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3rd out of 15 books
—
7 voters
The Vineyard: A Novel
by
Barbara Delinsky (Goodreads Author)
In The Vineyard, New York Times bestselling author Barbara Delinsky (Lake News, Coast Road, Three Wishes) has written her most complex and emotionally rewarding novel: a story of two women, a generation apart, each of whose dream becomes bound with the other's.
To her family, Natalie Seebring is a woman who prizes appearances. She is exquisitely mannered, socially adept, a
Paperback, 528 pages
Published
July 31st 2001
by Pocket Books
(first published January 1st 2000)
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Asquonset Vineyard, Rhode Island. Six months after the death of her husband of 58 years, Natalie Seebring announces her intentions to marry Carl Burke, a man she's known since childhood, a man who's been her vineyard manager for the past 35 years. Naturally, Natalie's grown children, Susanne and Greg, are shocked and disturbed by the sudden news. Natalie decides to hire someone for the summer to help write her memoirs in time for her Labor Day wedding. She hopes her story will explain to her chi...more
Just can't get enough of Barbara Delinsky!! I've never been disappointed in one of her novels yet.
"To her family, Natalie Seebring is a woman who prizes appearances: exquisitely mannered, a supportive wife, and head of a successful wine-producing enterprise. So when she announces plans to marry a vineyard employee mere months after the death of her husband of fifty-eight years, her son and daughter are stunned. Faced with their disapproval, Natalie decides to write a memoir.
Olivia Jones is a dre...more
"To her family, Natalie Seebring is a woman who prizes appearances: exquisitely mannered, a supportive wife, and head of a successful wine-producing enterprise. So when she announces plans to marry a vineyard employee mere months after the death of her husband of fifty-eight years, her son and daughter are stunned. Faced with their disapproval, Natalie decides to write a memoir.
Olivia Jones is a dre...more
Currently need "put down, pick up books" - entertaining but not complicated. I really enjoyed this one.
My favourite quotes:
1.You wanted to be part of a family. Well, this is what a family is about. It`s about crossed wires and lack of communication. It`s about making accomodation for things you would NEVER allow in a friend. With a friend, you just say goodbye and that`s it. With family, you`re stuck.
2. Entitled. That is a dangerous word. People aren`t entitled to things. They have to earn them....more
My favourite quotes:
1.You wanted to be part of a family. Well, this is what a family is about. It`s about crossed wires and lack of communication. It`s about making accomodation for things you would NEVER allow in a friend. With a friend, you just say goodbye and that`s it. With family, you`re stuck.
2. Entitled. That is a dangerous word. People aren`t entitled to things. They have to earn them....more
The Vineyard was my first book by Barbara Delinsky. My mother brought it to me after she read it herself since the setting is a vineyard. My husband and I love wine and drink a glass with most of our evening meals so she thought this book would appeal to me. She was right.
I loved the setting of the Rhode Island vineyard of Asquonset. The descriptions of the Great House had me wishing I could really go there.
Olivia is a photo restorer who needs to find a new job. Her boss has decided to retire an...more
I loved the setting of the Rhode Island vineyard of Asquonset. The descriptions of the Great House had me wishing I could really go there.
Olivia is a photo restorer who needs to find a new job. Her boss has decided to retire an...more
I have to admit that if it were not for the fact that I had been listening to this book on CD while driving to and from work, I would have tossed it midway. I understand that it was meant to be a slow meandering journey through the life of Natalie Seebring, interweaving the lives of her children and Olivia Jones who was hired as her personal assistant and biographer. Let us face it; this was so monotonous that it allowed my mind to wander without feeling that I missed a thing.
In the past, I love...more
In the past, I love...more
Dec 29, 2011
Jasmine
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
EVERYONE
Shelves:
owned-actual-books
Before I've decide to read the book, I had this inkling that it's going to be a very boring one but I was WRONG! The story is really something! And it's the kind of story that I really want to read all over again. Natalie and Olivia are both the heroine of the story. They may be both be different in so many ways, their age, perspectives in life and so many other things. But what made them both connected towards each other is their passion towards love. They both may have done it in so many ways...more
A bore of a domestic drama featuring a single mother with low-esteem bringing a dyslexic, but curious, daughter to a vineyard in Rhode Island as part of a summer job writing the memoirs of a 76-yr. old magnate named Natalie Seebring. Natalie receives the scorn of her family on account of her quick remarriage to Carl, who works as the head distiller on the grounds of Asquonset, where the winery is located. Along the way, the reader discovers deep family secrets, broken hearts, and several people...more
Another book I read awhile back and reread recently. This is a book with adult themes and sexual situations. This is a book with a deep storyline that takes you through the Depression, WWII, and beyond. I really like how well Barbara Delinsky is able to develop characters and create interesting storylines. She really has a gift for story telling. I found myself rooting for the characters and hoping that they could overcome the hardships thrown at them through their lives. This is another great s...more
So far, this has to be my least favourite Delinsky novel. It was perfectly readable and a compelling story, but it didn’t have the usual engaging characters or the “pull” that made me not want to put it down. I’ve enjoyed a couple of Delinsky’s older novels – such as A Woman Betrayed and The Woman Next Door – but this one was missing something that even those books had. I didn’t care about the characters as much and to begin with Olivia just annoyed me with her neediness. I did find the story ab...more
Not a usual fan of Delinksy's but picked it up because the vineyard in the story is loosely based on Sakonet in Little Compton, RI.
