A beautifully written story about what seems like an average Midwestern family during the 30s,40s,50s. Appearances are deceptive as each character has a surprise in store for the reader. The book has interesting turns and gives a heartfelt insight into a particular time and place. Was really a delicious summer read.

Interesting, great vocabulary,although somewhat repetitive

We had varying opinions about this book. I found the book to be a little slow and boring for my taste.

An easy read, brilliantly written story of a family and each member's depth of moral values which were rooted in the religious and social structure of that time and their affect upon the direction of each one's life journey as well as the development of the family as one unit.

This is the second time that I have read this book. I liked it the first time I read it and this time I loved it. Her way of describing relationships, events and people are insightful. Her scene descriptions are great also. You come to see the complexities of each character as you read. The sections of the book that tell each character's story adds to the layers of the story of this turn of the century Missouri family as they go into the midfifties of century. This is a great read.