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191st out of 725 books
—
581 voters
And Ladies of the Club
A #1 New York Times bestseller--and an American classic--now in trade paperback...
A groundbreaking bestseller with two and a half million copies in print, "...And Ladies of the Club" centers on the members of a book club and their struggles to understand themselves, each other, and the tumultuous world they live in. A true classic, it is sure to enchant, enthrall, and intr...more
A groundbreaking bestseller with two and a half million copies in print, "...And Ladies of the Club" centers on the members of a book club and their struggles to understand themselves, each other, and the tumultuous world they live in. A true classic, it is sure to enchant, enthrall, and intr...more
Hardcover, 1176 pages
Published
January 21st 1987
by Random House Value Publishing
(first published 1982)
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It's been years since I read this book, and I've been reflexively putting on list of favorites for years. I thought it time to re-read. This time, the poor editing and the plethora of typos drove me nearly to distraction. I went out and got a newer edition half way through the read, hoping against hope that it would be better. It was a little better, but, man, what a mess. That's the flaw, and for my money, the only flaw in this magnificent slice-of-life novel. Sure, some of the attitudes may st...more
Mar 31, 2008
Angie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone who loves history
Recommended to Angie by:
Marilyn Jones
Shelves:
favorites
My favorite book of all time. It's about everyday life in an Ohio town from the end of the Civil War through the Depression. The book covers the lives of the ladies and their families in a literary club. It deals with their personal relationships that seem so real, it makes you feel like you're there. A very long book with over 1100 pages, but well worth the read. When you are finished you are wishing for more.
I read this book soon after it came out and still have my beat up hardback copy of the book. I know several people that were unable to get into this book, but it seems like if you like it, you actually love it. The author tracks the lives of two young women (recent graduates of a female academy in a small Ohio town)from shortly after the Civil War through the first decades of the twentieth century. The story of the women (as well as the small town) is told through the activities of a women's rea...more
Apr 11, 2011
The Library Lady
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
old-favorites,
books-i-read-and-re-read
I know exactly where I was when I began to read this book. I was in Kensington Gardens in London on a long awaited trip to England. Yet, sitting there, I was already so engrossed I didn't want to put this book down!
Yes, it's long, and the action is limited. It's character study, not a Tom Clancy book. Give it a chance and you will get involved with the characters.
I still find this as engrossing on re-reads as I did 20 years ago. Well worth the time.
Yes, it's long, and the action is limited. It's character study, not a Tom Clancy book. Give it a chance and you will get involved with the characters.
I still find this as engrossing on re-reads as I did 20 years ago. Well worth the time.
Sometimes I wonder what it is about certain books - or parts of books that cause them to stay with us many years after we'ver read them. It's been at least 10 years since I read this book - yet I still remember details of it. There are a number of books I've read since that I'd be hard pressed to tell you much about at all.
My mother had this fat book (more than 1,000 pages) on her shelf for years, so I grabbed it when I was at a second-hand book sale with a $2 bag I needed to fill in 15 minutes.
So far, it's been well worth the 50 cents or so I spent on the book. It's about a group of ladies who create a Women's Club right after the Civil War, and Helen Hoover Santmyer does a great job recreating the era and imagining the relationships among these women. I'm glad that I have another 700 pages that I get to spend wi...more
So far, it's been well worth the 50 cents or so I spent on the book. It's about a group of ladies who create a Women's Club right after the Civil War, and Helen Hoover Santmyer does a great job recreating the era and imagining the relationships among these women. I'm glad that I have another 700 pages that I get to spend wi...more
Growing up only a few counties from the southwestern Ohio setting of this story added to my interest. I would love this book no matter where I was from. It's usually packaged to look like a romantic novel and there is an element of that, but this is a meticulously researched historical novel. The people and relationships are so realistic that it's a satisfying read for anyone. You'll laugh, you'll cry. Run, don't walk, to get a copy of this book.
Suggestion: Twice now, I've read Gone With the Win...more
Suggestion: Twice now, I've read Gone With the Win...more
At 1400 pages, I wasn't sure I would finish, but I'm proud to say I did. Many on the Betsy-Tacy list had recommended this, and, once again, they didn't fail me. the book starts when Sally & Anne graduate from high school at the end of the Civil War, and it ends with their deaths in 1930. we get to know 3 or 4 generations of several families in Waynesboro, Ohio, and see how they are affected by various political and historical events. Sally and Anne are charter members of the Waynesboro Woman...more
May 15, 2008
Rayni
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes historical fiction
Recommended to Rayni by:
Jo, a lady at the LDS Church Office Bldg.
I finished this book in July 1985. I was on bedrest for my 2nd pregnancy, my first ended in miscarriage. It took almost my entire pregnancy to read this book. I would lay there on the couch, w/this big, fat heavy book resting on my stomach & the baby would kick it, so I would try to find another position. I loved this book & was sad when it ended.
