Customer Reviews

Bygones

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

 

 

LaVyrle Spencer writes: "It always takes two, honey, but when a man retaliates by having an affair, he's usually the one who gets all the blame." This was a tender, sentimentally written book about a divorced woman, Bess, who takes a long, thoughtful look at her failed marriage and realizes that she's partly to blame for its demise. After all, she was the one who went back to school in an attempt to make a career outside of the home, while neglecting her husband, his needs, and her traditional household chores in the process. In turn, her ex-husband, Michael, newly divorced from his second wife, mopes around his empty condo and comes to the disheartening realization that he doesn't even know how to take care of himself. In a life-affirming, men-can-change-even-if-raised-in-the-40s way, Michael learns how to make eggs and does his very own laundry after 43 years, winning Bess' love and forgiveness without ever having to say he's sorry for cheating on her.

To add to this heart-warming tableau, we have the uneducated, holier-than-thou daughter, Lisa, who, with the great wisdom and maturity of her 21 years, attempts to manipulate her divorced parents into reconciliation. As driven by the nostalgia that haunts every character in this book, Lisa wants her family to be whole again for her unborn child and upcoming wedding.

The only somewhat sympathetic character in this book is Randy, Bess and Michael's drug using son, who is a "loser" that works at a nuthouse (which is so much better than Lisa's typist/waitress job), and blames his father (gasp) for having an affair and breaking up their happy home. But he too succumbs to the general theme of blandness and nostalgia when falling for the saintly MaryAnne Padgett, a throwback to a "simpler time."

I highly recommend this book ...

I've read somewhere around 200 romance novels in my short life (I'm 30). I mostly read books from Nora Roberts, Judith McNaught, Sandra Brown, Danielle Steel and, of course, Lavyrle Spencer. I consider these 5 authors to be the best in the genre. Of these 5 none are better at characterization, descriptive writing, storyline, sustentative plot, and absolutely drawing you in to a book than Miss Spencer.

I have read probably 95% of all of her available titles. Normally, I am so drawn into the story that I am reading at work, I'm reading at stoplights, I'm getting up early to read "just one more chapter", I'm racing home to read just a little before my evening starts. I can normally finish one of her books in about 3 days, with my normal reading pattern.

I've had Bygones for a while and, just reading the description on the back, I honestly was not that excited about it. But, the last few books I'd read were `historical' romances and I was ready for something a little more modern. So I picked up Bygones and started reading. I should not have bothered.

When comparing Bygones to books by some of the other authors I've read (NOT any that I've already mentioned), it comes away as a spectacular novel. However, when comparing it to any of Miss Spencer's other books, it gets an F.

I read a romance novel so that I can get drawn into the story of the romantic leads. Yes, they are predictable, yes they are a lot of fluff, yes they can be very unrealistic and kind of cheesy. But, this is what I love so much about them. We all know that the couple will end up together but the fun is in the journey.

One of my problems with Bygones is there was entirely too much attention paid to the children and their lives. A good 40% of the story was about other characters that I simply did not care about. By about 150 pages in, the romantic leads had only had a few interactions. When the finally did get together, it was completely anti-climactic and I had trouble believing that they cared at all about each other, much less were "in love" as they claimed. Normally, before the couple gets together there is a good bit of interaction between them, there is a building of their relationship, there a build up to the moment that they become intimate.

As I mentioned, nobody is better at writing these aspects than Lavyrle but none of those aspects were present in Bygones. Granted, this story was about a divorced couple who were reconnecting w/ one another. But, there was never any kind of explanation as to why the got together in the first place. The couple barely had any real interaction w/ one another before hoping in the sack again.

I can normally finish one of her books in about 3 days, with my normal reading pattern. It took me almost a month to finish this book. I went days without reading it at all because I just didn't care. I just was not into it at all. But, I'd already started it so I kept plugging along, hoping, knowing that it would get better. It didn't. I didn't care about these characters, I didn't care about their lives, I didn't really care whether Bess & Michael even ended up together. I just kept wondering when the book would be done.

