Customer Reviews

Sarah Conley: A Novel

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Gilchrist's stories of flawed but strong Southern women highlight the passions, pleasures and sorrows that all her readers experience in their lives. That is why she is popular. Sarah Conley is certainly more accomplished than most of us but we share her views on life and indeed learn about movie- making and the joys of life in NYC and Paris. In fact, Sarah seems to be what Ellen G is or strives to be in her own life...capable, independent and sensibally sensual. Sarah's life makes me want to know more about the author who writes so well about the concerns and emotions of her characters and, for that matter, her readers.

I love Gilchrist's work, and I was prepared to love Sarah Conley, too, but I just didn't. I agree with another Amazon reviewer-- I would have liked to see more of the teenage Sarah, and her complicated relationship with Eugenie's family. Some of the side plots in Sarah's adult life seemed poorly thought-out and stereotypical-- I was expecting better from Gilchrist. The book does have its likable moments, however, and if you enjoy most of her other books, you won't hate it. If you're just starting out with Gilchrist, read Victory over Japan or Light can be both Wave and Particle first, not Sarah Conley.

When it became apparent to me that this book was boring, I kept reading anyway, simply because it was so bad. There is no one to like in this story. The self-centered, whiny characters don't even like each other. Jack and Eugenie don't like their kids. Eugenie didn't want them because she doesn't like kids. Yet she's a pediatrician? What was the author thinking in that choice?

The narrative is yawn-worthy. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. She walked to the elevator and pushed the button. She went to the sixth floor and got off. She went to her office and took off her coat. She worked until ten o'clock.

Shifts in point of view from author to characters is clumsy. It's mostly third person narrative and suddenly Jack or Sarah is thinking, in first person. The dialogue is trite and unnatural, as if it's a script and the actors are reading their lines in dress rehearsal. When Jack and Sarah are together, the dialogue slips into the stuff of romance novels. Sometimes they sound like teenagers.

Ellen Gilchrist's humor has always been my favorite element of her writing. Her characters are audacious and pathetic, but always funny. Sarah Conley is a little too impenetrable. She doesn't seem to really care about anyone- her son, her lover, or her old flame, but Gilchrist seems to want us to believe that she does. This depiction of a career-focused woman lacks the feeling of Gilchrist's other characters. Sarah's broad statements about life's travails seem trite and you end up wanting Jack to find someone else who will be able to give a little, not just take...I don't think Gilchrist succeeded in portraying the character she was hoping to depict.

Possibly the worst book written. Sarah Conley had absolutely no character development as she acted on her primal instincts which depicted her true character: back-stabbing, selfish, and arrogant. The only character who seemed to care for her, Robert, was ultimately shafted and eventually forgotten. Sarah Conley epitomizes the stereotype that women always make the wrong decisions.

I think I actually lost brain cells reading this "book."

Does Ms. Gilchrist no longer require an editor? If she had one, this novel might not have made it to press -- unless it was at Harlequin. Unfortunately, lack of censure has unleashed a piece of sub-standard work from an otherwise talented writer. It's a real let-down for Gilchrist fans. The story begins well, with the young Sarah but quickly falls to shreds as soon as we meet the adult Sarah-- someone I would not care to know or read about. The story becomes melodramatic with plastic characters and trite dialogue. I began to wonder if Ms. Gilchrist was trying to drag us into her midlife crisis. No thanks. It's such a shame because her earlier short fiction was beautiful, lyrical and funny with a cast of rich characters and intriguing plot-lines. Perhaps the genre is the problem. Short stories and novels are two entirely different beasts...Gilchrist should stick to what she does best.

With its cheesy dialogue and unconvincing characters, I couldn't even finish this book. Ellen Gilchrist needs to spend more time observing human nature and listening to real-life conversations if she wants to write well.

The really bizarre thing about this book is that she doesn't tell you when it takes place. In the first chapter, the protagonist is 14. In a later chapter, 1996, she has a 32-year-old boyfriend. Because the boyfriend is "younger," I assumed she was in her late thirties. Many chapters later, I discovered that she was in her fifties. Suddenly her fear of pregnancy as a college student made sense, but why didn't the writer make that clear in the first place?

This book was awful. I could not find any redeeming or likable qualities in Sarah. Snobby, self-centered, and worst of all, boring. The plot could not possibly have been more blah. Not even good beach reading.

I've read several of Ellen Gilchrist's other books (Victory over Japan, Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle, In the Land of Dreamy Dreams) and loved them. That's why I picked up this book - and I was so disappointed. The characters were unreal, the dialog was trite, and the ending - where did that come from? It didn't ring true at all. What happened with Sarah's ex-boyfriend, who writes spooky letters to her? The author seemed to have lost interest in pursuing that storyline. And it's unbelievable that Jack doesn't mourn his daughter and wife more. The book doesn't seem like Gilchrist's other works at all - I have to wonder if an imposter wrote this book? I agree with some of the other reviewers - it was more of an outline of a book, not a real book. Also, it does seem that the publishers pushed it out before the author could fix it. Don't waste your time and money on this shabby effort.

While Sarah was comtemplating her past and current life, she was called to visit her childhood and dying friend. Would there be explanation and redemption for both women's lives? Would there be growth for this woman, someone who the author repeatedly referred as a "survivor", finally acquire some understanding and acceptance for other people's weaknesses? At that point of the novel, it was full of mystery and wonderment as Sarah embarked on her journey to visit her friend.

Unfortunately, her friend immediately died after a brief meeting; Sarah picked up her love affair with the friend's husband; the only thorn to their happiness was that she had to go to Paris to write a script for a large sum of money. All of sudden, we are reading a romance novel where the hero and heroine were enjoying the wonderful scenes in and outside of Paris. I couldn't help but feel the author wanted to enjoy a trip to Paris while she worked on the book; so she conveniently developed her story in that direction.

Disappointing book. One the other hand, I picked up the book from the deep discount pile. So it's my own fault to waste money and time on this book.