Circle of Three [Import] [Paperback]

Patricia; Patricia Gaffney Gaffney (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 421 pages
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK Ltd. /A Viacom Company; 2nd Printing edition (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684858738
• ISBN-13: 978-0684858739
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Patricia Gaffney began her writing career with the publication of Sweet Treason, a historical romance set in revolutionary Scotland. Eleven romance novels later, she tried something different--The Saving Graces, a story of women's friendships, that ended up spending 17 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List.

Circle of Three, Flight Lessons, and The Goodbye Summer followed, all bestsellers that established Gaffney as a premier mainstream fiction writer.

Her new book is Mad Dash, the story of a happy marriage in trouble. It's due out in Spring 2008.

Gaffney, who lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, is currently at work on a novel about a man who changes his life when he finds out he's dying--then finds out he isn't. Working title: On Second Thought.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful relationship drama, May 31, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Circle of Three: A Novel (Hardcover)

Carrie instigates an argument while her husband is driving home from an outing when he suddenly keels over and dies from a heart attack. Carrie's guilt is so intense, she slides into a deep depression for the next four months, unable to eat or even dress until her mother Dana forces her into obtaining a job. Dana hopes that Carrie's new boss will prove to be a suitable spouse once her daughter comes out of mourning.

Carrie cares about no male except perhaps her first love Jessie, a person she fled when she decided to abandon her small hometown. Carrie's teenage daughter Ruth knows nothing about the shared past her mother and Jessie had. Instead she likes him, treating him like a friendly older brother and occasionally like a father. Dana never approved the "socially inferior" Jessie, but feels that when he thinks the time is right he will make his move. However, when Ruth catches Jessie and Carrie in a compromising position, she feels betrayed causing a crisis that forces the three generation of women to confront each other and themselves.

Patricia Gaffney follows up her last bestseller THE SAVING GRACES with another powerful drama that will appeal to her fans as well as that of Delinsky and Siddons. The poignant story line deals with problems on different levels as the three females bring differing perspectives to the table. This makes for an engaging tale that charms the audience as everyday people try to do their best to attain a happy life for themselves while hoping to bring contentment to their loved ones. CIRCLE OF THREE is family drama that is impossible to put down until the final page is read.

Harriet Klausner

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Worthwhile Read, June 9, 2000

By 

Maudeen Wachsmith "BeachReader" (Port Townsend, WA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Circle of Three: A Novel (Hardcover)

Ah - a new Patricia Gaffney book -- reading rarely gets better than a work from this talented author. The follow-up to her much-acclaimed THE SAVING GRACES, CIRCLE OF THREE is really more of a romance than THE SAVING GRACES in that the main character, a recent widow, ends up seeing her old high school sweetheart and things really heat up. I think the main theme of the story is intended to be the relationships between three generations of women in a family, but this middle character is so much stronger than the other two that her story really is at the forefront of the book making the other two (her mother and daughter) more like subplots. The story is told in first person from the POV of each of the three main characters and I love the way Gaffney seems so easily able to alternate between the three and give them their own unique voice. I can only give it 4 stars because it really isn't as powerful as THE SAVING GRACES, but nevertheless a very worthwhile read and worth paying the hardcover price.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Richly layered and complex, June 28, 2000

By 

Laurie Gold "bookie" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Circle of Three: A Novel (Hardcover)

Many romance readers were sorry to see Patricia Gaffney move from historical romance into hardcover women's fiction last year. I for one am glad she made the move if that means more readers will read her books. In Circle of Three, author Gaffney does what she does best - creates complex characters who might not always be likable, but who are true to themselves. They don't act according to the plot written for them; they drive the plot by the force of their personalities.

The three women whose voices narrate this book are bound by blood and gender in a manner only women can be. Grandmother, mother, and daughter, Dana, Carrie, and Ruth are connected through their actions and the men in their lives in an honest and emotional story. The plotting is inventive (the ark subplot is funny at times and poignant at others) and the writing is intimate. The reunion and developing romance between Carrie and her first love, Jess, is quite lovely, although her choices do not always have the impact she'd hoped for.

This can be a difficult book to read, however, precisely for the same reasons it is worthwhile. I'm going to get Gaffney's The Saving Graces out of my TBR pile and try it next!

TTFN, Laurie Likes Books

Publisher, All About Romance