Good-bye and Amen: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Beth Gutcheon
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $8.90
You Save: $16.05 (64%)
New (39) from $8.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 9924
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 0060539070
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780060539078
ASIN: 0060539070
Publication Date: July 22, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: NEW CLEAN NEVER READ TIGHT NO MARKS [HB-FICTION]
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Product Description
In a summer cottage on the coast of Maine, an unlikely love was nurtured, a marriage endured, and a family survived. Now it is time for the children of that marriage to make peace with the wounds and the treasures left to them. And to sort out which is which. Beth Gutcheon's critically acclaimed family saga, Leeway Cottage, was a major achievement: a vivid and moving tale of war and marriage and their consequences that enchanted readers. Good-bye and Amen is the next chapter for the family of Leeway Cottage, the story of what happens when those most powerful people in any family drama, the parents, have left the stage. The complicated marriage of the gifted Danish pianist Laurus Moss to the provincial American child of privilege Sydney Brant was a mystery to many who knew them, including their three children. Now, Eleanor, Monica, and Jimmy Moss have to decide how to divide or share what Laurus and Sydney have left them without losing one another. Secure and cheerful Eleanor, the oldest, wants little for herself but much for her children. Monica, the least-loved middle child, brings her youthful scars to the table, as well as the baggage of a difficult marriage to the charismatic Norman, who left a brilliant legal career, though not his ambition, to become an Episcopal priest. Youngest and best-loved Jimmy, who made a train wreck of his young adulthood, has returned after a long period of alienation from the family surprisingly intact, but extremely hard for his sisters to read. Having lived through childhoods both materially blessed and emotionally difficult, with a father who could seem uninvolved and a mother who loved a good family game of “let's you and him fight,” the Mosses have formed strong adult bonds that none of them wants to damage. But it's difficult to divide a beloved summer house three ways and keep it too. They all know what's at stake—in a world of atomized families, a house like Leeway Cottage can be the glue that keeps generations of cousins and grandchildren deeply connected to one another. But knowing it's important doesn't make it easy.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Ordinary plot, Distracting style August 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Perhaps I would have enjoyed this book more had I first read the author's novel Leeway Cottage. But since I didn't, I found this story ordinary and predictable. Unfortunately, I also absolutely hated the writing style: short sections narrated by different characters. What amazed me (not in a good way) was how many characters were introduced, "spoke" for a couple of paragraphs, and then disappeared.
On the plus side, a couple of the predominant characters had possibilities, but as soon as I started to get interested, the story blipped off on another tangent.
I finished this book because a book has to be truly disgusting for me to give up. But I would never recommmend it to anyone. Worse, I have no interest in reading Leeway Cottage, which from reviews, might have been worth the time.
 Lottery August 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Something can be good, even if it is derivative. I am trying to make up my mind about this work.
How do you break up a house? Hold a middle-aged orphans lottery. Beware, though, the wrong person might receive the piano.
Death of the parents involved a faulty heater. Jimmy Moss, Monica Faithful and Eleanor Applegate list the things they want from the family cache. By the lottery weekend the house resembles a warehouse.
The book has some of the attributes of memoirs and fiction by members of the Minot family and the oral history of Edie Sedgwick. In addition there is a John Cheever short story the reader may summon to mind. There is a hint, too, of the Sue Miller novels in the author's portrayal of both adult siblings and the lives of clergymen and their offspring and spouses.
Driving the story are the purportedly disparate speeches and recollections of family members and friends. (Since I enjoy reading plays, I like the voices of the contributors.) The history-drenched settings are both in New England-- the house in Connecticut and the summer cottages on the island in Maine.
Whether or not a reader will find this book absorbing is a matter of taste. It does capture nicely the current interest in realistic, seemingly true to life accounts of the travails of family life and its artifacts. The story-telling has good balance. There is a steady focus on one of the daughters of the family and her husband, the rector. The tone of the work is ironic. Conflicts between generations are often amusing.
moving story August 17, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having not read Gutcheon's Leeway Cottage puts me at a disadvantage in reviewing this book, however, it allowed me to meet and enjoy the Faithfuls et al with a fresh perspective and with out preconceived feelings. The characters were well drawn and I felt I understood them. The descriptions of the church were interesting but the story lacked focus. For those who enjoyed Leeway Cottage I'm sure this was a great read.
 Confusing narrative about an uninteresting family August 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It may have helped if I had read the author's LEEWAY COTTAGE. Being unfamiliar with the first book, I found the shifting viewpoints of the various characters difficult to keep up with. I kept wondering "Now who is this person and how is he or she related to the main characters?" There are biographies of each "contributor", but I didn't find them helpful enough to warrant my continually flipping back to see just who each is. Overall, I found only two of the characters to be at all interesting, one being the person the author appears to center on the most.Of course, the novel does lead to a final denouement. It failed to surprise me. My exact thought at that point was indeed "I'm not surpised!"I will say that the book is skillfully written. The story just doesn't have any zest or suspense.
 Unique and fabulous August 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I selected this book and then realized it was a sequel to "Leeway Cottage". I immediately purchased "Leeway" and read it to be in a position to read this next book in the saga. After completing both books, I think that was a very fortunate thing to do ..... reading "Good-Bye and Amen" without the first one would not have been nearly as good. As it was, the first part of the book is challenging and I re-read several sections to make sure I understood who all the characters were and what the relationships were. It was well worth the time and effort because this book is a joy!
The format is different from anything I have read and each character has a few paragraphs to convey what is happening before the next character weighs in. While a little jarring at first, the technique works and is very fun to read. You actually get to be inside each character's head and see how they perceived the events and what emotions they were experiencing at the time. With this style and generally outstanding writing, I felt like I ended up knowing these charaters as well as my own family.
Other reviewers have given a good synopsis of the story line, so I won't spend time on that, but let me say this is fabulous book. The characters are very well drawn and the writing great. One of the best books I have read all year ..... couldn't but it down.
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