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There are currently 22 member reviews
for Never Coming Back
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Christine P. (Gig Harbor, WA)
Never Coming Back
Never Coming Back is the perfect title for this book. If you have ever had Alzheimer's touch your life, you will know exactly what I mean by that. Clara Winter in losing her mother to the disease. She goes on a journey to know her mother and her self. Since I am a lover of words and writing, I love that Clara is too. Her mother had called her "Word Girl". The game show Jeopardy plays a big part of the story and it made me laugh at times how the author used it to point out some of the absurdities of life.
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Carol N. (Indian Springs Village, AL)
Never Coming Back
This is a very good book about mother-daughter dynamics and what happens when someone loses themselves in dementia or Alzheimer s I am an only child and my mother is a widow so this story was very close to home for me. My mother has not shown signs of dementia yet but my maternal grandmother passed from Alzheimer's when she was 93. I found the writing slightly strange and while it didn't make reading the book difficult, it was somewhat annoying to me so that is why I gave it a 4. Seeing how Clara grows up an grows closer to her mother throughout the book redeemed her character to me. I also enjoyed Chris and his unconditional love and ability to take life as it came. I think this would be a great book club book although it might be difficult for some to read if they have family members with this debilitating disease. .
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Susan P. (Boston, MA)
Never Coming Back
The title of the book refers to what will happen to the narrator's mother (who has early-onset Alzheimer disease); Clara is told that her mother -- as she knew her -- is never coming back. Clara has come back to upstate New York to look out for her mother (in a care facility) with whom she's had a fraught relationship. The story seemed a little plodding but about halfway through it becomes more engaging. There are heartbreaking moments and characters you would like if you knew them. And a little mystery of sorts thrown in.
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Marjorie W. (Bonita Springs, FL)
Never Coming Back
Interesting read - deals with Clara's unsettled issues and feelings about her mother - brought to the forefront as her mother, Tamar, starts to lose her memory. As Tamar fades, Clara tries to find answers to what happened and shy her mother sent her away to college.
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Virginia M. (San Antonio, TX)
Good artistry but...
I need to explain up front that I am a happy and healthy 83 year old woman living in a retirement community. Unfortunately, I have witnessed friends and family members reach a point in life where they, too, have become victims of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Some of those people have struggled to find the way "home" and some have continued to live without seemingly being aware of the fact that they are "lost".
So, wow! How should I describe my feelings about this book? I usually can find the words to express my feelings about the books I have read, but this one really stumped me. The first word that comes to my mind is: "weird". I read another review that called the book heartwarming and fascinating. Not! The book left me feeling very uneasy.
The author made me feel as if I had been inside the brain of a 31 year old woman (Clara) who is facing the problem of how to deal with her fifty one year old mother (Tamar) who is suffering from early onset Alzheimer's disease. As I read the book, I identified with Clara and it was not a comfortable feeling. I should have identified with Tamar and I wish the author would have let me do that through flashbacks. So, how do you rate a book that left you feeling disturbed?
I think the author was able to describe the mish-mash of Clara's feelings of loving concern and yet deep seated resentment about why she and her mother have never been able to really know and understand each other. Yet, now that I have completed reading it, I am not sure I understand what has happened.
I am not good at figuring out the abstract – and, to me, the resolution of Clara's search is not clearly stated. I think Clara finally was able to find relief and an ability to look forward to the rest of her own life but I still feel somewhat confused. I don't think that was how the author wanted me to feel. I guess I am just not smart enough to grasp the message.
So I am going to give the book a high rating for artistry but just between you and me I cannot really say I enjoyed it.
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Nancy K. (Perrysburg, OH)
Mother/Daughter relationship
Clara, the daughter of Tamar is the narrator of this story. She is a college graduate who has formed a business called "Words by Winters" she charges $100 for 100 words. Sometimes she writes blurbs for the back of an author's book, sometimes it is an invitation to a party. She even writes obituaries when a family member disliked the dead relative and couldn't find kind words to write about the person.
This is an odd job but then I found Clara to be a strange person. Very immature in the beginning but there seems to be some growth to her character at the end.
Tamar has early onset Alzheimers and is living in a facility. Her condition progresses rapidly with Clara trying to get answers to questions that she should have asked years earlier.
The author is a "word person" also and some of her descriptions are beautiful. Others are way too wordy and unnecessary. If the reader were not a Jeopardy watcher on TV she might also be confused as the author refers to this TV show frequently. Clara's best friends are Sunshine and Brown- last names or first names - hard to tell. Also, hard to tell which is the male and which is the female. Some reviewers have called this a heart warming book but I can't agree with them. I would call it a short story that expanded to become a novel that will appeal to those readers who want to read a sad story about how early onset Alzheimers affected a mother and her daughter.
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Susan O. (Charlotte, VT)
Wishing for Words
Alison McGhee offers a painful book for mothers and daughters and the words a daughter wishes she had said: "Why didn't I talk to her? Why didn't she talk to me? Why did we leave so much unsaid, back then, and still?" The daughter, the narrator, tells us she is the Winter of Words. Yes, indeed. No daughter can read this without what Emily Dickinson called a zero to the bone, particularly if her mother is gone and there is no chance for any more words.
I found it difficult to get through all the minutiae of a facility offering care for Alzheimer patients. Although I respected the author's carefully chosen words, these very words seemed out of place.
I confess that my not being a Jeopardy fan didn't help with my becoming engaged with the book but leaving that aside, I think this is a special book for a very special reader and not the general population.
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