When I started this book, I had no expectations. But I was immediately intrigued by the story. The topic is uncomfortable at times, but the writing is good and keeps you interested. A deep psychological book with insights/thoughts that made me think.

A coming of age story, well-written, a good story about the relationship between girls and their mothers, set in the days of free love and sexual exploration. Some harsh language.

I didn't have any expectations going into this book but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a simple, quick read but definitely kept you interested because you wanted to know what happened next. It's a good story about a disconnected mother/daughter relationship -- I enjoyed it!

A lovely account of a mother/daughter disconnect, and the ability to love though it.

A wonderful read with haunting characters. I almost thought about keeping this one to reread again at some point. One of the best books that I have read in a long time.

Oprah always picks the best books. You will love it.

Excellent Book!! You definately get swept up into it! Highly recommend.

A very good read. NOt too long - you really can identify with the characters.

An Oprah Winfrey presents movie book....about a mother and her 16 year old daughter...good...

Good family saga

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Elizabeth Strout is a great storyteller. I truly enjoyed this book. A stunnig mother/daughter story!

I loved this book, partly because i can relate in some respects. It just goes to show you what kids really do hide from their parents.

Good story!

Great book!

"In most ways, Isabelle and Amy are like any mother and her 16-year old daughter, a fierce mix of love and loathing exchanged in their every single glance. That they eat, sleep and work side by side in the gossip-ridden mill town of Shirley Falls only increases the tension. And just when it appears things can't get any worse, Amy's sexuality begins to unfold, causing a vast and icy rift between mother and daughter that will remain unbridgeable unless Isabelle examines her own secretive and shameful past." (From back)

Mother/daughter relationships

I read this years ago and enjoyed it, although don't remember much about it any more.

FROM THE PUBLISHER
Amy and Isabelle explores the secrets of sexuality that jeopardize the love between a mother and her daughter. Amy Goodrow, a shy high school student in a small mill town, falls in love with her math teacher, and together they cross the line between understandable fantasy and disturbing reality. When discovered, this emotional and physical trespass brings disgrace to Amy's mother, Isabelle, and intensifies the shame she feels about her own past. In a fury, she lashes out at her daughter's beauty and then retreats into outraged silence. Amy withdraws, too, and mother and daughter eat, sleep, and even work side by side but remain at a vast, seemingly unbridgeable distance from each other. This conflict is surrounded by other large and small dramas in the town of Shirley Falls -- a teenage pregnancy, a UFO sighting, a missing child, and the trials of Fat Bev, the community's enormous (and enormously funny and compassionate) peacemaker and amateur medical consultant.
SYNOPSIS
A much talked about first novel that explores the secrets that jeopardize the love between a mother and her daughter.
FROM THE CRITICS
Mademoiselle
If you read one book all year, let it be this exquisite first novel.
New Yorker
Unflaggingly engaging...What a pleasure to gain entry into the world of this book.
Jeff Giles
Lovely, powerful. —Newsweek
Time Magazine
Strout's insights into the complex psychology between [mother and daughter] result in a poignant tale about two comings of age.
Vanessa V. Friedman
...[I]n Strout's sure hands[the central revelatory] truth isn't awful butin factrevelatory. —Entertainment Weekly

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