Open Doors [Kindle Edition]

Gloria Goldreich (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Goldreich's latest wide-ranging novel, rooted in suburban New York, skillfully delineates contemporary and conservative Jewish life, but with a less-than-compelling story. Goldreich's protagonist, ceramic artist Elaine Gordon, is neither warm nor particularly sympathetic. Putting her husband first and art second, she's effectively shut out her four children. But after her husband dies, those grown children, each of whom has a successful life outside New York City, convene and convince Elaine to visit, hoping she'll choose to live near one of them. First stop is Sandy (now Sarah) in Jerusalem, then Peter in California, both of whom have children Elaine gets to bond with. Next, she travels to Russia with Lisa, an unmarried professional who wants to adopt a child. Finally, she arrives in New Mexico where her gay son, Denis, lives with his partner; Elaine's always been uncomfortable with Denis's homosexuality, and Goldreich (Leah's Journey) doesn't let us forget it. Unfortunately, Elaine's sudden emotional turnarounds never ring true, making last-act reconciliations feel like too little too late. (Nov.)
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Product Description

Acclaimed artist Elaine Gordon can't believe her loving husband is gone. After a lifetime spent utterly devoted to her soul mate and their marriage, Elaine is now tetherless, faced with widowhood and all the decisions that come with it, not least of which is what to do with her rambling, now-empty family home.

Anxious to console their mother in her time of grief, Elaine's four grown children urge her to put everything on hold and spend some healing time with them. But visiting each unique and complicated child opens Elaine's eyes to the fact that the children she raised have become adults she hardly knows: Sarah, who abandoned Western life for an orthodox enclave in Jerusalem; Lisa, Sarah's accomplished twin and polar opposite, who will do anything for a child of her own; Peter, trapped in a hollow marriage in California; and Denis, the youngest, who just wants Elaine to accept his gay lifestyle.

As Elaine tries to bridge the physical and emotional miles, her eyes are opened to the startling truths of her own family, and what she must do to come to terms with her kids' lives--and a future that's completely, wonderfully...hers.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 358 KB
• Print Length: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Original edition (November 1, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001J1S87Q
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,432 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars deep character study, November 4, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Open Doors (Paperback)

Acclaimed ceramic artist Elaine Gordon has always placed her beloved husband Neil above her work and their four children with her vocation coming in a distant second. Thus when her soulmate anchor dies, she is more than just grieving; she is lost. Each of her adult children loves their mother even if she has always been distant from them. Each wants her to leave the New York City area and move near one of them. They persuade Elaine to visit them.

Elaine goes to see Sarah nee Sandy and her grandchildren in Jerusalem. Next she travels to California to spend time with Peter and more grandchildren. Her third global trek is to Russia where Lisa wants to become a single mom by adopting a child. Finally, the one trip she dreads going to is New Mexico where Denis and his gay boyfriend live.

Elaine's journey is on two levels: the obvious globetrotting trips to her offspring and the metaphysical journey of spiritual learning as her children, their significant others, and their offspring make solid mentors. The extended cast is fully developed but it is Elaine as the focus who holds it together. Although her revelatory transformation seems unrealistic (sort of like Ebenezer Scrooge's change), OPEN DOORS is a deep look at a person learning in her late middle ages what is important in life.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The literary equivalent of rice pudding, January 1, 2009

By 

S. McGee (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Open Doors (Paperback)

Before there was chick lit, there were authors like Gloria Goldreich, Belva Plain, etc., who wrote novels that were less formulaic than the romance novels but certainly a far cry from being contemporary versions of Jane Austen. Collectively, they specialized in a kind of book world version of comfort food; undemanding plotlines, emotions that are never too turbulent, and crises that are always resolved in just the right way, leaving the reader to heave a happy, slightly tearful sigh when she (inevitably she) turns the final page.

Having read some of these in my college days, I picked up a copy of this book out of some kind of nostalgia, only to discover that I have long since outgrown the overblown writing and underdeveloped characters. In this outing, Goldreich takes a widowed mother of four (who had always placed her relationships with her children behind her ties to her husband) on a tour to each of those children's homes. Each child perplexes her in some way; each child has some crisis in their life which Elaine (o, miracle!) can help resolve, it seems, whether that means saving one son's marriage or the other's artwork. In remarkably few pages, lifelong resentments or problems between parent and child are resolved, over and over again. And the climax -- where on earth will Elaine live? -- is just silly.

That said -- this will still appeal to a reader who likes her literary version of rice pudding -- something a bit on the bland side, whether it comes to writing or plot. Someone who'd rather read warm & fuzzy "women's lit" than edgy "chick lit". Just don't expect anything more than perfunctory attention to characters, plot or writing; this is a writer long past her best.

3.0 out of 5 stars Open Doors, June 1, 2009

By 

Joan L. Dermody "At the Temple" (Fall River, Ma) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Open Doors (Paperback)

I ordered this book because it was chosen for our book club.

I found it rather light reading. Something to take to the beach.