Customer Reviews

Nora, Nora: A Novel

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Maybe I went into this with lower expectations than usual after reading some of the reviews posted here. I have read everything ARS has written, and am always anxious and eager to start (and finish) her newest additions...this was no exception.

I just loved (and pitied) Peyton's character...so unsure of herself and lost in the everyday world until a wiser, more wordly woman comes along...Nora. Again, a character you just have to fall in love with for her spunk and fiesty beliefs. You just adore the fact that she can put Aunt Augusta in her place, and as they say, "catch flies with honey."

As always, Siddons captures the essence of the timeframe with the political goings-on and blends the story into its surroundings. The entire book unravelled with no sure outcome, and my emotions that poured forth during the speech were uncontrollable.

I still rank Outer Banks as my favorite, with Downtown, Colony and King's Oak not far behind. Anne writes a fabulous story with beautiful prose and wonderful continuity...I look forward to her new novels and though I wish she could crank them out faster, they are always worth the wait.

I, too, am a huge Colony, Outer Banks, Up Island fan. But this book was quick, shallow and fluff. Dont buy it in hardback wait for the paperback version or better yet a library rental. I felt that the story should have begun on the last page. The ending was too quick and contrived. To me, the better story would have begun there and moved on. I agree Siddons cranked this one out too quickly.

This wasn't a bad book...it is light, fluffy reading and clearly aims to be along the same lines as "To Kill a Mockingbird" in that it addresses racial issues in the southern 1960's. It simply wasn't as engaging or as deep as her other books. This one focuses on a teen and does seem more of a young adult book than anything else. It was very easy reading....and I expected more from one of my favorite authors.....for a much more satisfying take on this same era, read Downtown by this author...that was the first book of hers that I read, and it is wonderful...a novel that transports you to another place in time...unlike this one.

Once again the reader finds herself in Lytton, Georgia (see THE HOMEPLACE) with a young girl orphaned at birth by the death of her mother. With a distant father, a loving household retainer and a "Loser's Club" who competes daily for the stupidest trick ... Peyton's life needed the sudden reappearance of Cousin Nora. I was a little distressed over the recycled story and I quite frankly missed ARS's middle-aged matriarchs as in THE COLONY, THE OUTER BANKS and UP ISLAND. However, the writing is simply exquisite (as always) and the pink T-bird on the cover just way too much fun. About halfway through the book, this reader found the magic and the sense of place I have come to expect. Peyton as a child is a character you won't forget, Nora is absolutely ethereal. However, the pagan Nana could have been more in evidence. Siddons has great talent for settings and characters, her books are for dwelling and learning and (sometimes) seeing things from a new perspective.

And I fear that I take deep offense to this novel (set in my own childhood years!) being referred to as "historical fiction."

It seemed more aimed for teenagers than adults. I've enjoyed several of Ms Siddons other books, but this story did not have the depth of those.

I listened to this book on audio and loved every minute of it. I have read a couple of Siddon's novels before this, and this was definitely my favorite. The story centers around Peyton, a 12 year old girl being raised by her father after her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. All her life, Peyton had believed that she had killed her mother and that's why her father wasn't very loving towards her. I felt so sorry for Peyton when her Aunt Augusta took her to Atlanta to get her hair fixed and new clothes. She came out of the beauty shop with a huge perm and clothes she hated and went home and cried. Fortunately, along comes cousin Nora who manages to create a cute hairdo out of the perm and begins to bring Peyton out of her shell. The people in the town either love Nora or hate her, and her views on racism cause alot of commotion, but I couldn't help but love her character. Of course, I rooted for Nora and Peyton's dad to fall in love and have a happy ending, but the author throws in a few twists and the story doesn't always go the way I'd hoped, but I enjoyed the whole book and will recommend it to all my friends. I can't wait until the next Anne Rivers Siddons novel.

