The Library of Congress data for this book categorizes it as "family life, romance, western" and the preface to the book ends with two questions that hint that maybe it was written as a "who dun it" book. I think both of these things are misleading to potential readers. I think that those people who pick this book based upon a hope it will primarily be a mystery with a touch of romance will likely be somewhat disappointed while those who start reading it as historical novel based upon a true story will find it quite satisfying; but that is just my opinion. However, I received this free book under the First Impressions program of Book Browse in exchange for my honest opinion so I want to comply with that commitment.

The book is decidedly full of history about the McCarthy trial era in our nation's history and it is based upon an actual event where a man and his family are viciously accused of being dirty "Commies". His reputation is ruined and later his family is murdered by a man who was so influenced by the call to rid this country of people with Marxist leanings that he committed murder. Home Sweet Home pretty much used the specific details of that true story as the basis for its plot – changing only the family's name to Kusek and the location to South Dakota.

My favorite type of novel is historical fiction and I applied for one of the free books for that reason. I graduated from college in 1956 so I lived during the McCarthy era but I thoroughly enjoyed how the book helped me to remember the paranoia that existed in our country at that time. I also found myself comparing how similar the incidents in the book were to the 2016 election where both sides used lies and smear campaigns in an effort to sway the public.

Like so many books I have recently read, the book switches back and forth from the 1980s to the 1950s but I found it easy to follow – the publisher even printed the 1980s episodes in a different font style to help readers keep it straight.

Although my political leanings are definitely on the other side of the aisle from Mr Kusek, I identified with their concerns, longings to find a peaceful life style, and love for each other. The drama of the family life added to the historical aspect of the book.

I definitely would recommend the book for people who enjoy dramatic historical fiction.

I will start out by saying that I liked this book. Now it would not be a wild enthusiastic endorsement, but rather a pat on the back type of approval.

I love to learn something from the books I read and this book accomplished that goal. . The book is about a journey through Texas by a male senior citizen and a pretty self- reliant 10 year old girl. Captain Kidd was a senior citizen who earned a living by being an itinerant public speaker who read the head line news from a variety of newspaper to folks living in towns and villages in Texas in 1870. The little girl was Johanna who he was hired to deliver to an aunt and uncle after having been forced to live with the Kiowa Indians for 4 years.

While I have lived in San Antonio for over 50 years, I was pretty much unaware of the turbulent and controversial Texas state politics during this period of history. So the book was an eye opener on that aspect. On the other hand, while well described, the other rugged aspects of the journey through Texas by Captain Kidd and his passenger, did not surprise me.

I had previously read other books that were also based on the fact that many such children did not welcome their freedom from the Indian family that was the only life they could remember, they knew, so this aspect did not surprise me. Along this same line, however, I did really enjoy reading about the building relationship between the two of them and the trust and respect that grew within both of them. .

I had a couple of problems to overcome. One was the style of writing. To me, the writing tended to be abrupt as if there was a rationing of words in effect and the author had to get it done with the fewest possible words. And similarly, it also appeared that punctuation was also in short supply so she left out the normal quotation marks, etc. Fortunately, the reader can get used to this style of writing in time and this style result in a book with only 200 plus pages rather than 500 plus pages – and I have the impression that the readers' satisfaction with the book decreases as the pages increase.

Secondly, I had to sometimes say the words that Johanna's words out loud to catch the meaning of every word. The phonetic spelling did succeed in helping a reader to understand her struggle to communicate so you have got to admire the surprising grit of a little girl her age; however, I must confess that a couple of times, I am not sure I interpreted it correctly.

Finally, the cover of the book made me concerned when I first saw it. I thought that the book might be as dull as the washed out colors in the cover. My opinion is that the cover makes it look like something that has been stored away for a bunch of years and only resurfaced recently.

I have just read the copy of The Six by Laura Thompson that I received under the First Impressions program of BookBrowse.com. I am sorry to report that my impression is negative.

As I begin, I must say in all fairness that in my opinion Laura Thompson took on a huge job when she attempted to write a biographical account of these six women in one book; but, even considering the enormity of the task, I am glad I did not spend my money to acquire the book. At the risk of sound presumptuous (because I have never even tried to do what she has done), I have two suggestions if she should try the same thing again.

First, I would try to organize the content of the book in a more orderly manner. The book seemed to have been written and then thrown into a mixing bowl before being printed. After having completed my task of reading the book, I tried to go back and figure out what organizational pattern this book utilized and I could not do it.

