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Posted October 2, 2011
Why do you people keep writing these reviews which tell the whole story! Tell whether or not you like the book and why. I don't even read these long winded reviews as I don't want to spoil the story for myself.
15 out of 19 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 24, 2012
Could not put this book down. Full of excitement from beginning to end.
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 17, 2011
I really enjoyed this-couldn't put it down. The plot twists and at one point, I got so caught up in Jeanie's sorry husband, I found myself mad at my husband for not doing things around the house. That is a sign of a good read!
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 26, 2012
At first when this book was recommended for my reading group, I think we were all a little sceptical. However, by the last few chapters I was on edge waiting to see what happened next. Personally, the beginning was a little slow, but by the middle of the book I was wanting more. And I thought the ending was phenomenal!
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 1, 2012
I had a hard time putting this book down. The only thing is I wish there was a sequel. There were a few unanswerd questions but great story. It made me cry.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 12, 2011
Great read---could not put it down....historical fiction meets mystery meets a moving story of mothers and daughters. I hope to read more by this author. A must read!
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This story is AWESOME. Let's start at the beginning, the cover is very simple, with the young girl in a simple white dress on the prairie. The story itself has excellent flow and the words are woven so that I would at times forget I was reading and just see the story move through me.
There are 2 main characters in this book. Katherine, the daughter and Jeanie, her mother. It starts in Des Moines, Iowa in 1905 with Katherine and her husband, Aleksey. He brings her mother and her mentally challenged sister, Yale to live with them. His idea because Katherine has never forgiven her mother for breaking up the family. Her mother is dying of cancer, but Katherine is really bitter.
It then jumps back to 1887 in the Dakota territory. Jeanie and her husband Frank have just arrived on the prairie to start a new life. Running away from the shame she faced surrounding her father's death and business dealings. Unfortunately she learns that life here is far too rough and unforgiving to allow for a man to be lazy and moody - which she comes to realize Frank is. Actually what she figures out is she no longer has the time to cover for him. They are lucky that they end up with great neighbors and form a cooperative to help each other.
Now Frank pulls some other stuff beyond just being a lazy-good-for-nothing and why she doesn't just push him down a hole, I'll never know. They had 3 children when they came and she was pregnant with another. Having had a hard time with all previous pregnancies, she does her best with what she has. The baby is born very early, too early but Jeanie fights for her Yale. This woman fights, and fights and fights for her children, and the 2 that were with her that year in the Dakotas grew up hating and resenting her for driving their father away.
It is a sad tale, although still beautiful. I also enjoyed all the detail of what a hard life it was to be a pioneer in the Dakotas. How people made a success of it was in part just pure dumb luck, because the land doesn't seem to help at all.
So, go pick up this book - I am giving it 5 stars and permanently adding it to my library to enjoy again and again.
3 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 6, 2013
I recently read the Last Letter and was sorry to read the last page. I wanted the story to go on.
Even though it switched back and forth between the early years and later years it was easy to follow.
Take time to read and enjoy this different story of love between a Mother and her daughters.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 18, 2012
Good book, tragic story.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 4, 2012
This was an unusual book with a couple of twists and turns. Great read.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 18, 2012
A little too coincidental, but even tho the reader knows how it's going to end, how you're going to get there is fascinating.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 26, 2012
Story of a family that sets off for life on the prairie and how that affected each of member of the family. Shamed from their home due to failures and dishonesty a previously wealthy family heads to the prarie destitute to stake a claim to an abandoned homestead. The detail of life on the prarie and both the reward and devastation encountered by the pioneers who inhabited that land is remarkable. All brought together by a story told by the oldest daughter who holds tesentments due to tough decisions her mother had to make. A story of survival, betrayal, love and forgiveness.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Lalas
Posted November 3, 2011
If you have to, search for the reason, it will bring peace of mind.
2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is a story about a mother and daughter's relationship at the cross roads. Jeanie Arthur is dying of cancer and she wants her daughter's forgiveness, not as much for herself but for her daughter, Katherine. Her daughter doesn't even want her dying mother in her home, let alone ready to forgive her. The Last Letter centers on Jeanie's pioneer life and what brought about her daughter's bitterness towards her. As the reader we are allowed to see (read) the whole story as it unfolds to understand a mother's plight. Jeanie finds herself and her family living in the Dakota Territory, after having lived the good life in Des Moines, Iowa. Her father and husband Frank and brought disgrace to their family and had lost the family fortune. She and Frank are running headlong into a new life.a life Frank has dreamt about. Jeanie having lived her entire life privilege is far from pleased about this new life. Between her discontentment, Frank's laziness and facing the elements, life is more difficult than any of them could have imagined. I had anticipated The Last Letter would mostly be written in the form of letters, but instead numerous letters were discussed during the book and in the end Katherine finds the last letter she'd not read before and finally is able to make sense of the things she didn't understand as a child. I had a hard time really getting into the beginning of the book. It's very well written, but it took some time before the story really gets moving. On the flip side, after completing the book I gained a stronger appreciation for the beginning of the book and Jeanie's dilemma and choices at the end of the book. I would add the last 100-150 pages moved very quickly where I didn't want to stop reading. There were so many shocking discoveries at the end of the book, all twists and turns were very impressive. I was disappointed with how little information we are given during Katherine's adolescent years, it just felt as if the story ended too swiftly. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I found myself reflecting how lucky we are as women it today's world. For so many years women had little to no rights and I think we sometimes take for granted. I would recommend this book.
2 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 15, 2013
I am about half way thru this book and I'm not sure about finishing. The writer surely did not research the subject very well or she would not use some of the discriptive wording she uses. Also she uses way too many unnessary words to discribe minor points. Overall the story line might have been good had it been more realistic.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 14, 2013
Started this book on my lunch break. The author is very descriptive....sometimes unnecessary. I hoped I was over the vomit descriptions in chapter 1, but found myself reading about spitting phlegm. That was enough to turn me off the book!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 1, 2013
Pretty good read, but moved a little slow.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 9, 2013
This book has a slow pace and a lot of words. I could muster no sympathy for the protagonist because she seemed to have no good qualities except being whiny and incompetent. I did not, nor do I plan to, get to the end of it.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 6, 2012
I really loved this book...there were some unexpected twists, and I just couldn't put it down!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 7, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction. It gives you a perspective on history and the early settlers and problems they faced, not only physical but emotional problems. I am, in fact, rereading it to better understand the character's actions.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
Katherine Arthur's mother arrives on her doorstep, dying, forcing her to relive a past she wanted to forget. When Katherine was young, the Arthur family had been affluent city dwellers until shame sent them running for the prairie, into the unknown. Taking her family, including young Katherine, to live off the land was the last thing Jeanie Arthur had wanted, but she would ...