Gail GodwinKirja-arvosteluja

A light read about her ups and downs writing and getting her books published.
What a cutthroat industry.

Good.

Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read: "A light vacation read. Pastors pastoring in their small towns; a sequel to an earlier novel which I did not read."

I think I’ve had this title on my proverbial nightstand for about two years.

I finished the book half an hour ago, and while I won’t provide any spoilers, the timing of completion was uncannily in sync with the timing of significant events in my own life; the events aren’t similar at all, but calendar-wise there are some interesting parallels. Therefore, it’s tempting for me, with my metaphysical bent, to declare I didn’t finish it two years ago because I was meant to read it now. Honestly though – it’s just that the book has an exceedingly slow initial trajectory and requires strong intent to get into one’s reading groove.

This is the first-person narrative of (fictional, obviously) Episcopal priest Margaret Bonner as she deals with varying levels of strife within her family, her congregation, and her community in a small Smoky Mountain town. The third Millennium is nearly upon the residents of High Balsam, and its advent (during Advent, actually) brings life-changing events for everyone – but especially for Margaret, her husband Adrian, and the newly arrived quasi-family members who share their home. I was struck by two things:

- Almost every character had a British accent in my head, until I had finished at least half of the book. I think this is due in part to Godwin’s writing style. Example: Margaret’s husband Adrian calls her a “stubborn girl.” How British. Also, their names are Margaret and Adrian. One is almost required to speak those names as the queen would pronounce them.

- I noted similarities in character between Margaret Bonner and the Reverend Merrily Watkins, protagonist of Phil Rickman’s series about a British priest and exorcist. Both women are remarkably unguarded and willing to appear vulnerable. The two characters inhabit vastly different worlds, and neither author is a priest, unless I’ve missed something. How interesting that they have created characters with such similarities. (This could also be why I gave everyone an accent while I was reading.)

If you’ve read any of Madeleine L’Engle’s adult fiction, you will find that this book has a similar feel – notably in both authors’ tendency to attribute adult speaking style and behavior to children and adolescents. The story is engaging, and at some points it’s a page-turner – but it does take a while to find one’s stride when reading.

Gothic fiction

Not what I was expecting, I thought it would be a more southern gothic type story
The story is well told but it was pretty obvious what family Marcus’s dad was from and Marcus is did not think and behave like a 12 year old at any time in the book.

This book was filled with good writing and references to a variety of artists and works of art. It portrayed well the frustrations artists encounter to produce work that is worthy of them and can support them. It ended on a positive note that was not easy for Violet to achieve, but after much work her attitude did change.

This book was ok. The writing is good and the story of two women who met in college and became writers kept me engaged. I found it a bit melodramatic and hard to accept the importance the two women seem to have for each other despite often decades of no contact.½

Beautiful, short, sad, and sweet.

I hate when this happens. This story started out really well and it had potential to mean something for me, then it fizzed out and left me feeling somehow cheated. I liked the characters of Marcus and Lachicotte, and I was even okay with the presence/or not of the ghost boy. Underlying everything was a deeper question of how people handle loss and memory, how an eleven year old might deal with coming face-to-face with the mortality of everyone he loves, and how he might rebuild a life when everything he has ever known is stripped from him instantaneously. Unfortunately, for me there was just a disconnect that I never managed to bridge.

There were several aspects of this novel that were trite and oh so predictable. I could list them, but that would be difficult to do without giving away much of the novel’s plot. Suffice it to say, I was not surprised by much, and in this kind of novel I would like a surprise or two. There were, as well, a couple of things that the author chose to do style-wise that irritated me. She was at her best describing the landscape and when she was just allowing the story to unfold and wasn’t at pains to interpret the action for us.

I would have liked to have loved this, but sadly I did not. No more Godwin’s for me, but not a problem because I already have a list of authors a mile long that I need to get to.

Good stuff from one of my favorite novelists, but probably only for Godwin completists.

A variety of stories, all good in their own way

Nothing interesting. Why did this need to be published. She should have kept it to herself.

No Ghost But Plenty of Self-Discovery

Let’s begin by mentioning that this is not a traditional ghost story. No ghosts here, except for those we choose to conjurer to reconcile issues in our life. Grief Cottage combines a coming-of-age story with that of a one about a boy coping with feelings of insecurity, self-worth, and loneliness. These may sound like adolescent growing pains, true; however, eleven-year old Marcus’ go beyond those of typical ‘tween fare.