Second, at the risk of sounding like someone who has difficulty assimilating complex material, I usually had to relax for a bit after reading for a short period of time. I think this was because the sentences in the book rambled. This therefore prevented me from relaxing while I read despite the fact that I was just reading for pleasure. This circumstance bothered me. I may have felt differently if I had been involved in solving a puzzle to discover the secret of achieving peace on earth – under those circumstances, I would not have begrudged having to utilize a little effort. I will admit however that as I was trying to get my own thoughts in order before I began composing this review the thought did cross my mind that quite possibly I was just an American trying to undertake reading a thoroughly British book.

In order to end this review on a somewhat positive note, I will say that having been introduced to the family by this book, I feel led to try to find out more about these fascinating people. It is almost astonishing that these six women ended up with such unique and diverse interests, character, and philosophies considering they were born of the same two parents and raised in the same family.

To me, this book seems to be a collection of vignettes about different people living in the wine country of Provence. I tried, I really tried over and over to get into this book. I kept reading although I was not enjoying it and then started skimming. I thought if I skimmed and got a sense of the over- all story and purpose of the book, I could go back and enjoy the experience of reading it but nothing seemed connected. I felt the same way about the book as I do when I look at an abstract painting. No matter how hard I try, I cannot see what other people see in such paintings.

My problem might have been that I expected this book to be a story of two old friends who re-discover each other many years later. That tale is in there, from what I could tell, but there is much more ink given to tales about other people. I am not even sure I should call the two old friends the main characters of the book.

I was partly attracted to offer to read the book in exchange for an honest review because I anticipated that those two characters would live through the Nazi occupation of France. (Historical fiction is my favorite type of book.) There was indeed a section of one chapter in the middle of the book about another character's unhappy experience during the Nazi occupation but as I read it I was still wondering about the life of the two main characters during the same period of time.

On a positive side, I will say the prejudice in France encountered by the Algerian workers did interest me.

To conclude, I blame myself for becoming involved in the process of reviewing this book rather than blaming the author for her effort to give us an enjoyable book. I am anxious to read reviews by other readers to see if I am truly alone in giving this book such a low rating. I hope for this author's sake that others love it.

p.s. I am curious about the title: "Amour Provence". Does the word "Amour" in the title mean love as in "I love Provence" or maybe "Love in Provence"? I searched to see if Amour was a village in Provence. It does not appear that it is. I did find a cottage in Provence that is called Amour Provence and think possibly that is the name of the author's own farmhouse????

I received a free copy of this book under the First Impressions program of BookBrowse in trade for the promise of an honest review. Their generosity in providing the book did not impact my review.

My favorite type of book is historical fiction - one based on actual historical facts but with the necessary fiction thrown it to tie the facts together and to make it an interesting. I really looked forward to liking this book because I had heard that Michelle Gable was a good writer. So I really anticipated enjoying this book.

Alas, I cannot say it ended up being an enjoyable read. The problems consisted of:

1. It did not really include much history – at least not that I could recognize. Apparently Gladys Spencer-Churchill was a real person but the historical facts that are included in the book were unrecognizable as far as I was concerned. I am not discounting the peculiarities of her personality because those characteristics shown in the book may be the true to life characteristics she actually possessed but that did not make it historical fiction in my estimation. I like the books that make history come alive for me.

2. I thought the inclusion of so much "doggy" stuff was overdone. I apologize if that is one part that has been shown to be historically accurate –but I think we could have done for less feces and like the doggy stuff that had been there for so long it had lost its smell.

3. The middle part of the book was too slow paced in my opinion. For me, the best part was the last part. It is too bad that there was so much to wade through before we got there.

I think the author undertook a very difficult task when she chose to make this three stories in one but I think she did a notable job in keeping everything straight for the readers. I also think that the ending was a great twist to the story. I liked that.

I kept wondering why this book was given the title it had, but then when I came to the part of the book where the title came from, I decided it was an appropriate title; however, people who buy the book expecting Paris to figure into the plot may be disappointed.

I finished reading this book on the same day that I got it from as a part of the First Impressions program on BookBrowse. The reason I could do this was that it was very easy reading. It was almost like I was reading a Dear Abby letter in the newspaper. I guess that description would mean that someday it is not going to become a Great American Literary classic; but I kept me reading.

