What readers think of Never Coming Back, plus links to write your own review.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I knew when I was making notes in the middle of the book that something wasn't right. Usually, I'm so involved at that point that I don't write notes. While the idea of the story was basically a good one, I found the writing irritated me. In particular, she often had two characters speaking about the third as if the third wasn't in the room. The character herself kept commenting on it with, "I'm right here". Maybe it was deliberate to mimic the way we often speak around someone who has Alzheimer's. It was done often so I am not sure if it was making a point or a writing style. Either way, it drove me nuts.

I've rated it average because of the story. It was a clear depiction of suffering with and through Alzheimer's. I did however, realize the answer to one of the secrets almost immediately. For me that's never a good thing.