Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Aug 20, 2008

Kat rated it:

The last Bohjalian book I read was "Double Bind", which truly left me in a double bind. It is one of those narratives that makes you want to see the author's story board (ala the movie Memento). Bohjalian incorporated Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatspy" and my respect for him as a tremendous researcher (Midwives, Trans-Sister), expanded--he is clearly a very smart and literary guy too.

BUT, Double Bind made me feel sick. I couldn't put it down and I felt tortured by t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 13, 2010

Barbara rated it:

Bohjalian has written a touching, sometimes heart-wrenching story of a couple who experienced the tragic deaths of their twin daughters.After a long period of grieving, they consent to take in a foster child, a little black boy, named Alfred. The author sensitively approaches the topic of foster care, particularly in an interracial arrangement.Although members of this small, close-knit community exhibited care and concern regarding the couple's loss, they are less kind to Alfred's situation. His More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 28, 2009

Edwina rated it:

This is an interesting book about a couple who suffer a terrible and unexpected loss that rends their family, the different ways they both respond to that loss, and their attempt to move forward and build a new family by taking in a foster child that they may later adopt. The portrait of the young couple working through these difficulties is contrasted with that of their neighbors, an older retired couple who have apparently weathered the stresses that can destroy the closest of marriages. The More...

0 comments like

Mar 19, 2009

Linda rated it:

Terry and Laura Sheldon are grieving over the death of their twin daughters in a flash flood and it's a strain on their marriage. They decide to foster a 10 year old African American boy. Laura and Alfred begin to bond, but Terry can't seem to relate to him. Terry has a love affair which threatens to destroy their marriage. Neighbors of the Sheldons, Alice and Paul Hebert, are drawn to Alfred and Paul gives him a book about the Buffalo Soldiers, an African American Army regiment during the C More...

0 comments like

Mar 09, 2009

Asha rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Feb 13, 2011

Jo Ann rated it:

This is the second book of Chris Bohjalian's I've read - the first was Midwives, years ago, and I loved it. Bohjalian will be one of the authors at the Book Retreat Lisa and I are going to in Vermont in April, so I wanted to read another of his, and I really liked it a lot. I'd forgotten what Buffalo soldiers were...and although the book is not about Buffalo soldiers at all, it makes me want to read about them. The book is actually about how a young couple in northern Vermont traverse their grie More...

1 comment like

Jul 19, 2009

Barner rated it:

Good! When I realized that the author of this novel is also the author of MIDWIVES, a book I read several years ago --and enjoyed--, I had to read this one immediately. I was not disappointed. The story is believeable most of the time: some of the events at the novel's end are a little too contrived, and the ending worked out almost too well, BUT the story and the character development are good.

The chapter heading quotes about the Buffalo soldiers work very well and offer an insigh More...

0 comments like

Aug 24, 2011

Melissa rated it:

In "The Buffalo Soldier", author Chris Bohjalian gives the reader two stories for the price of one: the first story being that of Terry and Laura Sheldon and their foster child Alfred, and the second being the story of George Rowe, "the buffalo soldier." Just as the circumstances and emotions surrounding the Sheldon girls' tragic deaths is a constant theme throughout the novel, so is the story of the buffalo soldiers. Perhaps it was because I listened to this novel on audio, More...

0 comments like

Apr 05, 2009

Julie rated it:

This was the most amazing book. The characters were so vivid and engaging I would miss them and wonder what they were doing while I was at work. Parallel tracks: each chapter begins with a quotation from a diary of one of the "buffalo soldiers" (black cavalry soldiers who fought the Indians post civil war in the west)These are followed by a chapter told by one of the contemporary characters. The modern story revolves around a couple, Laura and Terry, who live in Cornish VT, and have l More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 06, 2010

Karyl rated it:

I found this book a bit slow to get into at first. There is a lot of backstory and a lot of description, which is nice -- but once I'm already invested in a story. I didn't really start caring about the characters until at least halfway through, and then I was mad at the dumb choices some of the characters had made. However, I really wanted to know how everything worked out for everyone by the end, so I started really getting into it by the last third of the book.

I have a few quib More...

2 comments like

Jan 18, 2010

Alison rated it:

I hate to let a "c'mon...really?" ending take away from what is otherwise a lush and engaging portrayal of a foster family's shuffling progress. I can't imagine a foster child story that doesn't explore the theme of how disparate people become a family, but Bohjalian takes it a step further. He explores not only how a young child and parent come to be a family, but how one's needs as an adult child, spouse, sibling, or grandparent aren't always met by the person who "should" More...