I don't think that I found myself in the book (although some of my acquaintances from the days that I was at that stage of my life might disagree with that analysis) but I did find some people that I have met during my journey through life.

This is a contemporary novel about a mother who had an "I don't have to take this anymore" moment at a PTA meeting. This feeling prompted her to interrupt the president by shouting a four letter word and ordinarily she faded into the wall paper at such meetings. What is more, she never, ever cursed.

I think it would be good fodder for discussions at a Book Club – there are several issues that could be discussed: bullying, mother-daughter relationships, the impact of long held guilt, and the teen age need to have a comfortable niche among your peers.

I think the single thing in the book that will stand out in my mind is when Caroline realized that her daughter had unhesitatingly taken action to stand up for her. What a wonderful thing to realize.

Let me start by saying that this book was not what I expected it to be. I received the book through the First Impressions program of BookBrowse. As an 80 year old who had faced prejudice against women in executive positions when I first entered the work force, I mistakenly believed I was going to read about an 1800's woman who was content to be a female but rebelled against the lack of an equal opportunity for females and I looked forward to receipt of the book. My impression after reading the book is that Lucy never would have found satisfaction living as a woman even if her husband had not been a jerk. Quite different than what I foolishly had anticipated.

In view of the fact that I understand the author wrote the book without having any diary or journal written by Lucy, I wondered as I read the book why the author had chosen to write it as a first person narrative. Then, I read the Author's Afterword which explained how the author felt his imagination had been captured by the spirit of Lucy/Joseph. I guess that answers my question about why it was written in first person and it also explains how the author was able to provide an unequivocal statement in a web site (therebellionoflucyannlobdell.com) that Lucy she did it in order to earn men's wages but in the end discovered a new sexual identity. As he said, the spirit of Lucy revealed this to him.

I will conclude by saying that I did read the whole book and there were times that I found the story quite interesting; but my overall feelings when I reached the end was gratitude that I made it to the end. If it had omitted the parts of the book about the sexual identity issue, it might have been a good adventure story, however as written I just could not relax and enjoy her "rebellion.

I feel confident that the book while the book did not satisfy me, it would probably appeal to anyone who is sympathetic to the gay and lesbian community. I am not offended by gay or lesbian relationships but I just do not understand how or why it occurs nor am I anxious to read a book justifying such a relationship. So, if you feel as I do, I do not believe you will truly enjoy this book.

As I began reading this book, I had the impression that the book would be the story of Ruth who was known to the world as Mammy in the fantastic novel and movie "Gone with the Wind". If I had not been anticipating this, maybe the first 2/3 of the book would have been more satisfying. Thinking about it later, I wondered if possibly the author had begun a novel but had laid it aside for some reason; then when authorized by the Mitchell estate to write a novel about Mammy he remembered that old unfinished novel and decided that its young black girl could be turned into Mammy. So he finished the earlier work by throwing in familiar names from GWTW that we all knew and loved at the end. I say that because most of the book is not about Ruth/Mammy. The book is about the French woman who turns into Scarlett's grandmother – detailing this woman's thoughts and her life experiences. I could even theorize that it is because of the need to shift the premise of the book from that earlier unfinished novel to Mammy's story that the last 1/3 is suddenly told in first person from Mammy's point of view.

In that last portion of the book, Mammy suddenly becomes a child of the south picking up the dialect of those African children who were born and raised by slave parents on a plantation in association with other slaves. This seems out of place for the child who at the approximate age of 4 is found and raised somewhat as half-daughter and half- aide -de-camp in the household of an educated French woman. I question where this dialect came from when she apparently had little association with other black servants or slaves until she was a grown woman.

When the book finally takes us to Tara and we once more find our familiar characters from GWTW, I found some of earlier life of these characters to be surprising and quite creative. Many were described far differently than I would have unexpected. It sort of makes me want to go back and read GWTW again and see how these new persona fit in.

Even if I had not felt rather cheated because the book did not meet my expectations about its point of view, I would have had a few other complaints. These include:

I had to keep a dictionary close by in order to make sure I was understanding some paragraphs of the book. I almost felt as if the author was trying to impress me with his wide vocabulary.

I did not like the untranslated French phrases in the early parts of the book. Luckily, when the story changed to truly be about Ruth and be told from her point of view, the use of those annoying phrases pretty much ceased.

I felt as if the author abruptly threw in a thought before he prepared his readers for that thought. For instance, Solange (Ruth's owner) is described as being disturbed about the content of a letter from her father before the readers are made aware that she has received a letter.

