A family without men, the Birches live gloriously offbeat lives in the lush, green backwoods of North Carolina. Radiant, headstrong Sophia and h... read full description
reviews
Dec 16, 2009
raheleh
rated it: 
It's amazingly easy to read and grabs you right away. In fact, it feels so effortless (but it's the kind of writing that you know was slaved over, honed and perfected), that I questioned how I could have gotten quite so much from it.
Two lovely ideas from this book:
The grandmother, when she's young, gets this lucky charm, that's supposed to bring her an easy life. Her husband leaves her, tries to con her, she works as a doctor in the early 1900's when infection and povert More...
Two lovely ideas from this book:
The grandmother, when she's young, gets this lucky charm, that's supposed to bring her an easy life. Her husband leaves her, tries to con her, she works as a doctor in the early 1900's when infection and povert More...
Dec 27, 2007
planetkimi
rated it: 
Charms for the Easy Life is a mesmerizing fictional biography/autobiography of three generations of women living unconventional lives in North Carolina against the backdrop of the World Wars.
The book revolves around the life of the narrator's grandmother, a self-taught healer who appears to lead a bit of a charmed life. Her life is not "charmed" in any sort of mystical sense, it's more like she is so self-possessed that a comparatively uncertain world bends itself to her More...
The book revolves around the life of the narrator's grandmother, a self-taught healer who appears to lead a bit of a charmed life. Her life is not "charmed" in any sort of mystical sense, it's more like she is so self-possessed that a comparatively uncertain world bends itself to her More...
Jan 13, 2012
Jeanette
rated it:
"I have read two books a week for thirty years. I am satisfied that I know everything."
So says Charlie Kate Birch, and she's not shy about sharing her knowledge, whether you want to hear it or not. Charlie Kate is an early-1900s North Carolina midwife, herbalist, and self-styled doctor (with no official credentials). She's feisty, outspoken, and somewhat manipulative, but also very civic-minded and generous. You can't help liking her, even if she is a little too full of hers More...
So says Charlie Kate Birch, and she's not shy about sharing her knowledge, whether you want to hear it or not. Charlie Kate is an early-1900s North Carolina midwife, herbalist, and self-styled doctor (with no official credentials). She's feisty, outspoken, and somewhat manipulative, but also very civic-minded and generous. You can't help liking her, even if she is a little too full of hers More...
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Feb 14, 2011
Susan
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I really enjoyed this novel. It takes place mostly in the 1940's around the time of WW2 and is told from the perspective of Margaret the daughter/granddaughter of this female three generation household.
The Grandmother is "Charly Kate", a name she picked for herself and she is as smart, sassy, sharp and self-reliant to boot. She runs a alternative medicine practice out of her home where her granddaughter assists her in her labors of caring for the pregnant, the ill, and bas More...
The Grandmother is "Charly Kate", a name she picked for herself and she is as smart, sassy, sharp and self-reliant to boot. She runs a alternative medicine practice out of her home where her granddaughter assists her in her labors of caring for the pregnant, the ill, and bas More...
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Jan 03, 2009
Kristin
rated it: 
After My Antonia and Here Be Dragons I wanted a light read...some chick-lit if you will. This book sounded intriguing. Set in North Carolina during WWII it tells the story of three generations of unconventional Southern women: Charlie Kate, Sophia her daughter, and Margaret her granddaughter...the narrator. Charlie Kate is a backwoods mid-wife/healer and the adventures/medical conditions that she encounters are unique to say the least. This is a book of strong women who depend on one another rat
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Mar 18, 2010
Blaire
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 12, 2009
Rachel
rated it: 
This book swept me into its fabric from the first page, mainly because the main character, Charlie Kate, is so unconventional and the stories of her turn-of-the-century life in the South are so shockingly humorous, tragic and honest.
We all hope to know someone (or be someone) a little like Charlie Kate: always knowing exactly what to do in any situation, dauntlessly moving forward and dictating the way our world will be. Like a magnet, her character attracts people to he More...
We all hope to know someone (or be someone) a little like Charlie Kate: always knowing exactly what to do in any situation, dauntlessly moving forward and dictating the way our world will be. Like a magnet, her character attracts people to he More...
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Oct 12, 2009
Lecia
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A family of unusual women live together during the World War II era, a time when women of all sorts began doing things women had never done before. Charlie Kate, the matriarch of the family, has been working the natural art of healing since she was a young woman, and is wildly successful and sought after, even by the local doctors and pharmacists. Her daughter Sophia is beautiful and headstrong, and her granddaughter Margaret, from whose point of view the story is told, is brilliant and shy. Eac
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May 29, 2011
Vasha7
rated it:
It belongs to a genre that I'm not generally fond of, southern small-town stories of generational ties with eccentric characters; as the front cover blurb has it, "as invigorating as sarsaparilla and as soothing as lemon-balm tea". They always seem to feature women who are not only independent and self-achievers, but staunchly anti-racist throughout the whole 20th century. Still, Charms for the Easy Life is incontestably well-written, and it pretty much steers clear of the traps of sen
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Jan 01, 2011
Melissa
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Three generations of North Carolina women: Charlie Kate, Sophia and Margaret, all fiercely independent, highly educated, thriving in the life they have created, all without the help of any man. Charlie Kate is a self taught “healing” woman, who becomes the local, rural doctor; Sophia, her daughter, is fighting to find her own place in her mother’s world; Margaret, the bright granddaughter, has dreams of a college education, but is unwilling to leave the cocoon created by her matriarchs.
