Customer Reviews

Any Bitter Thing

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm amazed that there are so few reviews here on Amazon thus far...and can only imagine that once this book makes itself known the enthusiastic reviews will come pouring in!!!! I agree wholeheartedly with the reviewer from Western Maine (which just happens to be where I read this marvelous work of art while vacationing recently!) when she states that ". . . Any Bitter Thing is a tribute to the nuances and possibilities of the English language...". Monica Wood's writing is simply exquisite, there is no other way to describe her superb skill and talent with words!!! Beautifully written and thoroughly engrossing, I savored each sentence. This is truly a remarkable book and I would love to see it get the attention and recognition it deserves! Bravo Monica Wood!

ANY BITTER THING is one of the best books I've ever read. It's a beautifully written, heartbreaking story of love and loss, one that stays in your mind for a long time. From the first page, it grabs you by the throat and never lets go. Others have summarized the story, so I won't. I'll just say that Monica Wood is an immensely talented writer and I hope to see many more of her books in the future. Bravo, Ms. Wood! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Following her parents' death, 2-year old Lizzie goes to live with her uncle, a young priest. Until she is taken away from him age 9 on child abuse accusations, Lizzie has the perfect childhood where she admires and idealises Father Mike. Age 9, things go horribly wrong, and for reasons no one can understand, Father Mike leaves Lizzie to go to live with her much disliked and distant aunt, who sends her to boarding school.

Fast forward 20 years, and here is Lizzie who coming out of a hit and run, has a vision of Father Mike at her side while in hospital. While her accident and vision threaten to destroy her already shaky marriage and career, Lizzie holds on to her beliefs and persists into finding out what her vision was all about. We follow Lizzie as she remembers her idyllic childhood, and tries to figure out how things went so wrong.

This is a very good book, with endearing characters, though Father Mike is incredibly hard to understand and I think Wood should have been less forgiving to him - which would have been more realistic. While the book is very well written, some of the characters' actions were difficult to understand (which is what makes the book interesting, I guess!). Great story of love, loss, redemption, forgiveness, relationships. Recommended.

I would certainly agree with the editorial reviews from Publisher's Weekly and Booklist -- this is a remarkable book. I seldom read a book more than once, and often don't finish books I have started, but I read Any Bitter Thing again immediately. I will probably read it again. It is thoughtful, complex, beautifully written, and full of surprises. It is also, almost as an afterthought, a profound examination of faith. For the first time, I feel some understanding of why a man would make the sacrifice necessary to become a priest. As a devoted uncle, I am also grateful to see that relationship explored so lovingly in print.

This is prose written with the care of poetry. I was hooked on the first page, and never felt let down, mislead or distracted. I did not skip a single sentence, much less the pages I often turn unread in other books. It is a completely satisfying, and potentially important book.

Monica Wood writes beautifully, and reading her book was delightful.
She draws very clear characters and weaves their stories together smoothly.
My book club read it, and we had one of our best ever discussions, covering
a wide range of topics, from different kinds of love to the Catholic
church to children as witnesses to how people make the sacrifices they
do for each other. I strongly recommend Any Bitter Thing.

Beautiful lyrical writing combined with never-know-what- happens-next suspense make this book impossible to put down. I stayed up late to finish it and eagerly passed it on to a friend the next day. She loved it as much as I did. The twist toward the end is surprising, but it makes the beginning even better when you go back and reread with new knowledge about what's really going on. Yes - I did read it twice. AND I plan to read it again this fall with my book discussion group.

This is an intelligent, thoughtful, beautifully written story that is so compelling I found it hard to leave. It is one of the most spiritual books I have ever read. I had no idea how much I would be drawn into the ruminations of a Catholic priest about his faith (I am not Catholic). But it is a really suspenseful, and even funny book. It's like nothing I have ever read before.

I loved this beautiful, thought provoking, heart-centered story of people at their best, in their deepest needs, and at their worst. Belonging and redemption are at the heart of this beautifully written story. I believe others of all faiths in a 'God' of their own particular belief system will see a universality about the people in this story, and their struggles to live within the bounds of their 'institutional' beliefs, and their own personal needs and failings. 'God' being a God who cares/loves but does not necessarily respond at our 'beck and call' to save all our struggles as we might want Him to do. The struggle to belong, be seen, be heard, and be loved for ourselves is handled with great care by Monica Woods in a surprisingly absorbing book.

Readers who have followed Monica Wood's fiction already know they can expect first-class work. With Any Bitter Thing the author may be delivering her best novel yet. The main character who looks back on the "jeweled existence" of her earliest years now agonizes over the unanswered questions that cut her childhood short, resulting in a "long sleepwalk through the remains of childhood." Wood writes with authority as she reveals the intricate characters who move this riveting plot. The phrasing throughout Any Bitter Thing is a tribute to the nuances and possibilities of the English language, and Wood's exquisitely tuned wording alone is worth the price of the book.
Signed: A reader from western Maine

Well, Monica Wood has done it again. She is one hits it out of the park every time. The characters linger in your heart for months. Any Bitter Thing hooks you from the very beginning. She has the uncanny ability to tell a great story while bringing in a cast of characters you get to know on a very emotional level. This story is about human love, in all its complexity and all consuming power. The love between spouses, friends, but most of all, the love of a parent for his child. One of my favorite scenes is when Fr. Mike recognizes the subsuming love he has for little Lizzie, "bursting sustained longing." This is a beautifully written, captivating novel. Definitely the best read of the summer!