In order to end on a positive note, let me add that I found out after I completed the book that Denmark Vesey was a real person. That made me curious to now go back and read the portion of the book where he was active in the life of Ruth. Historical fiction is my favorite type of book and the civil war era especially appeals to me but somehow in all that reading I had not met up with Denmark Vesey until now. I liked that the author wove this historical information into his novel.

I received this book for free from the publisher as a Book Browse First Impression in exchange for a review. This did not influence my opinion.

I will start this review with the conclusion - which is: I cannot say I loved it, but I did like the book.

I am a historical fiction fan but my preference is to read novels about American history. I occasionally venture into English history, but usually with a few misgivings because I just don't enjoy that history as much as my normal fare. I have read and enjoyed books that tell the background of some American immigrants who had roots in Italy; but I think was one of my first books purely about Italian history. As a result, it took me a little while to get into this book. I am not going to blame that on the author – I think it was just my lack of previous knowledge

I must say, however, I found the frequent inclusion of words that had no meaning to me and words that an online search did not provide a meaning somewhat frustrating. For instance on page 8, the word "portonera" is used. From its context, I presumed it meant something similar to a Mother Superior but I remain uncertain. Then on Page 9, the city of Venice is called a "polly-pole". From that context I could tell it was derogatory term but I could not find it in web search either. Then when the narrative switches to Constantinople, words like yashmak and ormisi were liberally thrown in. Now, I was able to search for these words and usually was able to find them. As I said, the author's tendency to impress us with words such as these proved her acquaintance with the language but did not improve my reading pleasure.

As I gained better footing in the novel, I enjoyed the character development and developed empathy for the main character, a young Muslim girl trained in medicine who flees her homeland to avoid an act of revenge by the Sultan. She ends up on a voyage to Venice on the same ship where a man suffering from bubonic fever is the main cargo – a dreadful scheme of the Sultan to smuggle this man into Venice and thereby gift Venice with the Plague.

Her adventures as a Muslim in Christian Venice during the 16th Century while the Plague is raging present an interesting setting. I enjoy learning and the book presented me with new information about treating the Plague and the Venetian culture in that era.

Until I almost finished the book, I could not understand why they chosen the image on the cover of the book – which gives the impression of wealth woman in a stylish dress – since our heroine dresses very modestly true to her Muslim culture. I wondered if the cover was aimed at indicating a possibly torrid romantic tone to the book. In the end, I understood what it portrayed and apologize for jumping to conclusions.

I am not going to search for another book by this author, but if you like this era and this culture I predict you will enjoy this book very much.

I really enjoyed this book, which is a contemporary novel, even though my favorite type of book is historical fiction. The story moved with an appropriate speed, I felt as though the characters were very life-like and believable, the story line grabbed my heart without being maudlin, and the ending gave me a sense of satisfaction. The setting is Seattle WA and it involves Hannah, the mother of a pre-teen who is fatally injured in an accident. After being told that her child is brain-dead, she is forced to decide whether to donate her daughter's organs. While this would be a noble action, it also requires quick action and means saying a quick goodbye to her daughter. A year later and quite by chance, Maddie who is one of the organ recipients (another teenager) and Olivia her mother who now also live in Seattle come in to the beauty salon owned by Hannah. Maddie and Olivia have no idea who Hannah is but Hannah figures it out. It eventually is revealed that the father of that teenager is a dominating abuser who has forbid the family from attempting to contact the organ donator. The dynamics of the story involves the decisions that must be made if the secrets each of the three are to be revealed.

Narration of the novel is shared by the three and so the reader is able to understand each individual's point of view. While switching back and forth between narrators could have presented a difficult and disjointed situation, the author's writing style makes it very easy for the reader to accommodate and benefit from getting into the brain of all three characters.

I would recommend this book to everyone.

I received this book through the First Impression program of Book Browse. That fact did not impact my review in any way.

This book is another Holocaust story but with a different twist. Instead of being focused on the horrible conditions Jacob Klein endured within a concentration camp or on the sub-human conditions faced by Sarah Kaufman who survived by hiding out for years fleeing from one safe house to another, this story is about these two Jews in the days immediately following the victories of the Allied armies. I believe the difficulties involved in trying to survive as free people who have lost everything have been pretty much overlooked in novels about this era. So the concept was intriguing for someone who loves historical fiction. The cover of the book announced that the author is a master storyteller, but I am sorry to report that it somehow seemed to lack true emotion and did not measure up to what I was anticipating.

