Karen White creates emotional, deep south, family-tie stories and she has set the bar even higher for similar authors when she wrote A Long Time Gone. This story covers four generations of women, all held together by a sense of "home". How I longed to enjoy the 1920's with Adelaide and witness her adolescent years spent with Sarah and watch her relationship with John take shape. I wanted to dip my hands in the damp earth with Bootsie as she planted her seedlings and help her pull weeds that may encroach on the vegetables' ladder to maturity. I desperately wanted to shake some sense into Carol Lynn and show her that her love for her children was stronger than her afflictions and other dependencies. My heart hurt for Vivian who so badly needed the love and acceptance of her mother but couldn't recover from the hurt and isolation that her mother's frequent absences brought to her life. This is a beautifully written story showing the power and strength of women. And when you throw in the mix an additive called motherhood to their make-up, you find they possess fortitude, endurance and compassion beyond measure. A heart-warming story that will make you want to go lie beneath a cypress tree and count the stars and, if you're lucky, count the crows as they fly.

All of our book club members thought this was a good book. Some felt it was very well written. Some found it hard to follow the timelines and characters. Many felt it began very darkly but found it was more positive as the book concluded.