Commitment [Mass Market Paperback]

Julie Ellis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994

From the depths of the Depression to the postwar era, Carol battles years of poverty, despair, and hard work to achieve her dream of becoming an architect, without sacrificing her family or her true love. Reprint. PW.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For the first offering under Zebra's new hardcover imprint, Ellis ( No Greater Love ) competently weaves scads of historical detail into her tale of Carol Simon's journey from childhood ease in the 1920s to a hard-won position as wife, mother and career woman in the 1970s. Despite her father's suicide during the Depression and an early forced marriage and widowhood, Carol continues to nurture her dream of becoming an architect. She moves to Manhattan, finds a job and mingles with a bohemian circle that includes idealistic Southern writer Seth Walden. Although separated by WW II, the two meet again in Paris and this time they wed. Their marriage has many vicissitudes: Seth, an unsuccessful writer, is blacklisted during the McCarthy era, and the couple move with their two children to his Georgia hometown. After many setbacks, Carol succeeds in her career while Seth becomes increasingly bitter and insecure. Aside from marriage crises, there are problems with the children and within their community. Although the plot of this rags-to-riches story is often predictable, it is redeemed by the author's obvious respect for certain ideals and her likable characters.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Zebra Books (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821746812
• ISBN-13: 978-0821746813
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #604,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing read!, February 3, 2003

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Commitment (Mass Market Paperback)

Carol Simon is born into a wealthy Jewish family who suffers total loss of their money and home in the Wall St. crash of 1929.Her father gives in to despair and suicides, leaving Carol with a lifelong horror of guns.Her selfish,uncaring mother emotionally blackmails her into a teenage wedding to a minor hoodlum who is gunned to death, leaving Carol, who was also shot, a widow while still a girl. She falls in with a group of stage struck young people with whom she bonds closely and also meets Sharon, who is to remain a lifelong friend.After a disastrous love affair with Mat, another of the group, Carol and Sharon spend a year in Paris where they study at the Sorbonne and Carol meets Seth, an aspiring writer whom she'd met briefly in New York.Carol is determined to become an architect despite the setbacks and put-downs she encounters along the way. She succeeds at this and the story continues with the ups and downs of Carol, Seth and the rest of their family.I found this to be one of those big comfy reads where I found myself totally involved with the characters and felt part of a family to the extent that I wanted to give some of them a good push(like you do with family) and tell them to get on with it and stop whining!