Marcus lives with his mother in a hand-to-mouth existence in the Appalachians, having moved there after losing her furniture manufacturing job in the North Carolina Piedmont. Marcus is a precious little boy and sensitive about how he and his mom live. Their quarters are tiny, so they sleep in the same bed. When revealed, this fact drives away his best friend, his only real school friend. Also, he has no idea who was his father. His mother promises to tell him when he is older. That day never arrives, as one night she dies in a single-car accident. After living for a while in a foster home, he goes down to South Carolina to live with his great aunt on a small island.

Charlotte Lee is an artist. She specializes in island landscapes, among them scores of renderings of the old dilapidated cottage at the north end of the island. She’s also a functioning alcoholic and quite reclusive during the day, locked in her studio painting. Part of the novel revolves around how and the type of relationship these two build together. Charlotte certainly is an imperfect person, but, like Marcus, you come to like and appreciate her, and, in particular, the ever growing bond between the two.

Marcus arrives as a pudgy little fellow but over time, as he walks and bikes the island, he grows taller and turns into a leaner boy. He changes physically, which represents his mental change that evolves over the course of the novel. Upon his first visit to the falling down cottage, he believes he sees a boy. His recollection of the sighting is detailed, almost like it actually happened. A good part of the novel deals with Marcus’ quest to learn what happened to the boy and his family, all of whom perished when Hurricane Hazel (yes, a real Category 4 killer) struck the island in October 1954. No one knows the name of the family or the boy, who was fourteen at the time, except that the boy had gotten separated from his family. Perhaps the ghost boy did exist, or, perhaps he was a projection of Marcus’ own psychologically shaky self. That’s for readers to decide for themselves when they reach the end.

Gail Godwin populates the novel with an assortment of interesting characters with equally interesting preoccupations, the most memorable of whom are Lachicotte and Coral Upchurch. You have to wonder about Lachicotte, so devoted to Charlotte, you suspect something more than friendship. And the idea of young Marcus developing a friendship with ninety-year old Coral is really, well, heartwarming. It also, along with his relationship with his aunt and concern over the cottage boy, brings out Marcus’ caring nature, the core of his character and what will shape him as a man. Don’t worry, Godwin doesn’t leave you hanging in this regard.

No Ghost But Plenty of Self-Discovery

Let’s begin by mentioning that this is not a traditional ghost story. No ghosts here, except for those we choose to conjurer to reconcile issues in our life. Grief Cottage combines a coming-of-age story with that of a one about a boy coping with feelings of insecurity, self-worth, and loneliness. These may sound like adolescent growing pains, true; however, eleven-year old Marcus’ go beyond those of typical ‘tween fare.

Marcus lives with his mother in a hand-to-mouth existence in the Appalachians, having moved there after losing her furniture manufacturing job in the North Carolina Piedmont. Marcus is a precious little boy and sensitive about how he and his mom live. Their quarters are tiny, so they sleep in the same bed. When revealed, this fact drives away his best friend, his only real school friend. Also, he has no idea who was his father. His mother promises to tell him when he is older. That day never arrives, as one night she dies in a single-car accident. After living for a while in a foster home, he goes down to South Carolina to live with his great aunt on a small island.

Charlotte Lee is an artist. She specializes in island landscapes, among them scores of renderings of the old dilapidated cottage at the north end of the island. She’s also a functioning alcoholic and quite reclusive during the day, locked in her studio painting. Part of the novel revolves around how and the type of relationship these two build together. Charlotte certainly is an imperfect person, but, like Marcus, you come to like and appreciate her, and, in particular, the ever growing bond between the two.

Marcus arrives as a pudgy little fellow but over time, as he walks and bikes the island, he grows taller and turns into a leaner boy. He changes physically, which represents his mental change that evolves over the course of the novel. Upon his first visit to the falling down cottage, he believes he sees a boy. His recollection of the sighting is detailed, almost like it actually happened. A good part of the novel deals with Marcus’ quest to learn what happened to the boy and his family, all of whom perished when Hurricane Hazel (yes, a real Category 4 killer) struck the island in October 1954. No one knows the name of the family or the boy, who was fourteen at the time, except that the boy had gotten separated from his family. Perhaps the ghost boy did exist, or, perhaps he was a projection of Marcus’ own psychologically shaky self. That’s for readers to decide for themselves when they reach the end.

Gail Godwin populates the novel with an assortment of interesting characters with equally interesting preoccupations, the most memorable of whom are Lachicotte and Coral Upchurch. You have to wonder about Lachicotte, so devoted to Charlotte, you suspect something more than friendship. And the idea of young Marcus developing a friendship with ninety-year old Coral is really, well, heartwarming. It also, along with his relationship with his aunt and concern over the cottage boy, brings out Marcus’ caring nature, the core of his character and what will shape him as a man. Don’t worry, Godwin doesn’t leave you hanging in this regard.

