When her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her sixteen year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: mothe...
read full description
reviews
Feb 08, 2012
Erin
rated it: 
Amanda Janvier appears to be living a very good, stable life. She loves her work as a teacher, is married to a generous craftsman, and has two teenage children. But secrets lurk in the Janvier home. Does a secret ever do anyone any good? Are they always to best kept locked away from others?
The Janviers take in their sixteen-year-old niece Tally while Amanda's brother is out of reach on a fortune hunt in Europe. Tally and her cousin Chase are close to the same age and a bond quickly f More...
The Janviers take in their sixteen-year-old niece Tally while Amanda's brother is out of reach on a fortune hunt in Europe. Tally and her cousin Chase are close to the same age and a bond quickly f More...
Feb 01, 2011
Pattyrflg
rated it:
Amanda Janvier thinks her marriage and family are perfect. Tally, the teenage daughter of her "black sheep" brother, comes to live with the Janviers after her father goes to Warsaw on a secret treasure hunt. Tally and her cousin, Chance, work together on a sociology project that reveals questions about their grandfather and great-grandparents from Poland. Chance begins remembering a fire from age 4 but can't answer his most important question--who started the fire? Amanda and Neil don'
More...
Aug 04, 2010
Deborah
rated it: 
I won "White Picket Fences" quite a while back from another blog giveaway. I have to admit I had so many books to read that this one went into my "to be read pile" where it stayed for quite a while. The other day I was looking through those books for my next read. For some reason this one caught my eye. I really had no idea what the genre was or what the book was about. I just started reading.
The protagonists were three cousins as well as a friend to one of them. More...
The protagonists were three cousins as well as a friend to one of them. More...
Dec 10, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
White Picket Fences had quite a bit going on in it. Each part of the story was connected, and it was done very well. The story didn't seem to lose anything, and the connections didn't feel convenient. This book was very well thought out, and was executed very well. I have to applaud Meissner for taking all these seemingly unrelated topics and intertwining them into a very good story.
There were parts when the story dragged a little, but for the most part it kept intrigued. My favorite More...
There were parts when the story dragged a little, but for the most part it kept intrigued. My favorite More...
Nov 29, 2009
Nora
rated it:
Secrets! When is it ok to keep a secret? This is what Amanda; Tally’s aunt says about them, “My grandmother had her secrets. My father had his. You have yours. And I… What do they really accomplish anyway? I mean, think about it. What secret did anyone any good? Can you think of one?”
Tally does think of a good secret. Josef and Eliasz told of their secret operation to save babies from the horrific conditions of the ghetto. It had to be kept a secret so that lives could be saved. Tall More...
Tally does think of a good secret. Josef and Eliasz told of their secret operation to save babies from the horrific conditions of the ghetto. It had to be kept a secret so that lives could be saved. Tall More...
Nov 17, 2009
Lori
rated it:
Winner of the 2009 Best Fiction for her book The Shape of Mercy, Susan Meissner does it again with her book White Picket Fences. I love how Meissner takes real life history and weaves it with a beautiful fictional story. In the book The Shape of Mercy she weaves the Salem Witch trials into her story, with White Picket Fences Meissner weaves the stories to two Holocaust survivors in with her fictional story of a family who seems to live the perfect life.
The Janvier's live in a beautiful More...
The Janvier's live in a beautiful More...
Nov 13, 2009
Janna
rated it:
I really liked Susan's book, "The Shape of Mercy" but it raises the bar awfully high for any future books she has come out. She does not disappoint. In White Picket Fences we meet Neil and Amanda and their kids Chase and D who live the perfect life in a house with a white picket fence. They take in Amanda's niece, Tally, when her dad disappears. Tally turns the family life upside down (not intentionally) by befriending Chase and all kinds of issues arise to the surface. Is Neil and Ama
More...
Nov 10, 2009
Sandra
rated it:
When Tally's father disappears she is welcomed into the home of her aunt Amanda. She feels like she really belongs there and they believe that they will be able to help her overcome so many things. None of them expect things to turn out the way they did. Instead of helping Tally, they find that old memories and secrets they have let lie are surfacing. As much as they try to shove them away there comes a time when they must be faced. There had been signs all along. Amanda sees her son is troubled
More...
Oct 18, 2010
April
rated it: 
A white picket fence often conjures up the image of familial bliss. Perfection. Happiness. It can also act as another barrier to the outside. Another wall that keeps family stories hidden.
Amanda Janvier's brother has always been a free spirit. Free in the sense that he has never settled down, rarely keeps a job, and struggles to put a roof over his head...and his daughter's. Amanda receives a phone call from a social worker that changes everything. Her brother has left his daughter, More...
Amanda Janvier's brother has always been a free spirit. Free in the sense that he has never settled down, rarely keeps a job, and struggles to put a roof over his head...and his daughter's. Amanda receives a phone call from a social worker that changes everything. Her brother has left his daughter, More...
Nov 07, 2009
Debbie
rated it:
I received this book as a review copy from the publisher. "White Picket Fences" had realistic characters struggling in realistic ways with pain from their past. The author had a lovely way of showing nuances of the internal family relationships through their body language and actions. I came to care about all of the characters.
