Our book club suffered through a couple duds the last few months, but this one has lifted my spirits. Enders creates a world where things are not "black and white." Characters who I thought were type-casted surprised and softened me. At first I didn't think I could relate to an alcoholic mother who leaves her baby behind, but a few pages in and I realized how the same we all really are. Great first novel, leads to easy and involved conversation, and was a good length (240 pgs?) for (most of) the members to finish in a month.

A really good book. You can identify with the main character and her trying to fix the mistakes in her life. She struggles with her dysfunctional family and the death of her brother.

I really enjoyed this book. Polly, the main character, was a very real person, with some very real problems, but she learns to deal with them in the end. "Grows up" so to speak. A thoughtful book.

At times, difficult to read because you want to just shake Polly and say "snap out of it"! But in the end, a very satisfying book

Good read. I enjoyed the characters--especially Polly. Very honest writing.

Different sort of novel. Deals with some real, raw issues. Excellent fodder for discussion at our club. Some could relate, some could not, but everyone liked the flawed heroine.

book was fair. the middle of the book picked up and the ending was o.k. did not make a good discussion book.

I found this book to be rather depressing, but as far as a group discussion book, the book is a great choice. There are so many characters in one family but they are all interesting topics of discussion. This book delves into alcoholism, sibling incest (this was the only part I thought was rather repulsive) dysfunctionality over and above the norm, divorce, and many other topics. Overall
the story was good but a little dark. However; it also shows how strong people have to be to give up the things they love the most. Good discussion book, most of the people in the book said it started off slow, but got better a little into the book.

Our Book Club enjoyed reading the book - fairly easy and quick. However, lack of complexity in the writing style was problematic for some members.

Story was interesting- the author makes the reader want to see the main character succeed by overcoming her daemons. However, members disagreed over whether she should succeed in getting custody of her daughter again.

The family was completely dysfunctional and there was a soap opera like quality to the relationships and story telling.

The Island was a respite for the main character. Interesting that she went back there to resolve her issues with alcohol, given they probably started for her on the island originally.

Would recommend to other clubs--but not if you're looking for a cerebral read.