...AND LADIES OF THE CLUB [Hardcover]

Helen Hooven Santmyer (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: PUTNAM (1996)
• ASIN: B000PZ5N7A
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,587,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fall in love with a whole town !!, October 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: And the Ladies of the Club (Paperback)

Undoubtedly this book has a slow beginning. But it is definitely worth the effort. The author brings a whole town to life - Waynesboro, Ohio. Each and every character is described so vividly that I felt as though I actually knew these people. The book follows post-Civil War "Waynesboro" (a fictional name for a real city - Xenia, Ohio) through the next 50 years of the townspeople's lives. The main group of characters are the members of the Waynesboro Ladies Club. The story unfolds when Anne and Sally are 18 years old and the character list widens as each gets married, has children, etc. Before the end of the book I calculated there were almost 40 characters to keep track of - but it was well worth the effort. By the end of the book (a hearty 1,400 pages ) I was sad because I didn't want to leave the town of Waynesboro and its inhabitants. The author had succeeded in making me feel as though I knew each and every person. I've read this book 3 times in the past 15 years and will assuredly pick it up and read it again some time in the future. It took the author over 50 years of her life to complete this book (and finished it while living in a nursing home at the age of 80+ years). It was her life's work and I wish she had known before she died how many lives this book would touch. )

93 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still deeply satisfying and worth the effort, January 25, 1997

By 

Stan Vernooy (Henderson, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: And Ladies of the Club (Paperback)

This book was all the rage back in the early 80's when Book-of-the-Month Club made it a main selection. It was written by a comparatively unknown, elderly resident of a nursing home (who, I believe, died fairly shortly after the book's publication). For a short time everybody was talking about "...And Ladies of the Club". Fourteen years later, not many people remember the hoopla. But if a book is any good, it's still good even after the glitter fades. And this one is GOOD. I finally got around to reading it this year, partly because my wife read it and loved it. It is long (1100+ pages) but NOT difficult. I found the book hard to get "into" for the first one or two hundred pages, because there were many characters, and there hadn't been time to flesh out the personalities and relationships. But I am VERY glad that I stuck it out. Eventually the characters become vividly defined: lovable, hateable, and recognizable. The book is the story of a fictional medium-sized town in southern Ohio, from just after the Civil War to the beginning of the Depression. The story is told primarily through the eyes of a women's book club, and focuses particularly on two of the club's members and their families. All the important themes of life are explored: love, race, jealousy, religion, war, politics, business, literature, education, family relationships, and death. If you read this book, you will be both moved to tears and richly educated in American history. How much more can you ask of one book?

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sleeper success, August 20, 2002

By 

Karen Sampson Hudson "Karen Sampson Hudson" (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: And Ladies of the Club (Mass Market Paperback)

"...And Ladies of the Club" was an unexpected great success when it was published. This epic tale of a small midwestern town found many eager readers. I found it compelling, and Santmyer's account kept me turning the hundreds of pages, although I am unable to point to reasons.

As a former midwestern girl I could easily plug into the book, since the characters and setting felt so much like home. The sincere goodness of many of the earnest characters reminded me of the people of my own town. Their struggles, joys, redemptions earned and unearned, strike a familiar chord.

This is by any definition a woman's book. Male readers looking for an action/adventure tale might be disappointed. But Santmyer is eloquent in her depiction of slow-paced, relationship-based lives. Highly recommended!