Customer Reviews

The Evidence Against Her: A Novel

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I received this book as a Christmas gift and I just got around to reading it. What a pleasant surprise! (And a refreshing break from the flood of novels about contemporary dysfunctional families.) The seductive cover does not mislead -- inside these pages is a powerful story, but this is a gentle kind of power -- the power of family bonds and subtle domestic dramas. The author tells us the Scofield family stories in a distinctive voice that can only be described as discreet. It's as if a loving aunt were recounting the family's history for us. I haven't read anything else by Robb Forman Dew, but I am going to search out her earlier novels, and I'm looking forward to the sequel to this one.

Lovers of the sort of fiction Jan Karon writes won't like this book, and it is a waste of time for them to read it. This is an astonishing work of lierature that is nevertheless accessable to any good reader. It is a whole world given to the reader to ponder for years after finishing the book. Is there Evidence? Of what and about whom? I think this is the best book I've read in decades, and if you're a fan of Jane Austen or Edith Wharton or even Carol Shields you will love this novel! I'm jealous of anyone who hasn't read it yet! Happy reading!

After reading reviews for this book I was given it as a gift several months ago. I completed the two books I wanted to read before "The Evidence Against Her" and, when I finally got to pick it up I almost wish I never had. What a disappointment! I realize that it is a slow-paced novel that takes place in a much slower time. But it's slow to the point of being stuck in the mud. The character development drags. You kind of know where the characters are going but by the time they get there you have lost interest.

I did plod along and finish the novel. The story is somewhat interesting but the pace and dialogue dragged a bit too much. Hey, there is no slower town than Mitford but I can't put Jan Karon's books down!

I saw this book displayed, and the cover is so seductive that I picked it up and began to look through it. I was captivated by the first sentence which is one of the great openings of any book I've ever read, including A Tale of Two Cities. This is a complex tale about familial myths, and how they evolve, that shape the way we look at the narrative of our lives. And this is one of the only books I've ever read that explores the lives of girls at school, among many other things. At times it's endearingly amusing and at times it's searingly sad and sometimes heartbreaking. This is a book into which you walk as if you're sinking into a dream. It is slow paced and visual and increasingly mesmerizing. I emerged from it so sorry it was over. It's a whole world Dew gives us, and the writing is transcendent! It illuminates the fact that any person is always living his or her regular life while managing all sorts of emotions simultaneaously, and the author never judges the characters but leaves that for the reader to do if we choose. The ending is a shock and is entirely earned. I loved this book and think it will become a classic. I'm trying to find this author's previous books but they seem to be out of print.

I loved this book! It was very disappointing when I got to the end and had to let the characters go. I recognized so many people I know/knew in the characters and was therefore fascinated with them. I highly recommend this book to people who love to study other people (and may learn something about themselves in the process).

Not much happens in this book on the surface. At first glance it seems like that is not the case: there are births, deaths, marriages, World War I, an outbreak of influenza. But all of that activity plays a background role to the intricate workings of three families in a small Ohio town at the turn of the century--and everything that happens is leading up to one final act, providing motivation for that act.
I found this to be primarily a novel of envy. Every person in this book feels as if he/she is on the outside looking in. Agnes Claytor envys Lily Butler, who envys her right back. Catherine Claytor envys her daughter; in fact she envys anyone that takes the center of attention away from herself. In many ways it reminded me of a Jane Austen novel of manners: so many people were so concerned about what others thought, and caught up in their own propriety, that no one really understood or got to know anyone else.
I did find the ending to be bit abrupt. The back cover says that this is the first in a trilogy, so I'm thinking maybe this book was meant just as an introduction to these characters. Overall, the writing is superb, and the characters are fascinating, and for the most part, likeable people. I highly recommend this book.

This is a magnificent novel: gorgeously written, heartbraking, funny at times...it's the work of a laureled American novelist at the height of her powers.

I began reading The Evidence Against Her yesterday around 10 a.m. and could not put it down. It is the story of two families living in late 19th- and early 20th- century Ohio, but it could just as easily be set in Chekhov's Russia or Lawrence's England, for its appeal and its message are universal. The story focuses on luminously-drawn Agnes, the unwitting anchor and scapegoat of a troubled family. I have no doubt that Agnes will eventually take her place beside Hardy's Tess, Austen's Emma, Tolstoy's Natasha, and the other great female protagonists of Western literature.

This is a literary novel, but it is also deeply entertaining. Dew is one of a handful of writers currently working who manages to be both at once. This is a novel to be read at least twice, I think: first for the thrilling story and second to savor the richly textured prose and exquisitely observed scenes. I plan to start it again soon.

Don't miss this book!

I found this book flat - it just didn't draw me in. Although the characters started out interesting, they just didn't develop and, cardinal sin for me, they weren't characters which generated
in sense of sympathy or empathy in me. My book club members didn't like it either so I find it surprising it is so highly rated.

The descriptions that Robb Dew uses in this book gave me more of a sense of the time and place than I could have imagined when I first started reading it. I was taken back into a time when women's voices were kept to themselves and the roles were so defined there was not much room to live your own life, regardless of gender. Robb Dew, in a quiet way that is really poetic, exemplifies the time, the social position of the families and the geographic location and families' heritage. This book lays out what life was like in a small midwestern town.Even in those days there were people from away who had to learn to find a place in the society they lived in, and Robb Dew takes the reader into those complex family situations. Early on in the book Lily's experiences shape the rest of her life, and in a strong subtle way Dew takes us to the parts of Lily that plague her and influence her. I thought this was a great read.

I rarely put a book down once I start it but this was beyond boring! Felt really good closing this one.