A story of love, heartbreak and disillusionment.
591586
In this riveting tale of familial dysfunction and the importance of friendship the protagonist engages the reader from the first page to the last. The characters are diverse and well delineated. This book is beautifully written. I highly recommend this novel.
3879025
This is about a man trying to do noble and good things, who ends up jeopardizing his relationship with his own family by trying to protect them from the horrors of the war, and feeling guilty for his own human weaknesses. His wife's journey matches his own in turn, as she comes to terms with what he has really been through and that they are both mere human beings. It is about love in the midst of terrible strife and forgiveness for ourselves and those we care about. What a complex and heart wrenching saga this was.
4835785
A hard story to read because of what happens but in the end love finds its way.  It was a story that will hold your attention.
2052015
Heartbreaking, but a story I coudnt stop reading.  A story about tragedy in a family that begins the day two people meet.
874582
This is a story about two people that cannot live without eachother, but really cannot be said to love eachother, save in the very loosest sense of the word.  Each love in a passionate, wilful, and selfish way, perfectly willing to let the other suffer any measure of pain as it fits into their plans of advancement (on Cathy's part) or revenge (on Heathcliffe's part, and eventually Cathy's part as well.).

 Each of these parts is played well, Ralph Fiennes of course does an exceptional job of Heathcliffe, while Cathy is very annoying, but all in a true-to-the-book way.

  Into the story comes Edgar Linton, the docile, lamb-like rival lover of Cathy Earnshaw, who is really such an honourable sort you can't dislike him, but so timid and retiring you can't respect him either.  He is the perfect counter to Heathcliffe, who is passionate where Linton is incapable of very strong feelings at all, savage where Linton is refined, poor where Linton is brought up in luxury, and immoral where Linton is principled.  Linton is played as he should be, with an embarrassingly weak personality, which shrinks from violence even in protecting himself or his loved ones.

  The story for the most part consists of the various ways in which these three principle characters make each other completely miserable, especially Heathcliffe, whose goal in life after Cathy dies is to bring as much misery on Linton, who was the chosen rival, as is possible, which he does by convincing Linton and Cathy's daughter that she is in love with his son (her cousin), a carbon copy of Linton without the refinements and gentleness, a selfish, sickly sort of vermin.  In the end, the younger Cathy is forced to marry him, soon after he dies, leaving her to the care of Heathcliffe, whose chief aim is to use her as a means of fulfilling his revenge. The movie here is very good at portraying the squalid, hopeless misery in which Cathy (te younger)lives, turning her into a shrewish, bitter young woman, whose only friends in the world are Ellen Dean, the narrarator of the story, and her other cousin, who is in love with her, but is uneducated and coarse, and repulsive to her.  All ends well, however, with Heathcliffe dead, and Cathy falling in love after all with her cousin, who isn't really stupid at all, only brought up to be brutish.

 The movie is a for the most part true interpretation of the book, capturing the spirit as well as the facts of the story.
3432644
This book tells of two love stories that ran parallel, albeit thirty years apart, until a revelation that merged them together.  In 1983, Evelyn did not fulfill a promise to return to Eddy so the two of them could get back together and spend the rest of their lives in love.  In 2013, Justin left Alice while they were on their honeymoon, leaving only a letter with a vague explanation.  The events that transpired in between and afterwards make for a very dramatic yet redeeming story of love and loss.

The writing tended to lean on the side of dragging, if I base it on my interest level to choose the book over a movie, and the speed by which I read.  The story only started to pick up towards the latter part, and they compensated for the slow start.  A good read, overall.
1797911
A beautiful,  painful, loving story.  Well developed personalities and characters you will love and hate.  Plotlines are believable, some are expected and some are a twist.
The stories in this book (and there are several) are compelling and at some parts particularly painful.  The coming of age for Noble Richman is torturous as he comes to terms with his homosexuality.  Torn by his deep religious beliefs and the painful (lessons) of his father he struggles for and against his growing attraction for Jonah his fience's stepbrother.  Torn apart by hatred and bigotry and a love he does not understand he has to decide who is really in love with.
While this book is well written too many grammatical and editing errors make it almost impossible to read in places.
3195422
It was a story with so many different facets. The book showed love, pain, happiness , sadness, anger and fear. It was well written and takes the reader along for the ride.
Can't imagine living this.
4601890
A human story of grief, generosity, love, and affliction. A story of family, of the fickleness of "friends" and faith without charity.

A mind-numbing conclusion, a source of heartbreak.
1912241
For the first half of the book it feels like you are reading three separate stories, but of course they all melt together for one sweet ending. The story is emotional, sweet, tragic, hopeful and hopeless. The three women are deeply hurt and angry which makes them interesting to befriend. The surprises held no surprise as I Had predicted the ending before the book was half finished. Despite this fact I enjoyed the book very much. I shed tears upon the resolution, even though I had guessed the ending. To me, this indicates that the author did a beautiful job of writing with feeling, heart and empathy.
1477878
A well paced emotional roller coaster of a book.  Unfortunately this is a true story.
4065693
A beautifully touching story of love, loss, letting go and moving on...
Through the struggles and pain of losing the love she once had.. an unexpected connection brings hope and a new love in the end.
321607
A story demonstrating the unbreakable, ever endeavoring human spirit. The Ropes That Bind although much of the symbolism was too on the nose, and the writing felt a little unrefined, the novel imparts a story of a life full of setbacks yet a mind that keeps searching for hope, healing, and love. There are a handful of morsels of knowledge that can be gained by an introspective and emotionally driven reader.
3965023
A heartwarming tale of lost the love and redemption.
1295564
This is a sad story, a little difficult to read at times because of the setting. I would recommend it to people looking for something to read that will evoke deep emotions like empathy. It will ask the reader questions about how far would you go for love, for family, and for yourself. Quite a compelling read.
175190
This is a heartbreaking story full of grief and love.
622574
A story of personal tragedy and loss, loss of faith and finding it again, of broken dreams, and hope, prayer and love. Though there were some typos, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.