Evensong by Gail Godwin is a beautifully written, slow-moving novel. It is a book for readers who want to delve deep into the lives of realistic characters. This book is the sequel to Father Melancholy's Daughter which is the story of the daughter of an Episcopalian priest. In Evensong, Margaret has followed her now deceased father into a career as a priest. She has married an older man, Adrian, who was a friend of her father's and still idolizes the man. Daddy issues are a main theme throughout this novel, not only through Margaret, whose was raised by her father after her mother abandoned the family, but also through her husband, who was abandoned by his parents, and Chase, a young, troubled teenager whom Margaret and Adrian take into their home after he had difficulties in foster care.

As with Father Melancholy's Daughter, I loved the picture this novel paints of life inside a church. The people are real. Margaret deals with different opinions and personality issues as she works to create a safe environment for ritual and worship. She is also on-call at all hours for people who need religious counseling. We see the personal side of Margaret's life. There are issues with her marriage stemming from her husband's insecurities as well as an incident in her own history that should have been private but isn't.

One odd thing about this novel is that although it is a slow story it gets exciting as everything wraps up at the end. I would have preferred a an ending that fit the style of the rest of the book more appropriately but other than that Evensong is a great read.

While the art on the cover of the book is beautiful, the title makes me cringe: grief? I didn't pick it up for awhile to read.

It's about a 11 year-old boy, Marcus Harshaw, that loses his beloved mother rather quickly in the beginning. As a single mom from birth, she named him after Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor and philosopher faced with many challenges in life. They lived in a small place where there was hardly any money in the mountain town of Jewel. She died in a car accident in the beginning of the book and he hardly has time to think before he was shuffled to a foster home in 7th grade where every night they studied the Bible. Shortly thereafter, he was placed in a permanent home with his only relative: his great aunt Charlotte at the beach - a place called, "Rascal Shack" in North Carolina. The house was in terrible shape when she bought it years ago but with do-it-yourself manuals, she was able to fix it up

Charlotte made it known to Marcus that she was getting a pension for taking care of him. She made a living as an artist while figuring out her emotional side drinking more than one bottle of wine a day. She created murals usually in small sizes but also with large works on commission. While she was fond of Marcus, she enjoyed her independence and encouraged him to figure out his free time until it was time to eat dinner. He was lonely and felt like he was a huge interference in her life.

While exploring the island, Marcus found a place called, "Grief Cottage" where a family was taken after Hurricane Hazel in 1954. He noticed in the doorway a presence - or ghost figure - which didn't seem to bother him. He watched how the local real estate agent was selling the property soon to be a larger development. He would bike ride on the beach entertaining himself. He gravitated towards learning about the turtles which hatch every year at the beach with careful protection.

This is a slow moving novel with lots of emotional drama from the characters. Some parts had interesting tidbits that the author worked into the book: the meaning of Gullahs, much about turtles, what it means to be a "laconic" and yes, ghosts. While the writing is good, I felt like Marcus was much older than an 11 year-old boy with his maturity and parts were - let's just say out there. As Charlotte once noted, "people see what they want to see" in reference to the ghost. "There are enough horrors in the real world to worry about."

I was sitting on my back deck when I finished this book. It was early evening and the birds were singing. The temperature was wonderful and there was a gentle breeze which made my favorite elm tree gently wave. I closed my reading device and I just sat there near tears. Not because I was sad, I was as far away from sad as you could be, indeed I was ecstatic that I had spent time with the characters in this book. Most everyone in GRIEF COTTAGE is dealing with loss. It could be loss of a person, loss of an ability, or loss of a situation, but in every case they have to decide what they are going to do about it. From word one the voice of this book is set and it stays consistent through the end. I loved the pace of the book, Ms. Godwin has incredible patience and we are readers are able to reap the benefits. The book has a plot and things do happen and change, quite a bit in fact, but it is the characters who will live with me. I loved getting to know them and living through their lives. This is the kind of book that makes me happy to be alive. What a pleasure this was to read.

It has been years since I've read any of Gail Godwin's books, so I thought I would try Grief Cottage. This book is about an eleven-year-old boy who has suffered through a number of tragedies. He was being raised by a single mother who did not make much money. They lived in a small, one bedroom apartment and still had trouble making ends meet. When his mother died in a car accident, Marcus received a good amount of money from an insurance policy and was sent off to live with his great aunt Charlotte, an artist living on Pawley's Island near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

I love Godwin's writing, especially the way she develops her characters. Grief Cottage is Marcus' story, but the other characters, especially his Aunt Charlotte are also fascinating. There is also a ghost, who may or may not exist. He remains in a beat up old cottage where he died years earlier during Hurricane Hazel. Marcus sees him and talks to him, but no one else does.

