... is so descriptive in her writing that I feel like I personally know her grandma
933040
The author is so descriptive in her writing that I feel like I personally know her grandma, mother, father and all the other characters that reappear in her books.  I look forward to each and every one of her books.
3847579
I was fortunate enough to be raised by my grandmother and even though she doesn't talk like this granny or keep a diary, she is just as feisty and lovable. She taught me my love of books and dogs so any book with a liberal sprinkling of doxies is a good thing. I can relate to the family drama going on and because of it I avoid my own family like the plague. This was a trip down memory lane for me since it brought back so many wonderful memories of growing up with my own grandma.
3120048
You want to shake Maura at times, but the author definitely wrote you into her emotions about how to deal with family expectations. I want her grandfather for myself! A very well written read.
3611471
Once again Ceecee James has been able share her memories in a way that makes you feel like you were that teenage girl and these are your own memories. She is a very gifted writer and as hard as her memoirs can be to read sometimes, I'm glad she's sharing. I think it's important for abuse survivors to know they're not alone and for those of us who have been fortunate enough to have never suffered abuse, I think it's equally as important to understand it because whether we're aware of it or not, we all know victims of abuse.
1761718
Certainly the author had to imagine large chunks of details ... conversations and thoughts ... but the story is authentic, and she knew her grandmother so well that I feel like I lived alongside Maude.  This is one book that truly does need to be a movie.
3450341
The writing in her books is so rich that you can see, feel, and almost smell the places she describes. Trying to figure out if we are heading in the right direction with our life is a common theme many of us experience every 10 or so years. She wrote the feelings of it very well.
4656888
I am a grandma and could feel the grandparents pain. It is a great writer that can cause a reader to get so deeply into a story that they care so very much about how everything turns out. This is not a short story and I finished it in a day and a half. I want to read more of what this author has written.
236619
So well written the reader almost feels he is on the scene sharing the experience.
514149
36 years ago my Grandmother moved in with us with full blown dementia.  She was not the person I had loved for the first 12 years of my live, but rather someone had snatched her and left only a shell of the woman behind.  I never could share what life was like and the guilt I felt for not loving her the way I thought I should.

In reading Carol's story, she nails the guilt, the trials, the frustration, and has healed my own story through reading hers.

Thank you Carol, I can't wait for your next book.
2164448
My review may be bias as Gerry is my Grandmother! I loved every inch of her book, she poured her heart and soul into this piece of work and it truly shows! I've heard these stories time and time again yet, I still loved reading them. I am so happy to have this piece of my Grandmother, now and always. The love between my Grandparents was truly one of a kind; I hope, above all else, that when you read this book, you can feel how much love they had for each other. Thank you for this memoir Grandmom, love you to pieces!
1686091
This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a long time, especially since I was a teenager during this same time frame.
  She is an excellent writer and I felt like I knew her family personally with all their trials and tribulations.

.
1804311
I feel like I just added several members to my family. This memoir is almost voyueristic in its deeply personal journey into unresolved childhood trauma and intergenerational living.
4621424
I love this book! I felt like she was speaking right to me. So much of what she writes resonates with me.
3127382
The author writes about his experiences so vividly that one finds oneself in the moment. That he shared his personal pain is admirable.
3143609
Perhaps I should mention that I have a personal interest in the author because she is the mother of one of my grandsons. Wendy has the ability to draw the reader into the story; it's as if I am in Halcyon's mind doing the exploring, seeing the wonders of the nature of the Lake Superior area, ready for whatever comes. I am able to see Wendy in her story; that's true gift to me.
1483692
So many of the thoughts and experiences touched home with me.  I enjoyed every minute of this memoir. My wife's mom is ninety-one and suffering from dementia. When Dani talks of her husband's mom who has dementia and broke her hip, it was the same experience with my wife's mom who also broker her hip, dementia and broken hip, double disaster. My wife and I spend a week every Christmas time visiting New York and seeing Broadway shows. All the descriptions of Manhattan in the book take me to those places that we have been to. Just turning sixty, I reflect on my life and times, so this book was a journey that I loved being on with the author because I could so relate. If you have a heart you will enjoy Hourglass.
2226456
I looked forward to reading this book each night like I would a conversation with a cousin or a lifelong friend who I don't get to talk with often enough. It makes you feel special, like you are being let behind a curtain and into this family in a way that makes you wish that you had taken such care to remember these kind of details about your own family, and for me it helped me remember some stories of my own Mum that I hadn't thought of in years. Marianne Leone also reminds us that grieving and longing for our Mom's can be as complex as our relationships are when they are with us, but that it is all part of that deep bond we share. It is rare to read a book and want to send a thank you card to its author - but this one falls into that category for me. I bought several as gifts for friends and can't wait to share it.