I am not sure what it was lacking. In some ways, it seemed to be as if the author stands back and reports the facts without being invested in the characters being described. I never lost the feeling I was reading about these people rather than being enveloped and living in their shoes.

I would not recommend the book.

I am still trying to decide why I cannot say this was a great book. It was my type of book (historical novel) and it was an easy read. The Chapters generally are very short. The narrative flows rather well. But with all that said, something was missing. I felt as if I were watching a preview in a movie theatre trying to interest me in reading the real thing.

The book takes place in 1864 during the era of the Civil War but, in my opinion, as I read the book I got confused whether the war was still in process or whether it was over. The setting is an insane asylum in Florida - a beautiful setting but not a nice place to live.

The main character is the wife of a Southern Plantation woman who was committed there because she defied her husband and befriended the slaves. The details of her life on the plantation are rather sketchy. In addition, another inmate at the asylum is a civil war Confederate soldier who has been traumatized by his experiences in the war. He provides the confusing love interest. Then to round out the picture, you have the Dr who is as confused as the inmates and his son who is the most confused of all.

When the real book comes out, let me know. I think am interested in reading it to find out what was left out of the preview.

I would like to give this book two ratings – one rating for Part 1 of the book and a different rating for the remainder. I have no idea how the two authors collaborated on writing the book (and this most likely has nothing to do with my problem) but it seemed to me as if a different writer took over midway through it.

My rating for the first half would be a 1- (a one minus). I had a very hard time getting used to the combination of the writing style and the vocabulary. The vocabulary may have been a generational thing – this story was about the experiences of a current day young college graduate on her very first job (named Jamie) while I am a female 79 year old enjoying retirement at an independent living facility. I am not completely an out-of –touch old coot but my tastes in most everything are probably miles away from Jamie’s. Nevertheless, there were too many references in the book to things like “airnb sublets” or “the Bianca of Washington” – does it date me to admit I had to check out what these meant by going on-line? Also, there were too many sentences where I finally did figure out what was meant, but it is distracting when you have to think about it before going on.

My rating for the last part of the book would be a 3.5 or even a 4. While I had to push myself to continue reading the first part; I actually enjoyed the last part of the book. I was intrigued by the mystery of who the whistle blower was and whether Jamie would finally begin to tell the truth. Her loyalty deserves a halo but her lack of common sense was ridiculous.

I am not sure how the public will accept the very obvious connection between this story and the Monica Lewinsky affair. It did not bother me and I smiled ever so often recognizing the obvious twists in the story to keep us thinking about the Lewinsky and Clinton affair complete with the blue dress on the cover. As I read it, I wondered whether the variations in the story which departed from that well publicized affair were intentional or whether there were many things that seemed to be entirely the fictional imagination of the writer but were actually unknown parts of Monica’s situation. Of course, there were sufficient differences to make it in the end a fictional story of its own making.

My final comment is that I do not believe I would recommend this book to others. I must admit that it does not depart from how it was described by the publisher so I got just what I asked for when I signed up to read it and I also am not sorry that I took the time to finish reading it, but it was not a memorable read and does not reach anywhere near the level of good writing or excellent plot that I require before recommending a book to a friend. I would rate it as equivalent to one of the Harlequin Romance books I read years and years ago as I entered menopause and needed a boost.

I received this book under the Book Browse First Impression program. I really wanted to say that I loved this book because I really like Jamie Ford's first book and I wanted to be able to say I was one of the first to read a future best seller; but, unfortunately, I must confess that I can only say that I liked it rather than it was a great book. I did read it from start to finish, but I completed it out of a sense of obligation rather than I could not lay it down.

As I think about the plot of the book, I guess the story had promise. I cannot say, however, that the novel lived up to the promise of the plot. I did develop empathy for both William and Charlotte. I hoped William's dream of re-uniting with his mother would come true and I felt the helplessness that Charlotte felt. I also think the book did allow me to realize once again the discrimination heaped upon individuals of Chinese descent during the first half of the 20th century and to reinforce my resentment over how women were treated as second class citizens. What caused me to really miss out on enjoying the book was that I had the feeling as I read it that it had been written primarily as a teaching tool instead of having the feeling that the author set out to tell a good story about William and Charlotte and just as a bonus to allow me learn what life was like for some people during that era. In other words, the story was secondary to the history lesson.

