- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber (1 Jun 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571228178
- ISBN-13: 978-0571228171
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,992,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"'At her best, she comes close to the tender grace that defines Anne Tyler's writing.' Observer"
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
A charming, moving and hugely readable novel of families, pregnancy, doubt and celebration.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Heidi Pitlor - The Birthdays,
By
This review is from: The Birthdays (Paperback)
Ultimately I found this a frustrating read. The prose is excellent, and it is full of good observations about family in-fighting, marital pressures, gender disputes & middle-class US values. However I found it one of those novels that promises so much more than it finally delivers.
Initially I thought it was going to be excellent as it confronts a number of tough issues: disability, marital burn-out, loss and miscarriage. But finally it tips into a sentimentalised redemption of each of the characters in such a way that these differences and the tensions between them are supposedly resolved by a deep-seated love that each of them finds. For me this was disappointing and unconvincing. The dirt the narrative kicked up was considerably greater (and more interesting) than the slightly saccharine resolution. Shame, because it has some strong elements.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The new Carol Shields?,
By Dr. Sean (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Birthdays (Paperback)
If you mourned the passing of Carol Shields then take some comfort from the emergence of a fine new voice in contemporary fiction who shows the remarkable psychological insight which made Shields so compelling. A family reunion in Maine sounds the stuff of cliche but this book manages to make the ordinairy extraordinairy. This is achieved by brilliant characterisation and writing which allows the reader to fill in the gaps. The contradictions and power struggles in relationships are brilliantly disected and the protagonists are incredibly well drawn, making for a deeply satisfying read. I have bought this book for all my friends- there is no higher recommendation!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews) 12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Realistic family drama,
By Sam Spade - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Birthdays: A Novel (Hardcover)
I loved this. Got to say Ms Pitlor has real talent and depicts a setting so believable I thought I too had been in that Maine house. I felt like I knew the characters, as if they were my own family, and with the amount of supposedly good fiction I read that is quite a feat. I can't wait to read more from Heidi Pitlor, she's a rising star.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm no literary critic, but I know what I like....,
By Sara J - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Birthdays: A Novel (Hardcover)
and I truly loved this book! I felt like I took a weekend vacation with the Millers, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Even though the characters made unlikeable choices at times, it was these moments that made it all the more relatable and real to me- their struggles and flaws are what sucked me in and made me believe in them and this story. I am always looking for a book to grab me and keep me interested until the end, and Ms. Pitlor does this with ease in The Birthdays. Well done!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great family drama...and a turtle!,
By Andy T. - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Birthdays: A Novel (Hardcover)
This a fabulous book about family and all the lingering issues and resentments but also love and good feelings. Especially interesting if you're having children of your own since nearly all the women in the book are pregnant (all in different ways). I really liked the relationship between the sister and the older brother (who's in a wheelchair)--very real and funny--and the mother, who seems to have a healthy fantasy life.
The writing is really excellent, very much inside the heads of these characters. I noticed some of the other reviewers here said the characters seem unlikeable or self-absorbed. Well, I think they're supposed to be that way, right? I mean, it's their interior thoughts. That's the kind of book it is, the style of narration. And the turtle is a perfect little detail...you'll see. |
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