"Listen to you, thought Pen, you are straight out of the clucking sandbox." Actually, this whole book is out of a sandbox - unappealing child-adults that are as unrealistic as they get. The only sympathetic character is Cat - who manages to extract herself from this childish triangle. And when she tries to STAY away - she's hunted down by the idiot trio consisting of her husband (is he in 8th grade?) and two friends that I'd run away from. Adults who use words like "suck" and "freaky" give me the impression that these characters weren't well thought out - torn between adolescence and well...... adolescence.
Lola Lita summed it up when she says, "You must understand that this trip was very important to Cat. She wanted to be --- undisturbed." We all should have been undisturbed by this book.

Words fail me. I know the Pacific theater was hell. My father served on a destroyer escort and was on the Okinawa picket line. He saw a lot of action. But THIS story is almost unbelievable - how do men survive such brutality?? Every time the Bird picked up his kendo stick I cringed. I believe this book should be required history reading for high school students.

Excellent, well-written book. The characters had depth and believability.
While Hemingway certainly is one of the literary giants of the 20th century, he plainly suffers from toxic selfishness. Perhaps all artists do . . . but Hadley suffers at his notion of marriage and stability. He uses her, discards her and uses his central focusing eye on himself. Obviously, Hadley expected more than hanging out with shiftless, unfocused "artists." Hadley and Ernest's marriage is a timeless struggle of failed expectations and ever mounting disappointment while trying to navigate two separate lifestyles. It was a recipe for disaster. Very sad, but not a new story.
I highly recommend this book. Not only for the story, but for the author's obvious writing talent.

I should have known that a book with the word "Stuff" in the title would be just that - "Stuff." This book goes beyond chick books and fairy tales. It is a quick, shallow, derivative read with characters that you would like to throttle. I laughed out loud when I read that while living in an apartment of a couple (with twins!) the guest wife was having a torrid affair with the host husband. And no one was the wiser. Really? However, the plot thickens when the two lovers run into each other again - 25 years later! - in a Manhattan market! And, goodness, the spark is still there. Imagine that! What WILL it take for these two to get over one another?? The big mystery in the book is the absent Whit - a shallower character yet - if that's possible. SO - I could go on, but why bother. I wouldn't recommend this book - it's silly.

This small book held my attention from beginning to end. The reader is immediately pulled into the world of Alexandra/Lexie who's considering her life and will change her life as her name is changed. She's strong and willful. But, perhaps not as strong as Elina who is home with a newborn and a brush with death delivering her son. This story evolves and Lexie, through the death of her lover, continues to surprise the reader with her choices - in life and in men.

Elina, survives the tortuous months of recovering and caring for her son. Ted, the father of Jonah, is suffering from recurring seizures and seems to be facing a downward spiral - fighting vague memories of the past.

Part mystery; part romance - the book ends with shocking acts and resolutions that connect the characters in very interesting ways. I wish it could have been longer. Wonderful read, wonderfully written.

Pat Conroy is a master of prose, clever turn of phrase and an amazing story teller. The South is his turf. I've read almost all of his books. South of Broad is pure Conroy. This book has it all; mystery, romance, tragedy - an excellent read. Being familiar with the Carolina coast, his descriptions of the setting is a love story in itself.
However, while the characters are mostly believable, I found a certain hollowness or one dimensional quality to many of them. At times they project a caricature effect. I was disappointed that he couldn't be more consistent in crafting what, otherwise, were interesting people.

Bottom line - as a Southerner myself, I'll always read a Pat Conroy book.

Few authors have the ability to put evil on paper but Ron Rash has accomplished just that. This taut, dark story puts faces on evil in the persons of husband and wife, Serena and Pemberton. In this compelling read you are reluctantly, yet curiously, pulled into their aura. With great skill, Ron Rash writes of the forces of good and evil - light and dark and keeps forcing the reader to recognize the destructive forces at work. And not just human destruction, but the destruction of acres and acres of timberland that serves as a backdrop to further the ambitious desires of these two people. To them, life is disposable at any cost and lumber more valuable than gold. Serena is capable of murder without a blink of an eye - as long as it serves her malicious need.
This book is sometimes hard to read - but I always came back to it - and so will you. Brilliantly done!