My other complaint is that some of William's thoughts seemed false for a 12 year old in 1934. I am a senior citizen and am often amazed at how much wiser about life the current youngsters are as compared to what it was like when I was young. Page 63 of the book has this statement: "Public school is free, William thought, but even that has become a luxury some can't afford." The statement is absolutely correct but it is too astute for a 12 year old at that time.

I am going to be generous and give the book 2.5 stars. Halfway between it was ok and I liked it.

Are we there yet? I was really disappointed in this book. I had heard such good reports and several people told me in advance that I would love it – but I am finally done and not a minute too soon.

Why was I disappointed? Let me count the ways:

I expected a book that let me experience the life of the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. What I got, was a story that is primarily about a young colonial girl (Bethia) and her life on the island we call Martha’s Vineyard and her experiences as the daughter of a missionary to the Indians. Every once and while, Caleb (the Harvard graduate) appears in the story but we only see him through Bethia’s eyes. This made me feel at time like the victim of false advertising. Another reviewer said maybe the author did not feel free to explore further into Caleb because he was an actual person and, even though this is a fictional novel, trying to add/detract from what is known about him would almost be akin fraud.

The language the author used to make Bethia’s journal sound very authentic may have accomplished that task, but it cut into my enjoyment of the plot of the novel. The writing style sometime exhausted me. I just wanted to relax in my comfy chair and read for pleasure and not have to think about what I was reading – but the author deprived me of that privilege. I was happy when I finished this book – there are too many good books out there waiting for me.

Frequently, I felt as though the author was testing my patience when she jumped ahead of herself and then later came back and explained how she got there. I must admit I was forewarned of this tendency by how the book starts – I am a rather disciplined person I guess and I would have preferred if the book had started at the beginning of the story instead of jumping into something that really took place much later.

I think the author intended for us to identify with and admire Bethia. Instead, I could never feel as though I actually knew her as a person. I sympathized with desire to break though the gender gap and I was disturbed by how unfairly she was treated, but that was it. I think if the author had forgotten about trying to weave Caleb into the story and concentrated on Bethia’s life, I might have had more positive thoughts about the whole book. There was a story to be told about Bethia, but the to me the author kept dropping a stitch – leaving a whole in the story.

I do admire the work obviously done by the author to resurrect so much information about the relationships between the settlers and the Indian tribes and about the beginnings of Harvard. Too bad she had the limitations of the small bits of knowledge available about Caleb. Once again, I feel as though his inclusion in the novel was the problem.

And now that I have reached the end of the story (finally!) – I am left wondering where the book was supposed to take me. So in answer to my question – Are we there yet? – the answer would have to be that to get from here to there you have to have a destination in mind.

I read this book for a book club - and I have been searching for a good way to describe it. The Library of Congress data calls it "psychological fiction". This is a good description.

The book includes a “who-dun-it” thread, but it is really a study of two men. If you are looking for a feel good book – this is not it. If you are looking for a book with depth, I think you may find it here.

One of the two men in the study is a person who appears to have overcome the odds of being a poor black kid raised by a single mother in the south; but, the truth is, this man is really a selfish and cowardly pretender. I can understand what drove him to cover up his involvement in an event that resulted in a life of isolation and abuse by the other man and I think he paid for what he did by the emotional guilt he felt during his life, but I am glad I am not faced with having decide whether to forgive him.

The other of the two men in the novel is considered by the community to have zero redeeming qualities but actually he is the one who stronger of the two. He wanted a friend so desperately but keeps getting knocked down so he lives a lonely life never really having a true friend or an understanding companion. I am left wondering if he ever realized what an admirable person he really was.

I think the author does a fantastic job of letting us experience the emotional trauma of both men.

I am glad I read this book, but will probably not read another book by Franklin because this is not the type of book that I prefer. I also feel compelled to say that the author’s transition from one time period to the other caused me momentary confusion at times and I would have preferred that he shorten some of his long, long, long sentences consisting of phrase after phrase after phrase.

My final comment is that the author masterfully held my attention from beginning to end – I guessed correctly who was the villain of the book, but I never anticipated the twists and turns in the route to the book’s conclusion

While I want to emphatically deny that my review was impacted by the means by which I obtained this book, I feel obliged to state that I received this book without charge in exchange for my agreement to give a true appraisal of it. What follows is my honest evaluation.

