know she did her homework and to put a framework about the women’s lives.
Okay, okay, so I expected the distaff version of The Best Years of our Lives. The book did not deliver.
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