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Dec 23, 2009
Alee
rated it:
This is a great book.
I read Charms for the Easy Life in about a day. I am a nanny, and I used naptime and bedtime to breeze through this fantastic novel. At the end of a long semester, a light read was exactly what I needed. The books main characters are three generations of strong, talented, beautiful women. It revolves around their relationships and takes its readers into an idyllic world where mother-daughter relationships are always perfect, your grandmother has the answers to al More...
I read Charms for the Easy Life in about a day. I am a nanny, and I used naptime and bedtime to breeze through this fantastic novel. At the end of a long semester, a light read was exactly what I needed. The books main characters are three generations of strong, talented, beautiful women. It revolves around their relationships and takes its readers into an idyllic world where mother-daughter relationships are always perfect, your grandmother has the answers to al More...
Nov 20, 2011
Holly
rated it:
This book has been sitting on my list for awhile. For no particular reason, it was never at the top of my list until my e:Reader forced the issue with a 21 day loan that was coming due. Love, love, love the fact that my reader forced my hand to read this book. I really, enjoyed it and found it hard to put down.
A story of three generations of quirky, smart and independent women who say, and do, quirky, smart and independent things. There were any number of points in this book that mad More...
A story of three generations of quirky, smart and independent women who say, and do, quirky, smart and independent things. There were any number of points in this book that mad More...
Nov 18, 2011
Heidi
rated it:
I liked this book, but not nearly so much as "On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon." I kept wondering what the point was and when something significant would happen that would drive the story. I can't really even see any strong themes in it. It was about strong southern women and their ability to flourish without men. It was about how a lot of men are scum and others could be pretty decent. Is it a theme that a grandmother could be larger than life and cast her shadow over every a
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Apr 24, 2010
Angela
rated it:
Don't ask me what it is about Kaye Gibbons. She just has one of those voices that speaks to me from somewhere out of my ancestral southern past, I guess. Some smooth, smokey drawl that captures my attention, and holds it, drawing it into the hearts of her characters, so that her stories for me are far, far more than the sum of their parts. They are all women's stories, and stories of adversity, with a southern flavor that is so familiar to me, it truly seems to call out from my own distant past
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Nov 01, 2011
Melinda
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I think that listening to this book really made it for me. The narrator's scratchy southern drawl added such spunk to Charlie Kate; I could visualize her mixing her herbal concoctions and administering her self-taught treatments to her willing patients. I appreciated her strength and her willingness to help out those in need despite the sacrifice.
This book reads so well, the prose flows so effortlessly that I was quickly captivated by Charlie Kate, Sophia and Margaret. Each of these wom More...
This book reads so well, the prose flows so effortlessly that I was quickly captivated by Charlie Kate, Sophia and Margaret. Each of these wom More...
Jan 07, 2011
Istop4books
rated it:
Kaye Gibbons can really write. It seems that she seamlessly and graciously introduces characters into her books that tend to stick to your ribs long after you put the book down, sorry to have had to read the last page and said goodbye. This is the story of 3 generations of women of North Carolina in the 1940's, Charlie,an unlicensed doctor witty and outspoken, her daughter Sophia, who is very different woman from her mother, and Sophia's daughter, Margaret, who grows up looking for her own place
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Aug 02, 2008
Bephrays
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book and am having our book club read it in November. I have read this book several times and seen the movie of it too.
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Feb 16, 2009
Janice
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What seemed like a simple story of three generations in a family of southern women speaks of the connectivity between generations that families sometimes have. I like to think that for those of us who have been fortunate enough to have had strong role models and who have benefitted from their wisdom and folly, Kaye Gibbons' story strikes a chord within us. Her fine illustration of how these women could argue, call one another names, and be utterly different yet still maintain love and respect fo
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May 18, 2009
Marielle
rated it:
I loved this story! It takes place in the 1940's. Three generations of women living under one house, keeping themselves busy with reading and helping Grandmother, Charlie Kate, tend to the sick and wounded in town. Almost a witch doctor, she operates without a license but is respected by everyone- even her family. Her granddaughter is so attached to her and the home that she refuses to go to her pick of prestigious colleges until she's had her share of helping out Grams at the Veteran's clin
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Dec 26, 2008
Marni
rated it:
A good story about three women - grandmother, her daugther, and her granddaughter. The grandmother is an especially memorable character, self-taught in the art of medicine and surgery, and very outspoken - never leaves a thing unsaid. The mother doesn't like to follow her mother's advice much and winds up in a variety of life stuggles because of it. Interesting when I think about it - the grandmother is so outspoken and you don't get the feeling that she is gentle in any way, shape, or form,
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Feb 06, 2012
Rachel
rated it:
This is an incredibly easy read. The book almost reads itself to you. It is the story of 3 generations of Southern women. Charlie Kate is the unconvenional midwife who becomes a backdoor medicine woman who mixes science and superstition equally. Sophia is beautiful and Margaret is very smart, but both are unable or unwilling to escape Charlie Kate's intense gravitational field. The title of the book refers to the easy life charm a patient gives Charlie Kate as payment for saving his life.