Lots of family dynamics, a dyslexic kid, a widow, a single mom and the widowers who love the two women.
I liked it enough to breeze through it a second time.
Lots of family dynamics, a dyslexic kid, a widow, a single mom and the widowers who love the two women.
I liked it enough to breeze through it a second time.
Feb 01, 2009
Kate
added it
It's a cute little book. Not exactly wisdom of the ages type, but if you're looking for a romance novel with a little bit of sex and characters that are more than 2-D, this wouldn't be a bad choice. (NB, it is just a little bit of sex, and not terribly well-written, so if you wanted girly-porn, you should pick something else.)
The plot was interesting, as well as the characters. The daughter Tess is dyslexic. She has problems, yet she is still endearing to the reader. I had a problem with the developing love story. The first time they met they stared at each other until he finally looked away. Really?? Their romance was slow to develop, but I didn't find it believable.
Barbara Dolinsky is one of the best romance writers around! She never fails to deliver. She never fails to tug at my heart. I believe that Tess is the best character in this book! She wrote her character so vividly and so perfectly that I could picture this child so clearly in my mind's eye!
Set in a vineyard. Olivia Jones and her dyslexia daughter Tess. Olivia spend the summer on Natalie Seebring's vineyard helping to write her memoirs.
The book gives insights into the struggles of wine growing crops and insight into a child's dyslexia's issues.
The book gives insights into the struggles of wine growing crops and insight into a child's dyslexia's issues.
Feb 24, 2009
Carol
added it
It's been awhile since I read this book. It's very easy to relate to Barbara's characters. Whenever you read one of her books you find yourself thinking "that could be me or that's me". I enjoyed the book as I enjoy many of her books.
Carol
Carol
I thought this book was interesting because it wove multiple view points into one story. It takes modern family issues and makes it human and acceptable. Pretty easy read. Totally could see myself in the vineyard sitting among the grapes and looking out at the ocean.
I am a fan of Barbara Delinsky, but I didn't like this one as well as others of hers I have read. Pretty predictable and "fluffy" but I read it quickly. I did learn a lot about grapes and wine making, which was interesting. Not a bad book, just not too gripping.
I felt this had a slow start, but eventually started moving. Olivia is a dreamer. Her and her daughter Tess head to Asquonset for the summer - Olivia to write Natalie Sebring's memoir and Tess to have a tutor to help with her dyslexia. Natalie tells her story to Olivia through snatches of time. Meanwhile Olivia and Tess seem to fit in with the family even though Natalie's children are at odds with her marrying so quickly after their father's death. Through Natalie, we see her life as it unfolded...more
I read this quite a while ago, was one of my first books by this author. As most of her books, I get wrapped up in the characters and couldn't put it down. I good emotional, light read that takes me away for a while.
Good one by Delinsky, loved her and his insecurities and how it all comes together. Also, a fascinating historical introspective has historical value, flows easy, vintage Delinsky...
This might be classified as a light romance. It was mostly about family relationships. It's a gentle story that kept me reading, and there was a little mystery involved too. I liked it.
This is a fairly predictable romance novel; romance novels are not my thing. But, I like to read one every now and again. This did have some interesting information on vinticulture.
excellant book. Wonderfully told story with twists and turns that will keep you reading until late into the night. Keep the tissues handy, this one will tug at your heartstrings.
Pretty good story and I liked learning more about wine production in, of all places, Rhode Island. The book's format was clever.....it was a fictional memoir within a novel.
I enjoy Barbara Delinksy's books and this one was no exception. No surprise that the single mom and widower, neither of whom is supposedly interested in a relationship, comes together.
I loved this book! I really "liked" the characters, so it made me want to see where everything was going. Stayed up for hours last night to finish it!
the vineyard was okay i guess. its one of those books about happiness and struggles in the vinetyard and the family. this book has a chapter about history too.
Okay...it was a random selection (on sale)...nothing too exciting...kept me company while on the road over the Thanksgiving break...I'm a better reader than a listener...
Delinsky writes good summertime read books. They are not too deep or involved but hold you interest when you want light reading.
This the story of a woman who is hired to write the memoirs of the matriarch of a successful vineyard on the east coast.
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I was born and raised in suburban Boston. My mother’s death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year (in Maine, which explains the setting of so many of my stories), then spent my sixteenth summer learning to type and to drive (two sk...more
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