As I said, in comparison to other books I've read, some of which have been real duds, anything by Miss Spencer is fabulous. But Bygones is, far and away, the worst book by this particular author that I have ever read. It cannot even compare to classics like The Hellion, The Gamble, Separate Beds, Hummingbird, November of the Heart, Morning Glory, Vows, and Spring Fancy. Therefore, that's why this book only gets one star from me.

This is one of my favorites! The author paced the story with the perfect beat and measure! She started off with a cause - to bring the parents back together, a plot - the upcoming nuptuals of their daughter and the closure between father and son, and of course the resolution in the end - the two getting back together. I truly loved every aspect of the relationship all the characters had and it was so believable. The author made sure that everyone in the book had enough purpose and nothing was overdone as far as description. All the characters remained true to the plot and all the extras were perfectly intertwined. Hope was what I came up with in the end and by the time I finished the book, I was in tears. It made me believe that with a little ingenuity, nothing is impossible!

I normally love LaVyrle Spencer's novels (Morning Glory is an all-time favorite), but this one just didn't do it for me. I could not make myself like or care too much about either Bess or Michael. I can understand how making a broken relationship come back together and work again would be tempting for a novelist, but this one was difficult to enjoy reading about because the characters just seemed to be rather unlikable people. Bess was fussy and almost silly at times and Michael just seemed in many ways to be a flat character for most of the book. In addition, I felt like there was some heavyhanded emotional manipulation (via wedding scenes, the birth of the grandchild, etc..) going one here. Spencer's novels are usually more artful and gentle in getting their message across, so I was rather disappointed by the blatant manipulation in this one. For these reasons, watching the Currans come back together almost made me feel like I was reading a giant Hallmark card rather than a novel of any great depth.

I like Spencer's writing style and her vibrant writing was evident here, but without characters I could enjoy or care about, I just did not like plowing through this book.

I first read this five years ago and still have trouble putting it down (even on the re-reads!) I appreciate the storyline here so much more than in Bittersweet (where one of the main characters is married to someone else) Seeing a divorced couple get back together with encouragement from one of their children is a refreshing plotline, and the story moved along at just the right pace. The characters in this story were all believable and likable, and the ending in this book didn't leave me feeling like I'd just read a fairy tale. The only beef I had was that I personally don't know very many parents who would give their daughter that grand of a wedding when there's a baby on the way. But other than that, I think it's one of her best.

I enjoyed reading about the Curran's as Lisa manipulates Bess and Michael into getting back together. Good read! Gwen

As my favorite author LaVyrle has done it again. This one is one of her best and as always when your finished it will leave you with a good feeling in your heart. Bess and Michael Curran are divorced and for six years have lead very separate lives.Bess is a very independent woman who has her own business.Michael also has a successful business but is on his second divorce.With much bitterness between them they have had nothing to say to each other since their divorce. They have two children who have very different attitudes about their divorce.Lisa who is about to get married and have a child of her own is very hurt by the way her parents act toward each other.Nothing would make her happier than for the two of them to be back together,and provide a traditional grandparent's role for the child she carries. Randy on the other hand wants nothing to do with his father and makes that very clear from the start.After all he has been alright for the past six years with out him in his life,except for his attitude toward life it's self. All he needs is to play drums and smoke a little pot and every thing is ok in his world. After Bess and Micheal are forced to put their differences aside for the sake of their daughter and get along until after her wedding.They begin to take a different look at their roles in their failed marriage.Each one learns that real love and marriage is about compromise and change and being able to grow with each other instead of growing apart. A very heartwarming story that readers young and old alike will be able to relate to.

I recently discovered Spencer's great gift of writing by reading several of her great books, however, if I discovered her through this book, I would have passed her by.

A divorced couple with children in need of guidance from both parents eventually get back together and face the issues that come about in today's world. The believable characters could be our next door neighbors and the plot is one we might have heard about from them. Sensitive and heart-warming presentation. Another favorite from my favorite romance author.
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One - Three

I totally agree with the reviewer from Portland, Oregon. This book was awful and was completely unfair to Bess.