0 comments like

Sep 03, 2011

Carolyn rated it:

When trajedy strikes, it's all in what you decide to do next--get busy living, or escape from the reality of it.

For whatever reason, the author choose to intertwine the story of three unconventional families. Terry and Laura Sheldon have just taken in an African American foster boy in a very white area. While the Terry and Laura struggle through recent grief, betrayal, and secrets, their foster child, Alfred, befriends an old, retired professor, Paul Herbert, who teaches him about B More...

0 comments like

Jan 01, 2009

Tim rated it:

This is Bohjalian's 8th novel, but my first read of his work. The novel is set in Vermont and deals with the trials faced by a couple who have recently lost two daughters in a flash flood. As they attempt to regroup, they become the foster parents of an African-American boy.

Bohjalian's chapter titles indicate the narrative perspective, but unlike Faulkner's AS I LAY DYING, Bohjalian uses third person limited narration; nevertheless, the effect is to read the same story from multiple More...

0 comments like

Mar 30, 2011

Jan rated it:

Chris Bohjalian reminds me a bit of John Irving in his novels--perhaps with a touch of Richard Russo and the late great John Gardner. He writes about characters who have endured terrible tragedy and how that tragedy impacts their lives. In this book Terry and Laura Sheldon have lost their twin daughters to a monstrous flood that sweeps the children to their death. In an effort to heal her marriage and her pain, Laura decides to become a foster parent, and Terry reluctantly accedes to her plan More...

0 comments like

Jul 19, 2010

Ann rated it:

Essentially the story of Terry and Laura who lost twin daughters in a Vermont flood and then two years later decided to take in a black foster son. They each have grieved differently after their daughters' deaths and they each relate to Alfred, the foster son, differently. Their elderly neighbors, Ruth and Paul Hebert, also form a bond with Alfred, mainly centering of the horse that Paul and Alfred care for and ride. Alfred has bounced around the child protective services agencies going from More...

0 comments like

Nov 28, 2011

Martie rated it:

As usual, Bohjalian writes about the North East Kingdom so I would enjoy those references even if I didn’t also love the book. A white family takes in a 10 year old black foster child two years after the death of their 9 year old twin girls. The father has a hard time relating to the child, the mother embraces the child and begins to come out of her depression, the child is always waiting for the bottom to fall out as in all his other placements. In the meantime, the child, Alfred, bonds wit More...

0 comments like

Apr 01, 2010

Debra rated it:

This book is set in Vermont and it is about an African-American foster child who is taken in by a couple who have suffered a terrible tragedy when their twin daughters drown in a flash flood.
A very good book. I am African-American and do not usually read or like stories where an African-American character is "saved" by whites (i.e. Blindside and too many others books and movies to mention). The author develops the characters in the novel so completely that stereotypes don't More...

0 comments like

Jul 06, 2009

Deb rated it:

Umm...I think I may be almost over my Chris Bohjalian kick. I think I just read 5 of his books in a row and I'm starting to see familiar patterns in the way he writes.

But that's not to say anything particularly negative about this book. Bohjalian is a good storyteller. In this story a couple, devastated by the loss of their twin daughters, take in an African-American foster son. Themes include trust, the Buffalo Soldiers, adultery. Lots of jagged edges. So I was a little disappoi More...

1 comment like

Jan 02, 2011

Renee rated it:

Buffalo Soldier has all the ingredients of a good novel, a rural setting in Vermont, a marriage struggling to stay afloat after the tragic death of two young children, a nutty brother in law and a newly introduced mistress, (overall the book is about human nature when placed under extreme duress due to tragedy) but I found this book some what predictable and dry---my least favorite Chris Bohjalian book to date. He wrote this in the early 2000's and it is clear to see that he has gotten increasin More...

0 comments like

Apr 07, 2010

Cindy rated it:

* SPOILER ALERT* While I really liked certain aspects of this book, there were times that it read like a trashy romance novel. Maybe I am just being cynical. One of the central themes hit very close to home, as I had an uncle that drowned when he was two. Chris does a great job exploring the psychology and the emotional implications of the tragedy but it seemed like he ran out of steam at the end, not knowing how to resolve everything quickly. I did not like the ending.

I did enj More...

