- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Orion; New edition edition (7 Sep 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752838202
- ISBN-13: 978-0752838205
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.2 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 767,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Oprah Book Club® Selection, November 1999, Vinegar Hill is an appropriate address for the characters who populate A. Manette Ansay's novel of the same name. After all, when Ellen Grier and her family return to the rural hamlet of Holly's Field, Wisconsin, it's not exactly a happy homecoming. Her husband, James, has been laid off from his job in Illinois. And for the moment, the family has moved in with Ellen's in-laws, Fritz and Mary-Margaret, an unhappy pair who dislike their daughter-in-law almost as much as they despise each other:
The first time Ellen sat at this table she was 20 years old, bright-cheeked after a spring afternoon spent walking along the lakefront with James, planning their upcoming wedding. It was 1959 and she was eager to make a good impression. She didn't know then that Mary-Margaret disliked her, that she was considered Jimmy's mistake.
Thirteen years later, in 1972, Ellen is back at the table with no escape in sight. Both she and her husband do find work. Yet James seems to settle a tad too easily into his old life, and shows no interest in finding a place of their own. Even worse, his job takes him away from home for weeks at a time, leaving Ellen to cope with her abusive in-laws.
In Vinegar Hill Ansay paints a searing portrait of the Midwest's dark side, of a rural culture infected with despair and ruled over by an unforgiving God. Yet she does hold out a grain of hope, too. Just as Ellen seems permanently entangled in familial desperation, she makes a surprising discovery about James's long-dead grandmother--a woman whose rebellious spirit inspires Ellen to rescue herself and her loved ones from the impinging darkness. This late-breaking redemption doesn't cancel out the preceding unhappiness: Vinegar Hill remains a tough, uncompromising tale, one that requires some fortitude to read. But those with the heart for it will be rewarded with fine, spare prose and a hopeful ending. --Alix Wilber, Amazon.com
Product Description
It is 1972 and circumstances carry Ellen Grier and her family back to Holly's Field, Wisconsin, to the home of her in-laws, a loveless house infused with the settling dust of bitterness and routine, where calculated cruelty is a way of life preserved in the service of an angry God.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book was really realistic.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Vinegar Hill (Oprah's bookclub) (Paperback)
This book really hit home.The story is sad but inspirational at the same time.I really felt for all the characters in this book.I would really reccommend this book to any one
3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
POOR READING,
By A Customer
This review is from: Vinegar Hill (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)
FELT I WAS LEFT HANGING AT THE END OF THE BOOK. NEEDED ANOTHER 1OO PAGES TO BRING OUT MORE OF THE STORY LINE.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.0 out of 5 stars (286 customer reviews) 65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Enjoyable,
By D. LEE "dml48221" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Vinegar Hill (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)
Before purchasing this book, I read a number of customer reviews on Amazon.com. The recurring theme was that the book was depressing and that the main character was weak. Notwithstanding a vast number of 'negative' reviews, I purchased the book and was pleasantly surprised. I found that the only way to fully appreciate the story was to view the situation from the standpoint of a 30 something year old woman, living in a small Mid-western farming town, conservative Catholic during the early 1970's. Essentially, I viewed the book as a story about the struggle of a woman to establish and preserve her own identity in the face of outside forces i.e., family, religion, in-laws, expectations etc. I basically saw is as a conflict between what she should do as a good "Christian wife and mother" and what she needed to do as a person and how she ultimately resolved that conflict. I also saw Ellen as a woman who was trapped by those outside forces and expections. Although many reviewers of this book thought that Ellen was somewhat weak and spineless, I felt that she had an enormous amount of strength to do what she needed to do in light of the pressures of outside expectations. I think that the base example was when she went to talk to her sister about leaving James. Her sisters response was one of shock and disbelief and her sisters advice was to have another child. I think that Ellen would truly have been weak if she were not aware that her life was not right and changes needed to be made. However, since she was aware of the problems in her life/marriage and decided to take steps, particularly at a time when leaving your husband (in the Catholic religion) was something that women did not do, showed a great deal of strength. She knew that if she left her husband, she would have absolutely no support or understanding from either her family, church, friends, etc. Her desire to make a better life for herself and her children resulted in her taking measures such that she and she alone was in control of her life and destiny as opposed to outside circumstances. Another point that was interesting was her realization that the killing of the twins was Ann's way of making sure that Mary Margaret was not trapped. It was with that realization that Ellen realized that she was not alone and did not have to be trappped. All in all, good book.
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Enjoyable Read,
By Maurice Williams "mauricewms" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Vinegar Hill (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)
Kinda wicked, kinda crazy, but definitely a good read. The writing was clear, the story moving. I view this novel as a reflection of how blind faith can lead one astray. Although an excellent tale of one's ability to endure and overcome, I was slightly disappointed that Ansay didn't expose us to the new Ellen, strong and confident, sturdy and assured. Even though most of Oprah's book seem to have a similar theme (struggle, oppression, eventual self-actualization), she does an excellent job of selecting novels that cover the theme creatively, and realistically.
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vinegar Hill,
By Linda - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Vinegar Hill (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)
A beautifully written book that draws you into the story of a couple moved by circumstances to live with the husband's parents. Stingy with both affection and money, the man's parents provide a home as cold and austere as the Wisconsin winter in which the novel begins. Ansay balances the precision of style of a true wordsmith with the compassionate perceptions of a skilled observer as she explores the ways Ellen, the young wife, finds the strength to deal with her increasingly distressing situation. This book looks at relationships, control, and dirty family secrets in ways that may make you wince in empathy if not recognition. But it also considers resilience and inner spirit, and in the end leaves you with hope. Read this book, then read the others she's written. No doubt about it, Manette Ansay is a fine writer.
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