Customer Reviews

Walking Home (Mira)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rochelle Weiss would do anything for her beloved parents, Holocaust survivors, who had her late in life and gave her unconditional love. Her boss Brad fires her from her public relations job at Business Industry Systems and her boyfriend Phil dumps her when she asks for a leave of absence to take care of her dying parents. Stunned, she loses her optimistic outlook fostered by her parents that everything will work out okay.

Rochelle earns money walking canines; shockingly she finds the work calming her ravaged soul, and enables her to think about the future and all the good things that have happened to her thanks to the love and nurture of her parents. Though she will mourn her loss, Rochelle knows her life will continue to be great regardless of what she does because of her memories of her parents and some new real friends she has met while WALKING HOME.

Gloria Goldreich provides her audience with a deep poignant character study of an individual who seems in some ways as a modern Job as everything goes wrong from the moment her mother calls her with the news. The story line is driven totally by Rochelle as she reflects on her past love and glory, her present woes, and ultimately on a future that she knows will once again be filled with love and glory. Fans will appreciate her roller coaster ride from rosy colored optimist to gloomy pessimist back to pragmatic optimist as she overcomes the failures of her boss and her boyfriend and eventually the deaths of her parents in this powerful look at a terrific person making it in a world turned upside down on her.

Harriet Klausner

Years ago while browsing at the library I came across the book Leah's Joruney by the author Glora Goldreich. The story of a young Jewish woman at the turn of the century who emigrates to American,this book remains one of my all time top reads. It also began my fond appreciation for Ms. Goldreich's additional books like Four Days, Mothers and the sequel to Leah's Journey, Leah's Children. Recently while shopping at a bookstore, I came across Walking Home and was excited at the prospect of reading another book by this gifted author. And once again I was captivated by not only the plot of the book, but the wonderfully portrayed characters.

Rochelle Weiss is the beloved daughter of Holocaust survivors. She was always first in her class and now is a highly respected member of a public relations firm. She also has a long standing relationship with an equally succesful man. But Rochelle (Ruchele to her parents) is haunted by her parent's past and their unbounding love for her.

When her parents are both diagnosed with terminal illnesses,
Rochelle decides against hiring help to take cae of them, making the decision instead to care for them herself. But she never planned on her firm not granting her a leave of absence and is somewhat shocked when she is terminated. A few months later her parents dies within hours of each other leaving her an orphan at 32. When she returns to Manhattan she has no job and even her relationship with her boyfriend has deteriorated. Now Rochelle is faced with decisions about what she will do next. Then a friend asks if Rochelle will help her out with her dog walking business while she is away. Between this job and a new found interest in a poetry class, Rochelle is finally able to make some sense of her parents devotion to her and her future.

I have always enjoyed Glora Goldreich's books in the past and Walking Home is no exception. While it has been some time since I read this author I finished the book and thought this was a fine read and one which I highly recommend. Now I look forward to reading Ms. Goldreich's latest book, Dinner with Anna Karenina.

Gloria Goldreich has painted a captivating world of victims and survivors, of struggles and battles won, of mind-bending questions and simple answers, of love lost and love gained.
Walking Home is a book that will make you look inward, will make you examine what paths you've chosen to take in your lifetime -- Are they yours exclusively? Were they mapped out for you? Are you lost? Are you nearly at your desired destination?

I have found it difficult to put down the book as many of its characters are very familiar to me and others I know.

No doubt I will seek out Gloria Goldreich's other works to read.

I am not an animal lover, and when I read on the book's jacket that the heroine was a dog walker, I was almost tempted not to read it. But having read other of the author's books and heard her speak, I felt it was a good idea to at least give it a try, and am I glad I did! The story was mesmerizing, the characters believable, and likeable, and the ideas behind the story life affirming.

New Yorker Rochelle Weiss, the beautiful heroine of Gloria Goldreich's "Walking Home," has always been a golden girl. Her mother and father survived the Holocaust, and they have taken great pains to protect their precious child from any unpleasantness. In return, Rochelle tried to make her parents' lives as carefree as possible. She was a top student in school as well as a star athlete. Now that she is in her thirties, she has a great job at a top public relations firm and her Jewish boyfriend, Phil Gold, is equally good looking and successful.

Sadly, Rochelle's parents both become seriously ill, and her life changes abruptly. For the first time, Rochelle takes a hard look at herself. What are her values? Is she headed in the right direction? Not only does Rochelle reevaluate her career choice, but she also examines her relationship with Phil. Are she and her boyfriend headed for a permanent commitment or are they just two selfish yuppies who are incapable of settling down?

Gloria Goldreich examines the culture of the successful modern urban professional with a keen eye. People like Rochelle are used to having what they want when they want it. They become completely disoriented when life throws them a curveball. The illness of her parents shakes Rochelle up to such an extent that she becomes confused and despondent. After she leaves her job to be with her parents, Rochelle takes up dog-walking to earn some money while she considers her options.

"Walking Home" is competently written, but it meanders a bit, especially in the second half. Goldreich introduces an abundance of colorful and diverse characters, including fellow dog-walkers, the dogs' owners, various neighbors, an attractive artist, and a demanding poetry teacher who runs a workshop that Rochelle eagerly attends. Rochelle has some hard decisions to make. Should she devote her life to writing poetry? Should she hook up with the artist? Although the book eventually loses its focus and has too many conventional soap-opera elements, Rochelle Weiss is an engaging character and "Walking Home" is a pleasant and romantic diversion.

Gloria Goldreich captures the shock of a sudden job change and the dignity of stepping down from a well-paid job in order to do the right thing and help her parents, while suffering the indignities of other people's responses.

Eloquent and wonderful to read. I've framed the cover as reminder of how long a life transition can take, and that it's noble to make short-term sacrifices and keep your humor.

This book walks straight into your imagination. Questions about life, death, and what's important trickle into your mind as you watch Rochelle lose everything she possesses. Fired from her job, freshly moved from her apartment, and newly, rawly single, Rochelle flounders as she tries to set her life to rights. Suddenly she doesn't know who she is, or, pardon the hackneyed phrase, who she wants to be. To help pay the bills, Rochelle turns to a new line of work--dog walking. Walking dogs, Rochelle sees life from a different point of view, meeting completely different types of people. Releasing the bonds of her past and diving into the future, Rochelle searches for herself, taking the reader on for an interesting (at times awkward) ride.

Despite the intense storytelling achieved by Goldreich, the reader can't help but have the "this-is-too-much-for-real-life" feeling. Would a person lose her job, boyfriend, identity, and parents in so small a time? Hopefully not, and if so--ouch! The writing style, though descriptive, seems to hold the reader at arms length. Personally, I enjoyed the read, but was unable to truly get into the story.

Conclusion for those interested: It was a good book, but a heavy, dramatic read.