The author often described objects in an slightly anthropomorphic way (which I sometimes thought sounded a bit odd), but the vivid descriptions were More...
The author often described objects in an slightly anthropomorphic way (which I sometimes thought sounded a bit odd), but the vivid descriptions were More...
Oct 21, 2009
Renee
rated it:
I loved this book. Meissner did a splendid job of blending the characters' diverse stories into one novel. The story lines were captivating - I finished this book in one day because I had to know what happened with each character.
Tally's change in home life from one of transience with her father to a stable home life with her extended family (even if only temporary) was realistic. I felt that the character's interactions in this situation were believable although I wish there had been mor More...
Tally's change in home life from one of transience with her father to a stable home life with her extended family (even if only temporary) was realistic. I felt that the character's interactions in this situation were believable although I wish there had been mor More...
Nov 12, 2009
bookme4life
rated it:
Meissner does a fantastic job weaving together the past tragedies inflicted in the Warsaw Ghetto and Treblinka in WWII, and the more recent tragedy of a housefire in which a child died while another bore the weight of unanswered questions about the fire.
"Even if you live behind a white picket fence, you still have to deal with the fallout of living in a broken world. You can't hide from it. The perfect idyllic life is an illusion. Life is a weave of both delight and disappoint More...
"Even if you live behind a white picket fence, you still have to deal with the fallout of living in a broken world. You can't hide from it. The perfect idyllic life is an illusion. Life is a weave of both delight and disappoint More...
Apr 28, 2010
Cafelilybookreviews
rated it:
Neil and Amanda Janvier have it all – a beautiful home, stable careers and two wonderful kids, yet their relationship is teetering on the edge as a result of too many years of secrets.
When Amanda’s niece Tally, is inadvertently abandoned by her father, Amanda and Neil take her in as part of their family. As Tally starts helping her cousin Chase with a school project about the Holocaust, the family secrets slowly begin to surface and become harder to keep. While Chas More...
Oct 20, 2009
Mary
rated it:
I found White Picket Fences to be a cautionary tale of what can happen to people when they don't want to upset the status quo. People usually keep secrets because they don't want to cause pain or unhappiness for themselves or others - but that can sometimes have the opposite effect.
Although I thought this was a quiet novel, it made me feel anything but quiet. The first half slowly unveiled a few secrets and then events occurred that set the plot in motion. I won't reveal more except More...
Although I thought this was a quiet novel, it made me feel anything but quiet. The first half slowly unveiled a few secrets and then events occurred that set the plot in motion. I won't reveal more except More...
Dec 07, 2009
Becky
rated it:
For most of the novel, I couldn't put my finger on it, but found Meissner's writing style nice to read. It took me awhile to analyze, and soon realized that she has a freshness of speech and sentence construction that makes one comfortable to read her work. I can't say if her other novels do this, but I really enjoyed the clarity and tone of her writing.
Overall, I enjoyed the novel quite a bit. I wasn't sure about the husband and wife plot, that showed a couple struggling to stay con More...
Overall, I enjoyed the novel quite a bit. I wasn't sure about the husband and wife plot, that showed a couple struggling to stay con More...
Apr 21, 2011
Heidi
rated it:
I may get redundant in saying this, but I really enjoy this author. The characters were believable and relatable. The situations were the type I could see happening to myself or a friend. The book was about secrets. Is it ever a good idea to keep a secret? It also combined modern day with World War II in Poland.
A quote stood out to me. It was said by a concentration camp survivor, "I am just a man who has seen both absolute horror and absolute beauty. Seen it, felt it, heard it More...
A quote stood out to me. It was said by a concentration camp survivor, "I am just a man who has seen both absolute horror and absolute beauty. Seen it, felt it, heard it More...
Aug 17, 2011
Melinda
rated it:
I liked this book well enough, but was drawn more to the subplot than the ongoing saga of the protagonist's utterly dysfunctional family. In fact, I wished that more had been discussed about the two Holocaust survivors who were sent to concentration camps in Poland because of their participation of successfully rescuing babies from the Jewish ghettos. That story was both fascinating and eye-opening to me. The rest of the book could have been somewhat shortened if the Janvier family could have
More...
Jul 28, 2010
Andrea
rated it:
SUSAN MEISSNER TELLS A STORY ABOUT A SAN DIEGO BASED FAMILY. THE MOTHER HAS TWO TEENS AND IS TAKING CARE OF HER BROTHER'S DAUGHTER. THE FATHER, NEIL, A FINANCIAL WIZ, SPENDS ALL OF HIS SPARE TIME IN HIS WOOD SHOP. THE SON, CHASE, IS RE LIVING A TERRIBLE FIRE THAT OCCURED WHEN HE WAS 4. HE BELIEVES HE CAUSED THE DEATH OF ANOTHER CHILD BY PLAYING WITH A LIGHTER. THE NEICE, TALLY, IS WITH THIS FAMILY BECAUSE HER FATHER ABANDONED HER TO SEARCH FOR FAMILY TREASURE IN POLAND.
