Oprah's Book Club at Goodreads discussion

Share your thoughts for this book here.

Here's a link to Oprah's notes, the reading group guide and more.

http://www.oprah.com/packages/oprahs-...

It looks interesting. I'll get it the next time I go to the library.

I started it last night. It's very good!

I'm starting my copy today.

Just started and it sucked me right in.

I was drawn in the story immediately. So glad I didn't miss reading this novel. Congrats to Ayana Mathis. The writing is so beautiful.

I'm trying to get this book finished in the midst of studying for the GMAT. I'm torn between being responsible and losing myself in this wonderful book. :-)

Joselyn, I know how you feel. I hate being torn between a duty and a pleasure like reading.

What is the whole title of GMAT???

Graduate Management Admissions Test. It's necessary to get into a Graduate School of Management.

P.S. Thanks for the support.

:-)

Marie,

Great advice and support.

Thanks,
Joselyn

I love how this book was written. I love the development of each character.

I just started reading it Saturday and am more than halfway through it. It's a very quick read because it's so engrossing. I'm enjoying how we get to know Hattie through the lives of each of her children.

Jeannette wrote: "I love how this book was written. I love the development of each character."

I agree. It was well written to the point where I could picture the scene.

I am finally going to start this book I have heard so much about

I finished reading the book yesterday. While the language was beautiful and the story put together in a very engrossing way, I was struck by how negative an image there was of all the men in the book. The women didn't fare much better. While Hattie showed some strength by surviving all her ordeals, she wasn't able to provide emotional sustenance to any of her surviving children. None of them emerged unscathed and the picture of them isn't pretty. How do the rest of you feel about it?

At the the start of every chapter I was lost --- but by the end of every chapter I loved the characters.

I feel that the lost of her first children helped shape her method of raising the others. It seemed to me that her main priority was the survival of the kids. So much was left on her shoulders that I can see how their emotional needs were overlooked. I also don't know how much she was capable of offering them emotionally. She, herself was in a situation where she was unhappy without a way to escape. Her method could have also been a way to try to toughen them up to face the cruel world they lived in.