I saw Ms Santmyer interviewed on TV from the rest home where she was living. She had got a new perm in honor of the occasion. She died in Febr
I decided earlier this year that I needed to actually read all the books that I own, so first I cataloged a bunch of my books, & sorted them alphabetically. Since this title is technically "...And Ladies of the Club", it went to the top of the list. (Excel sorts punctuation marks first, then numbers, then alpha characters.) I'm not sure why I had a hard-cover copy - I think I may have taken it from my Minnesota grandparents' library when we cleared out their house. It is certainly a daunting...more
I can't pin it down precisely, but I have always loved this book. Its mostly the longevity of it. Not just a book that ends with a wedding or a major climactic event. It follows women through their lives, from childhood friends through their developing relationships with each other and their time as wives, mothers, grandmothers, widows. And the characters really seem to evolve and develop and grow more definitive and rich as the time passes. So many books seem to focus on one main crisis with on...more
Santmyer's grasp of the human condition is glorified by the lovely way she writes. Putting together a saga like this is difficult, considering how many different characters she stops to visit on the way. The personal triumphs and tragedies of the characters, particularly Anne Gordon who is the closest thing to a protagonist in this story, are interwoven with a political commentary that spans from the end of the Civil War into the twentieth century. Santmyer introduces those elements so gently th...more
Aug 11, 2010
Jessica
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
literaryfiction,
all-timefavorites
I can't believe I haven't reviewed this book before.
Yes, it's almost 1,200 pages long. And yes, every one of those pages matters.
This magnificent book is a series of portraits of the changes in a small town in Ohio from the end of the Civil War into the 20th century. As the country moves into a golden age following the Civil War, the ladies of a small Ohio town (known for its women's college) decide to form an intellectual club for the women. Two of their charter members are Sally and Anne, best...more
Yes, it's almost 1,200 pages long. And yes, every one of those pages matters.
This magnificent book is a series of portraits of the changes in a small town in Ohio from the end of the Civil War into the 20th century. As the country moves into a golden age following the Civil War, the ladies of a small Ohio town (known for its women's college) decide to form an intellectual club for the women. Two of their charter members are Sally and Anne, best...more
….And Ladies of the Club was my whole world in the summer of ’04. I drank in the lives of the characters, and then the characters’ children. I loved quiet, introspective Anne Gordon because I saw my reflection in her, and I equally loved spunky, spirited Sally because I did not. Thomasina Ballard’s romance with the piano teacher, and the spinsterly Eliza, the girl who first acts so well and then becomes a mother and scorns all women who act, “Shaney” and her unrequited love for Johnny Gordon; Jo...more
5 likes · like · see review
This is a monstrously huge book. The standard paperback runs to over 1700 pages. I read the trade paperback which is a much larger page but with tiny print which got this one down to 1173 pages. There are several things I have to say about this book;
#1 Mrs Santmyer desperately needed a good editor. Not only was the book full of typos, it was just too long. Someone needed to step in and do some ruthless cutting.
#2 There was really not a story arc. While there was a primary and secondary set of c...more
#1 Mrs Santmyer desperately needed a good editor. Not only was the book full of typos, it was just too long. Someone needed to step in and do some ruthless cutting.
#2 There was really not a story arc. While there was a primary and secondary set of c...more
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. What I loved best was the passing of time in the characters' lives. We follow them from the time they are young women, on through adulthood and to their deaths. Mom recommended this book to me. I read this book ONLY on my lunch breaks as part of a bet because it was so long, one of my co-workers didn't believe I could finish it in a certain time period and only in 1 hour/work day. I won, he had to buy me a Coke or something like that.
Feb 05, 2013
Minty McBunny
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
february-2013,
2013
The summer I was 13, I bought "...And Ladies of the Club" by Helen Hooven Santmeyer, mainly due to its length. Having been quite pleased with myself for reading the 1000+ page Gone With the Wind the previous summer, I was impressed by a mass market paperback that was over 1100 pages long. And I figured it would be nice to only have to take one book on the bus ride to camp in Missouri instead of the 3 I usually finished on that trip. As it was though, I was never able to get past the first chapte...more
I finished reading the book this afternoon. What a totally satisfying read, both for the story and for the writing. I love English well spoken and these characters are set in a time when it was. By the time I got to page 1000 I was beginning to wish I wasn't so close to the end. Ironic when you think there were over 400 pages left and lots of the books I read don't have that many to begin with. But by then I was deeply involved in the story and cared about the main character, Anne.
The story cov...more
The story cov...more
A book that stays undiscovered, but it is one that you miss when you finish it. The author wrote it when she was about eighty years old. It is a fictionalized story of her hometown in Ohio beginning just after the Civil War. It is the story of two best friends, and it follows their lives from college until they grow very old, all set within the premise of a ladies' club into which the girls are invited at the book's beginning. The reader sees which characters are invited to join, who may not be...more
I love this book. It is the only Helen Hooven Santmyer novel I've read and now am anxious to dive into a few more. When first read, I found the women and their relationships with each other intriguing and envious. Now, years later, having had my own book club, intact for 15 years, I'm anxious to reread this one. I was later surprised to read that the author wrote it when quite elderly, and that she was a literature professor. Based on the storyline I had assumed she was considerably younger but...more
This sweeping saga not only entertains, but educates. I was sadly lacking in my knowledge of the post-civil war era, but after reading this book, I can no longer claim that.
