Seventh Heaven
Author: Alice Hoffman

"SEVENTH HEAVEN confirms her place as one of the finest writers of her generation." — NEWSWEEK — Nora is ahead of her time. A single mother in 1950s suburbia, she's strong, sexy, passionate, and mysterious. Everyone in town is touched by her, and in the mirror of her magnetism, people see themselves as never before. With Nora's courageous image before them, they begin to ask themselves questions they had never asked--finding answers they had never dared to imagine....

I don't read novels like this one very often but I should probably do so! Alice Hoffman was recommended to me and I happened upon this book at a local thrift store. It was very enjoyable -- being a slice of life from 1959 to 1960, an era that I lived through as a young boy. The novel reminded me a lot of Rabbit Run by John Updike or of Peyton Place, one of my favorites. It definitely does not show the idyllic life of the 50s as portrayed in such TV shows as Leave It to Beaver or Father Knows Best. As I said, it takes place during a year period from 1959 to 1960 in a small bedroom community on Long Island, New York that was built six years previously on what was once a potato farm. All of the houses are the same and it takes the residents some time to get used to the sameness but after six years there are small differences in the lots from landscaping, etc. Suddenly, one of the homeowners dies and the house he lived in is abandoned when his widow moves back to Virginia. The house starts to become overgrown and is taken over by a group of crows! Well the men of the neighborhood band together to try to get the house sold and eventually a young divorcee, Nora Silk, moves in with her two small children. Nora is looked down on by everyone...after all she is divorced, and her young son is bullied by his classmates. My how times have changed since then. The novel peeks into the private lives of the residents and what really takes place behind all of the sameness. It includes the coming of age stories of several of the younger residents and the dissolution of some of their parents' lives. Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it. I'll also be looking to read more of Hoffman.

Off to dabercro down the road in Clinton, Utah. Selected from the Lit VBB. Enjoy!

Arrived in the mail Monday. Thanks for sending.

I really enjoyed this book.

Reserving for the General Literature VBB.

Chose from the General Literature VBB. Sent to ReallyBookish in PA.

Received today. I'm looking forward to this one. Thanks!

Looks like I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as previous journallers, although I did like the setting... a suburban Long Island neighborhood in 1959. The characters were also interesting, but I think I was looking for more in the way of plot and character growth. For me, it didn't quite have the story arc that I have come to expect from novels. Hoffman is a bit of a hit or miss author for me, and this one fell somewhere in the middle of the pack. I would still read more of her, though.

A wishlist RABCK... enjoy!

Arrived safely. Thanks so much!