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Nov 01, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
I fell in love with each of the smart, headstrong and highly independent woman of the Birch clan. Set near Raleigh, North Carolina, during WWII, the story follows grandma Charlie Kate, a folk doctor who knows more and does more than the sloppy medical doctor in the area; her glamorous widowed daughter Sophia, who lives as much for Flaubert and Faulkner as she does for the sensational tales in her True Crime magazines; her daughter Margaret, who, inspired by her grandmother, aspires to medical sc
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Dec 30, 2008
Sheri
rated it:
I haven't read Kaye Gibbons in probably ten years. I was at the library and this one caught my eye - I'd like to have charms for an easy life.
This book read so seamlessly. A book I did look forward to reading any spare moment I had. A story about 3 generations of women from the early to mid 20th century. Grandmother, mother, daugther - 3 very different perspectives and experiences but held together by love and concern for one another and giving back to the community. I truly enj More...
This book read so seamlessly. A book I did look forward to reading any spare moment I had. A story about 3 generations of women from the early to mid 20th century. Grandmother, mother, daugther - 3 very different perspectives and experiences but held together by love and concern for one another and giving back to the community. I truly enj More...
Jun 02, 2011
Julia
rated it:
I would probably give this 3.5 if I could. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and it was a fast, easy read. I loved the Grandmother in the book, and possibly because she was the most well developed character. The narrator and her mother had a lot of potential, but in the end I felt like a lot was left out. The narrator especially was not a very dynamic character, which was a little disappointing. The book ended so abruptly that I kept reading into the author's biography hoping they might
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Apr 11, 2010
Courtney
rated it:
LOVE Kaye Gibbons. I once recommended this book to a friend who was as voracious a reader as I am and she paid me the highest compliment when she said, "I not only read this book, I devoured every word. I am usually wary about taking book recommendations from friends, but you are now at the top of my list!"
I read this book probably 14 or 15 years ago and have read most if not all of her books. I owned many of her books and lost them all in our fire, but this is one author More...
I read this book probably 14 or 15 years ago and have read most if not all of her books. I owned many of her books and lost them all in our fire, but this is one author More...
May 24, 2010
Cynthia
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 19, 2008
Will
rated it:
Charms is a family saga. The narrator, Margaret Birch tells of her mother, Sophia, her grandmother, Charlie Kate, her no-good father, her failed grandfather and a broad cast of characters that inhabit the southern towns of her upbringing. It oozes warmth. I was reminded of A Secret Life of Bees. They are of a cloth. The women of this tale, like the men in Lake Wobegon are all strong. The matriarch, Charlie Kate becomes a local legend with her broad knowledge of healing and her tenacity at gettin
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Sep 20, 2008
Fdolan
rated it:
i loved this book as i got into it.
a few of my thoughts on character.
the women are strong, each on her own, however, i suggest the three of them make up three aspects of one woman.
they are family, tied at the hip in lifestyle, stymied in time, culture, environment, proud in their strength together and individually.
each woman contributes to and accentuates diverse aspects of personality which the author chooses to develop as three distinct people f More...
a few of my thoughts on character.
the women are strong, each on her own, however, i suggest the three of them make up three aspects of one woman.
they are family, tied at the hip in lifestyle, stymied in time, culture, environment, proud in their strength together and individually.
each woman contributes to and accentuates diverse aspects of personality which the author chooses to develop as three distinct people f More...
May 15, 2008
Marie
rated it:
From the book cover:
"A family without men, the Birches live gloriously offbeat lives in the lush, green backwoods of North Carolina. Radiant, headstrong Sophia and her shy, brilliant daughter, Margaret, possess powerful charms to ward off loneliness, despair, and the human missery that often beats a path to their door. And they are protected by the eccentric wisdom and muscular love of the remarkable matriarch Charlie Kate, a solild, uncompromising, self-taught healer who treats eve More...
"A family without men, the Birches live gloriously offbeat lives in the lush, green backwoods of North Carolina. Radiant, headstrong Sophia and her shy, brilliant daughter, Margaret, possess powerful charms to ward off loneliness, despair, and the human missery that often beats a path to their door. And they are protected by the eccentric wisdom and muscular love of the remarkable matriarch Charlie Kate, a solild, uncompromising, self-taught healer who treats eve More...