THE TEENS More...
THE TEENS More...
Mar 15, 2010
Jackie
rated it: 
I stumbled on this book at the library - remembered that I really enjoyed "The Shape Of Mercy" and had high hopes for this one. I was disappointed.
The writing is ok - I found several things that bothered me during the reading. It just seemed depressing somehow. The story was a bit too conveniently wrapped up. I didn't get a sense of any of the characters being more than just words on a page - they weren't really developed fully.
I remember at the beginnin More...
The writing is ok - I found several things that bothered me during the reading. It just seemed depressing somehow. The story was a bit too conveniently wrapped up. I didn't get a sense of any of the characters being more than just words on a page - they weren't really developed fully.
I remember at the beginnin More...
Oct 07, 2009
Wrighty
rated it:
When her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her sixteen year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: motherless, and living with a father who raises Tally wherever he lands– in a Buick, a pizza joint, a horse farm–and regularly takes off on wild schemes. Amanda envisions that she, her husband Neil, and their two teenagers can offer the girl stability and a shot at a “normal” life, even though their own storybook lives are about to crumble.
Seventeen- More...
Seventeen- More...
Jan 23, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
This was an interesting premise for a book.
Memories and how they can affect a family. The suppression or communication of information among family memebers.
The son in this book has a very troubling event take place in his life when he was young, his parents think he does not remember. He is remembering more and more, a serious break down in communication between his family and himself has dramatic consequences for them all.
There is also a visiting cousin, wh More...
Memories and how they can affect a family. The suppression or communication of information among family memebers.
The son in this book has a very troubling event take place in his life when he was young, his parents think he does not remember. He is remembering more and more, a serious break down in communication between his family and himself has dramatic consequences for them all.
There is also a visiting cousin, wh More...
Nov 13, 2009
Margaret
rated it:
When I heard about this new novel from Susan Meissner, I was extremely excited because to me "The Shape of Mercy" is now a classic that all students who study the Crucible should also have to read. While "White Picket Fences" is a completely different type of book it is still incredible writing. For me, I would not necessarily call it a favorite, but overall as a whole (redundant I know, but making a point here) I enjoyed it. Looking at the cover of this book tells you More...
Dec 01, 2009
Taryn
rated it:
This was an impulse buy and I feel like I should have resisted. It wasn't a bad story by any means. But there was something lacking.
The premise: three high school kids work on a project that brings them into the ghetto of Nazi Poland through the memories of two Polish immigrants living in a retirement home, compounded by the families turned upside down by what they discover about themselves. Sounds interesting. The teenagers are likable and I was really pulling for Chase and Tally ho More...
The premise: three high school kids work on a project that brings them into the ghetto of Nazi Poland through the memories of two Polish immigrants living in a retirement home, compounded by the families turned upside down by what they discover about themselves. Sounds interesting. The teenagers are likable and I was really pulling for Chase and Tally ho More...
Feb 13, 2010
Mary Anne
rated it:
I really loved this book. The story focused on Tally who came to live with her Aunt Amanda and family when her father took of for Poland. The book intertwined stories about present times with those of the ghetto in Poland during WWII. There are a number of secrets kept by different characters in the book that are causing much angst. With time, the secrets do come out. The story is in the unraveling of the secrets and the harm they have been causing.
Jan 15, 2010
Marjanne
rated it:
Overall this story was good. It was easy to read, and compelling in several parts. However it seemed a little bit emotionally manipulative, and that always rubs me wrong. The story was also a little predictable, so that doesn't score points for it either. I would recommend this to others though. I think there are a lot of people who over look that kind of stuff (or enjoy it) and would likely enjoy it more than I did.
Nov 13, 2009
Clockstein
rated it:
White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner is a powerful novel about how the past shapes the future. Amanda Janvier gets more than she expected when she allows her niece, Tally, to stay with her family after her brother/Tally's father disappears. Amanda has worked hard to keep up the illusion of the perfect family, but Tally's arrival exposes the cracks in the foundations, and a school project between Tally and Amanda's son Chase brings up long hidden secrets and wounds which will leave them al More...
Mar 23, 2010
Jodi
rated it:
I was not sure what to think when I picked this up at the library. I had seen it in the Christian Bookstore catalog and thought it was intersting. I will be looking for more books by this author. She realle nailed it about families and relationships and how they are messy and hard at times, but the best places to be.
Jul 30, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
I generally enjoy this author for light, easy read books with captivating stories. This was not my favorite. There were too many different stories going on. Like the author had all these different ideas, then had to try to find a way to make them connect so it could be a novel.
Still a fun, easy read.
Still a fun, easy read.
Feb 11, 2010
Judith
rated it:
The book has a good message at the end. It incorporates characters who experienced life in a concentration camp and wove the lives of two families together. The weaving was slow. It gives us the name of an angel of mercy and a website to review.
Nov 03, 2010
Gina
rated it:
A story about a family who appears perfect on the outside, but as usually the case, has their own secrets and demons. A good book, but seemed predictable with a plot line that seemed familiar-as if I've read it already in some other book.