The focus of the book on two main characters, their descendants, their friends, and their town provides a picture that is both intimate and broad. Basing the story in Ohio when most of the elected leaders hailed from that state gave national significance to the lives of the characters.
I was rather disappointed by the second h...more
The focus of the book on two main characters, their descendants, their friends, and their town provides a picture that is both intimate and broad. Basing the story in Ohio when most of the elected leaders hailed from that state gave national significance to the lives of the characters.
I was rather disappointed by the second h...more
This is my favorite book of all time. I felt as if I were an additional best friend along with the two main characters, and I loved following all the realistic details of their lives as they matured from teens all the way to octogenarians. In addition to presenting superb character development, the book is also an excellent portrait of life in small town America from the post-Civil War years to the 1930s. I felt as if I were there when I was reading it--and sometimes that feeling would linger ev...more
1 like · like · see review
Although the length of this book (the edition I read had over 1100 pages) might scare some readers away, I actually quite enjoyed it. The plot line, centered around a small Ohio town from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s, leaves you feeling like you were there and the characters are real and compelling. The author does an excellent job of getting in each character's head with a personal honesty and a historical honesty. The characters flaws make them more real. At the same time, she presents vie...more
After finishing this book, I felt a deep sense of accomplishment. I mean, reading an almost 1200 page book in a little over 2 weeks is, well, mentally uplifting!
But then, I felt kind of sad to have to say goodbye to all the characters I had come to know so well.
It did take about 300 pages of reading before I was hooked on the story and felt the compulsive desire to pick it up and read it, instead of just reading for the sake of finishing it eventually.
(I confess, I did skim most of the business...more
But then, I felt kind of sad to have to say goodbye to all the characters I had come to know so well.
It did take about 300 pages of reading before I was hooked on the story and felt the compulsive desire to pick it up and read it, instead of just reading for the sake of finishing it eventually.
(I confess, I did skim most of the business...more
So, I loved this book the first time I read and am now re-reading it. It is long and rather involved as it covers the lives of small town Ohioans in post Cival War America. It really has it all--politics, history, marital struggles, rebelious children. Don't be put off by the size of the book, it is without a doubt worth the read.
Okay - this is a gem!!! Read it for the first time at 18 yrs. of age, re-read every couple of years since.
Each time I like it for different reasons as the novel takes you through a few generations of families in the 1800's.
The women are really really well developed - not just the main character - ALL of them.
Enjoy!
Each time I like it for different reasons as the novel takes you through a few generations of families in the 1800's.
The women are really really well developed - not just the main character - ALL of them.
Enjoy!
I have read this book three times. I know, I know, a bit excessive. The first time I read it, I was in my twenties. I thought pieces of it were good, but I did struggle to keep going with it. The second time I read it I was in my thirties. It was after my mother had died, and I found it relaxing and strangely comforting. I just finished it again for the third time and I am now in my late forties. I absolutely loved it. I understood the characters and their motives much better with age. Character...more
Mar 21, 2008
Joyce
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
kim ezold, linda napikoski
Oh, this book made a profound impact on me. It made me understand about the evolution of medical care and hospitals, about employer responsibility to employees in the early part of the country, and about the development of community.. It was a good book.
It took me a little while to really get into this book (like 400 pages!) but I'm so happy I stuck with it. The book follows the residents of a small town in Ohio from the end of the civil war through the great depression. It weaves a lot of political and historical happenings from in the time into the story, too. It was very interesting to see how people lived and thought during that time. There are two main families in the small town that are at the center of the story and I loved to watch how...more
May 21, 2009
Jan C
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
someone interested in reading about 19th century small town life
Shelves:
i-m-a-quitter
I'll admit it I never finished this one.
It was a fairly interesting story for about the first thousand pages and then I think I just lost interest.
I think this woman spent something like forty years writing this, too. Maybe she should have stopped at twenty.
It is basically the story of life in this small town in Ohio starting after the Civil War told against the backdrop of a Ladies Literary Society. They read books, present papers, put on pageants ("plateaus"?), live their lives.
Immigrants com...more
It was a fairly interesting story for about the first thousand pages and then I think I just lost interest.
I think this woman spent something like forty years writing this, too. Maybe she should have stopped at twenty.
It is basically the story of life in this small town in Ohio starting after the Civil War told against the backdrop of a Ladies Literary Society. They read books, present papers, put on pageants ("plateaus"?), live their lives.
Immigrants com...more
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Helen Hooven Santmyer was born in 1895 and lived in Xenia, Ohio. In addition to her career as a writer, she worked as an English professor, a dean of women, and a librarian.She was 87 when her novel "And Ladies of the Club" was published as a Book of the Month, and passed away at the age of 90 in February of 1986.She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1996
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Nov 10, 2012 02:17am