Anne River Siddons paints a wonderful portrait of a young girl growing up and coming of age into adulthood in a small town in Georgia during a time of innocence. After her eccentric cousin Nora comes to visit Peyton McKenzie, her life is turned topsy turvy and so are the lives of several other residents of the town. Peyton is on the verge of becoming a teenager, she never met anyone like Nora, who is independent and does not hesitate to challenge conventional thinking and the local establishment. Peyton harbors guilt for having killed her mother during childbirth, her mom died after she was born. Peyton belongs to an exclusive club, "The Loser's Club" ,where she and a few select friends share their 'secrets'. Peyton was raised by a single parent her father, who loves her but is somewhat remote. He has a housekeeper who also served as Peyton's nanny. Her highly particular Aunt Augusta (father's sister) took a benign interest in trying to feminize Peyton who resists these changes .... Peyton learns Nora is her mother's cousin's daughter and that a dispute between between the cousins, her mother and Nora's mother, occured sometime when Lila Lee (Peyton's mom) married her dad. Ms Siddons weaves numerous anecdotal events from the lives of her characters throughout the story ... many are amusing and charming which makes reading the book a delightful experience. Some mysterous events from the past eventually are revealed which shed light on the relationship between Peyton's and Nora's mother. Nora has some secrets of her own ... she lived a highly unusual independent life in her young adulthood. She is ahead of her time, the 1960s, in terms of civil rights, free thinking, and expresssion of personal freedom ... which she exerts. Her expressions of independence eventually land Nora into problems ... first with higher ups in the small town ... next with a past resident who made it to Hollywood and the big screen ... and eventually with Peyton's father who feels Nora is having a bad influence over Peyton.

The development of plot and characters is outstanding in this novel. The story is woven with finely honed skill. It unwinds to reveal how past secrets which were so safely guarded affect people's lives even today... Peyton learns how the lives of those loves are very complicated when the emotions and the heart are opened up. This is a highly recommended book. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

After reading Outer Banks, Downtown, and The Colony, I couldn't wait to sink myself into this author's normally brilliant characterization and depth of story. After the first few chapters, I too began looking for a Young Adult label on the book spine. The characters all seemed a little too shallow and overblown at the same time. Rather like bad actors in a high school play - no one was quite believable. Its difficult to be objective about a single book when you know what the author is capable of doing. Frankly, the book would have rated a two star review except for the fact that it was mercifully short and a rather fluffy but uninspired way to spend an afternoon.

OK, OK, I've read the reviews, and I agree this book is seriously flawed. Yes, it's part Auntie Mame, part To Kill a Mockingbird and part The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

I don't care. I simply raced through this book, enjoying every single derivative page, wincing in some parts, but smiling most of the time. Other reviewers have described the plot in detail, so I will only add my small comments: Small-town Southern motherless girl on the cusp of puberty in the early 60s (well before the hippies) meets free spirited, wild as the wind, too good to be true cousin Nora, who has been everywhere, done everything, seen everyone...and comes roaring into town in her bright pink T-bird. She changes young Peyton's life, the life of Peyton's sad, widowed father, and the lives of just about everyone in the town.

Is there a message? I don't really think so. I just went along for the whirlwind, enjoying it immensely as a highly pleasurable summer read. Don't look for deep insight, but if you need something to take along to the beach, Nora, Nora is perfect.

Peyton McKenzie believes she killed her mother....and that belief colors all she does in the small southern town that is her home. The adults in her life look upon her with a mix of bemusement and worry, but let her run. Her closest friends are the two fellow mwmbers of the Losers' Club, and they aren't going to encourage her to change. Out of the blue, Nora arrives. Nora is Peyton's older cousin, a child of the sixties and the south. Nora enthralls Petyon, and begins to raise havoc in town. She is breath of fresh air and life....and is the guiding hand as Peyton takes her first steps into young womanhood. There have been conplaints that the book is superficial, I found it to be engrossing. Following familiar themes from ARS other books, the class struggles in the small town, race, loss and breaking away from conformitity. I liked this so much because it delt with flawed humans, no simple black and white. In the end it is a story about "having been born with a constant heart" and learning to accept those who love us.