“Did all of this "really" happen? Leaving your children is pretty heartless and the ending...that was really true?THANKS.”
“The story was captivating, especially because it is based on actual events, but the characters were not all that likable. Mamah was annoying, and I was disgusted with the way she just abandoned her family. Frank seemed to have no backbone, and used artistic talent as an excuse to mess up his personal life. So much tragedy for all of the involved parties! My sister had to convince me to read this book, but I'm glad I let her talk me into it. This is a book that sticks with you long after you have finished reading.”
“Even though I cared very little for Mamah, i could identify with soley the fact that she struggled with defining who she was outside of motherhood. None of that could EVER justify abandoning her children as she did. I think this would be a fabulous book club discussion book.”
“One of the best books I have ever read. A terrific book club selection. Fascinating.”
“I am in the middle of this book, and though I don't dislike Mamah, she sometimes makes me so irritated I could slap someone. She rarely even thinks of her kids, and when she does she pities herself over missing them. Any half-way decent mother would NEVER leave her kids for any reason. You give birth, and naturally those kids become number one, or they should anyway. I would just as soon cut off my right arm than be without my kids. I would follow no man but Christ himself like she followed Frank; who is completely annoying. There is no justification for an affair.”
“I was too ticked off with Mamah & Frank to judge the book on any literary merits. He was an ass, she was at best a lost soul, at worst a horrible person. I'll go with the latter. Abandonment is abandonment, whatever your rationale or cause. I found the story very static. The author fleshed out Mamah's suffragette background but I never thought that it, or her love for Frank, explained her extreme actions. The writing was adequate, but left me disatisfied with Mamah's thought process. Never really answered the question of why she did what she did. I think she tried a little too hard to make Mamah a sympathetic character. I found it very hard to care much what happened to her, though was of course shocked at the ending.”
“I had a tough time with this book. It was hard to separate my feelings as a mom from that of a modern woman who believes that every individual is entitled to independence and freedom. Nancy Horan did a great job of creating a multi-faceted character and allowing us to see all sides of her. I would highly recommend it if your book club enjoys spirited discussions!”
“This book was good, and leaves the reader with a lot of questions to work through. Was Mamah a throughly modern woman, throughly confused, or throughly taken over by Frank Wright? I don't think she was totally selfish, as other readers have suggested, but more a product of a time when women's roles were so limited that she didn;t have enough freedom to figure out what would suit her the best. At the end, I think she got caught up in a trap of feeling like she had to stay with Frank (even though he was a irresponsible egoist at times) because otherwise, how would she have been able to justify leaving her children. In order to divorce in her time, there had to be some over-powering compulsion, there was no irreconcilable differences. I almost had to feel sorry for her, because she didn't have time enough in life to complete anything. Definitely a thought-provoking book.”
“Thought this was an amazing first novel. If you like historical fiction, you should definitely read this book.”