The author has done a magnificent job of creating a beautiful story of love made especially meaningful because it has survived prejudice, feelings of betrayal, sorrow, the beastly ugliness/savagery of war, forgiveness, and individual searches for self. Notice that I did not call it a "love story" because those words describe a romance. This book conveys deeper feelings and thoughts and the love found in the book expands to more than just one mere man and a woman.

We all are certainly aware of other Civil War novels – that history has been widely cussed and discussed as a period of national disaster and for certain people, feelings about that history continues to separate our nation. This is a Civil War novel but it is written about another group of people who also suffered terrible abuse in my country – a country that I deeply love with great pride because it does in fact offer liberty and justice for all. Remarkably, many of us have lived a full life mostly unaware of the magnitude of this other shameful period in our history. The author successfully gives us a history lesson about this abuse without making us feel she is chiding us.

The man in the novel is a wounded confederate soldier and the woman (the product of a marriage between an immigrant from China and a Native American woman) is the nurse who cares for him. The novel traces the lives of three people: the soldier, the nurse, and the nurse's father. The Chapters in the book switch back and forth allowing each of the three main characters to narrate their individual stories. In this way, we can successfully become the alter ego of each of them – sharing their feelings, thoughts, pain, and love. While this might sound like it might be confusing, the flow to me was quite natural.

I recommend it to audiences of all ages – with a warning in advance however that the descriptions not only tell about the need for forgiveness felt by the people who survive but they also provide graphic accounts of the horror of the battle fields.

This book was not my normal type of reading. It is a contemporary story and I am a history person. I started reading it because it was a book club choice. With that said, my feelings after reading it is that I am not sorry I read it but I did not like it - sort of like taking nasty medicine because it will be good for me.

The reasons that I did not like it are various:

1 - Jodi Picoult and I apparently stand at opposing poles on religion and politics. I believe firmly in her right to her opinon but that does not mean I cannot feel offended when she seems to champion putting down what I believe. I think it is interesting to keep in touch with the thoughts of those who think differently from me so that is why I am glad I read it.

2 - There was nothing new in the book for me - the plot was too much like other things I have read. I like books that sell me on new ideas or ways of thinking.

3 - I would have like to really find out Shay's thoughts. A friend told me that his thoughts were sprinkled throughout the book - but actually that was just "hearsay" evidence - other people telling us what he said or did. We never did get inside his head - he was not one of the people speaking directly to us in the book.

4 - It offended me that she gave Shay the initials of I.M. - there is only one "I am" for me.

5 - I understood why some people kept thinking of The Green Mile as they read the book. I, however, was more inclined to liken it to The Shack. At times as I was reading The Shack I was startled - but when I got done I was able to stand back and appreciate it as literature. This time I feel the author was not writing to create a story but to advance her beliefs. I believe in our right to have different interpretations and visions of God but I guess I draw a line and Change of Heart stepped over my line. (PS - don't ask me to explain my line - I cannot verbalize it.)

My review is based on the soft back edition of this book which I received free from the publisher as an "Advance Readers Edition" in exchange for the promise that I would write a review.

Unlike many books where it takes several chapters before you are drawn into the story, I was immediately captivated by this book. The primary message in the book for me was the comparison between the hopes and dreams of two girls. One was a modern day smart young white female lawyer raised by a single father who thought she knew who she was and what she wanted but found that true satisfaction laid elsewhere. The other girl was a young gifted black girl raised as a "thing" on a Virginia plantation who had never been beyond the gates of the Virginia plantation but had an inner desire to be "free" even while having no concept of what being free would actually consist of. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, these two women had much in common.

There were a multitude of the examples of how horribly the slaves were treated during those days – I thank God that this era of slavery is behind us. There were also hints at the various ways people of today are actually enslaved by controlling things and people. In addition, the novel explored the pros and cons of the question of whether we Americans in 2012 still owe the black people "back pay" for the contributions made by their forefathers in building this great country we all live in.

The two primary characters were very well developed and I could relate to both of them. Unfortunately, I never was able to dive into the mind of some members of the supporting cast. For instance, it would have been interesting to know what really drove the plantation owner. I concluded that a series of failures had made him a bitter and brutal person and I think his reactions were sadly true to life when our dreams fall apart, but I wished I had been able to explore some of his mental processes.

The book was an easy read with a somewhat simple plot but hidden within the tapestry of the plot are several diverse threads that provide insights into the different ways that we humans are wired by God to live and think.