0 comments like

Oct 26, 2009

Vickie rated it:

I thought this book was quite sad. It was an interesting family drama however...and I was really curious about how it would all turn out in the end which is why I did like it. Yet, there was a melancholy feeling about it from the beginning that never left me. I didn't love any of the characters except the Heberts who lived across the street. (Alfred wasn't well-developed enough as a character to be likable, I thought) All in all it was an interesting, quiet story that helped pass a lazy weekend. More...

0 comments like

Jul 01, 2010

Nancy rated it:

I'm not sure why I liked this book so much. There were things to pick at-- mostly the fact that the Buffalo Soldier reference (like the foster child himself) was simply a backdrop against which to paint a story of marital and familial agony. The final plot twists at the end were more than just a bit over the top.

But I still loved the book, the frailty of the strong Terry, and the crushing description of how to mend lives that shatter. And I liked the way it ended--with everyone doing More...

0 comments like

Dec 27, 2011

Leslie rated it:

Beautifully written! A really moving story about loss and healing, and family,and what the tragic death of children will do to a marriage. Terry and laura Sheldon weather the storm of losing their twin daughters suddenly in a flash flood, and two years later are still trying to heal. They take in Alfred, a foster son, only to discover they still have small cracks in their marriage that get larger and finally break open the flood gates of sorrow, resentment, and grief. While Alfred struggles More...

0 comments like

Sep 04, 2011

Emily rated it:

Chris Bohjalian's books take two or three issues that people tend to have strong opinions about, and somehow make them all come together into one cohesive novel where the issues are not the stars of the story and no bias on the author's part is revealed. The reader is not asked to form a decisive stance on the issues, and the book does not lay the controversies of the issues to rest. The issues are there without being introduced, and the story line does not focus on them, but rather weaves thro More...

0 comments like

Jun 28, 2011

Heather rated it:

This was a fairly low 3, and a big disappointment after reading Trans-Sister Radio during grad school. I had to give it 3 stars though b/c although one of my complaints is that it was slow/boring, it did hold my attention for long periods of sitting outside on my deck. I just thought it was a lot weaker than it could have been - even though the plot was minimal and the jacket made it sound like it would be a great character exploration, I thought it really fell short in that regard - which is to More...

0 comments like

Oct 28, 2011

Tamsen rated it:

Nobody writes like Chris Bohjalian - or as our book club calls him "Chris B." -- we had difficulty pronouncing his last name when we first discovered his work.

Chris B. (I have difficulty calling him anything else now!) is one of those amazing writers who writes these beautiful, quiet, powerful sentences. He explores each character in such detail that you feel deeply connected to each person. I also respect how thoroughly he researches each subject matter - from the Vermont f More...

0 comments like

Feb 09, 2010

Quiltgranny rated it:

If possible I would have rated this 3.5 stars - it just isn't as good as some of his other books to receive a 4 star rating. With that said, though, as usual, Bohjalian beautifully explores how human relationships are tested by the pressures of life.

The setting is rural Vermont. The focus is on a troubled couple, Laura and Terry Sheldon, whose 9 year old twin daughters die tragically in a flash flood. They are grief-stricken and their sorrow spills over into their marriage, threaten More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2008

Pamela rated it:

Every so often I read a book that brings out my personality and tells me more about the person I am. This is one of those books. I enjoyed this book but not as much as some of Bohjalian's others. I have strong views and convictions about unfaithfulness in a marriage. Speaking only for myself, I know I would never forgive my husband for stepping out and cheating on me. Although in the book there is some type of reconciliation at the end, it was not enough for me. Terry, the cheating husband More...

0 comments like

Mar 22, 2008

Patricia rated it:

I loved the two other books I read by this author: Midwives and Trans-Sister Radio. I liked the way he took an out of mainstream topic (home birth, sex change operations/NPR) and wove that topic into a gripping narrative. This book I didn't love as much as the ones I read before, but I still found myself reading "just a little bit more."

Terry and Laura's twin daughters are killed in a flood. Two years later, they take in a foster child Alfred, an African American, who is no More...

0 comments like

Aug 31, 2008

Anne rated it:

This is the second of Chris Bohjalian's books that I have read (the first being Midwives), and he is fast becoming one of my all-time favourite authors.

When Laura and Terry Sheldon foster Alfred, the whole of the small Vermont town in which they live seens to be disrupted. Two years ago the Sheldon's twin daughters were drowned in a tragic accident - this incident had already shocked the townspeople - so the introduction of a 10 year old black boy into the family will either bring t More...

0 comments like

reviews