Some of the events that push the plot along happen out of the blue, which stopped me a bit, but that is my only critique. Since reading this I've decided to go back and read two of my favorite Godwin books, Father Melancholy's Daughter and Evensong.

Came across this while working scanning to my inventory in Goodreads. Short, just more than an hour, but a poignant story that presents routine: the routine of the 5 o'clock cocktail, dinner and wine, and a shared life.

This saga of two women friends is engaging while a bit melodramatic and mawkish. However, those qualities are good things since I enjoyed reading it. I went to a wonderful Gail Godwin reading back in the day when both of us were younger. This novel hangs its plot on the central theme of the ladies' writings and published novels. Some readers have commented on finding it a turnoff, but as a novelist, I liked it just fine. Their lifelong friendship evolves from their being college dorm mates through the years as each faces their travails with grace and resilience. Some of the prose is quite stunning. All in all, a satisfying read.

I've been a fan of Godwin's for lo, these many years, since I discovered The Odd Woman when I was in college, mad for 19th century literature and an art history major - she'd been reading my mail, I suspect. Grief Cottage starts out appealingly enough, perhaps not so much for the main character, the orphaned 11-year-old Marcus, but for his own "odd woman" great aunt, a reclusive artist occupying a beach shack on the South Carolina coast, with whom he lives after the abrupt death of his mother. Prococious as Marcus is, I struggled a bit with the narration until it became clearer that the tale is being told by the adult Marcus, for the voice is not convincingly that of a pre-adolescent boy. There is an odd disconnection in the story of this grief. It doesn't feel like grief, but rather numbness, an avoidance, a dissociation. Meant to cover up the grief Marcus is not dealing with directly, perhaps, but somehow lacks emotional resonance. He is too good to be true (as his aunt observes): keeping the bathroom spotless, working very hard at being the perfect guest - partly so she will let him stay. I liked Marcus, but he did not get inside my heart the way Edgar in Victor Lodato's richly emotional "Edgar and Lucy" did. The mystery of his unknown father is pretty easily guessed. There are many repetitious passages that a serious editor should have questioned: "bright bushes in bloom" appear three times within a few pages; Marcus's mother's peregrinations in search of work are described over and over again; Aunt Charlotte's wine drinking... well, we GET it already! A well-intentioned story, with well-intentioned characters, just not as polished or as emotional as it should have been.

I have yet to wipe all my tears away. Gail Godwin eloquently describes some of my most personal feelings about loss, family and love. She put into words nuances I didn't even realize I still needed to explain to myself. This is my introduction to her writing, and I will choose another of her novels after I digest this one a bit more. I was honored to meet her and have her sign Grief Cottage, and I'm glad at that time I didn't realize what a genius she was, or I would have been too nervous to speak. This is the kind of literary fiction you take your time with, jotting quotes and reflecting. Much of the story is like its setting, a contemplative stroll past dunes and turtle nests on a South Carolina beach.

Started of well with the friendship of two girls rooming together at school. They are from totally different backgrounds but both want to become writers. I found the author's writing to be good, but the flow or lack of flow for the story, lead to a disjointed, dispirited, uninteresting tale. It flowed from person to person, time to time. When reading a book becomes arduous, it is time to move on. I did 2/3s of the way through. And I like this author.

The opening statement of this novel professes, “Mates are not always matches, and matches are not always mates.” "The Good Husband" is a story of love. As the elderly wife of a very desirable young man lays on her death bed, numerous women are attracted to her husband’s on-going dedication, charm, and compassionate care-taking. A good husband indeed. One woman in particular, Alice Henry, falls in love with him.

The plot is intriguing and holds the readers interest to the very last page. And the narrative provides some wonderfully colorful characters. Taking place in the environment of academia, the poor woman struggling for her life is an English professor, author of several intellectual books and she offers many philosophical observations as the plot unfolds.

Her advice for those seeking the meaning of life (including Alice Henry) is to seriously ponder what matters in life. She says, “the things you love- people… some you’ve never met. Ideas. You love certain ideas. And putting those things and people in the proper order of importance.” Sounds easy enough but not everyone consciously knows who and what is the most important in their lives. And priorities change. And people change. And even if those answers are known, putting them in order may not be an easy thing to do.

The story also explores the romantic idea of love at first sight, the evolution of relationships from infatuation, to marriage, growth and maturity, and the mystery of whether mutual love endures- or not.

I like the authors cynical attitude towards psychotherapists, and certain figures of authority.

This is not a classic, and it is not one of Gail Goodwin’s best novels. It’s more on the line of 1990s up-scale “chick lit” novel- a light entertaining summer read.