Heartbreak Hotel [Paperback]

Anne Rivers Siddons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2007

The insightful, troubling tale of the coming of age of a privileged young Southern woman during the turbulent Civil Rights era.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. has organized a bus boycott. In Tuscaloosa, outrage surrounds the entrance of the state university's first black student. But at little Randolph University, sweltering in the summer heat, life remains dreamily the same. At Kappa House, the sorority sisters talk of who has pinned whom, and whether they can sneak past their housemother so they can party at an out-of-town bar. Even among this privileged group, pretty, popular Kappa sister Maggie Deloach is unquestionably one of the elite...until she commits a single act of defiance and courage that forever alters the way others think of her, and how Maggie thinks of herself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Anne Rivers Siddons...delivers the goods -- the whole fabulous package -- with every book she writes."

-- Pat Conroy, bestselling author of The Prince of Tides

"Marvelously detailed."

-- The New York Times

About the Author

Anne Rivers Siddons was born in a small railroad town just south of Atlanta, where her family has lived for six generations. She attended Auburn University and later joined the staff of Atlanta magazine. Her first novel, Heartbreak Hotel, a story of her college days at Auburn, was later made into a movie called Heart of Dixie, starring Ally Sheedy. Since then she has written fifteen more novels, many of which have been bestsellers. Recently, a movie version of her later novel The House Next Door was aired on LifeTime Network. Ms. Siddons now divides her time between Atlanta and Brooklin, Maine.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (July 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416553509
• ISBN-13: 978-1416553502
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful journey back to the 50's.., April 17, 2008

By 

Barbara McArthur "writer/editor" (Scottsdale) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heartbreak Hotel (Mass Market Paperback)

Oh yes, some would say that this story and its characters are "trite and cliched", but, folks, if you grew up in the south in the 50's and 60's you cannot help but recognize yourself - or gain a brilliant glimpse of a southern girl and all that was expected of her. The last thing your parents wanted was for you to, Heaven forbid, have any thoughts of your own - especially if they were in opposition to the standards of the time. Those were the days when you cared what your parents thought of you and you bore bitter consequences if you were a disappointment. It took a lot of courage to venture away from the norm. Ann Rivers Siddons paints vivid pictures of the small town and college settings and the workings of an evolving young mind in that era.

As an avid fan of Mrs. Siddons, I received a flash from Amazon that her new book, "Off Season" is coming out August 13th, so, in preparation for that and because it seems like an eternity since her last book came out, I immediately went down the list of her books to see if there was anything I had not read. Heartbreak Hotel was the only one - and I enjoyed it thoroughly. If this was Siddons' debut novel, she was off to a great start back in 1976 - and she's only gotten better with each novel. After reading Heartbreak Hotel, I will now chomp at the bit until "Off Season" emerges in August.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars May be set in 50's, but coming-of-age story is timeless, July 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Heartbreak Hotel (Paperback)

My daughter and I enjoyed this book very much. I read it first, and passed it on. I could see so many similarities with the experiences and feelings my daughter was relating to me during her first year in college. Maggie may be a young woman of the 1950's, but the issues and events she has to cope with are as real for today's young women. I especially loved the "historical" details of the life of the 1950's young woman - it took me back to those days - and it all rang so true. Catherine Paull

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very emotional, absolutely wonderful, March 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Heartbreak Hotel (Paperback)

This story takes place at Randolph University, which is Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. I live in Auburn and it is very emotional to read this book and realize that things like this did happen here. This is the one book that opened my eyes to what racial integration was really like. Some of the passages are so powerful that I had to reread them to get the full impact. Maggie is forced to make decisions that will change her life forever and before this book I could not comprehend the extremes of emotion that people were going through. Anyone remotely interested in the South or integration should read this book.