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Heartbreak Hotel
Anne Rivers Siddons "cannot be surpassed in evoking a kind of life peculiar to the South," says "Publishers Weekly." Her classic novel "Heartbreak Hotel, " praised as "anything but nostalgic" by "The New York Times, " excels with an insightful, troubling tale of the coming of age of a privileged young Southern woman during ...more
Hardcover, Large Print, 445 pages
Published
July 17th 2009
by Thorndike Press
(first published 1976)
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I have always avoided Anne Rivers Siddons because I was never sure if she just pushed books out that didn't have a whole lot of content BUT I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't realize until I finished it that this was Siddons first book, which almost makes me want to read a more current one to see if it is on par with her first. I enjoyed the portrayal of the South in the 1950's, well done. The book had some fluff but it also did a pretty good job of exploring the subject of int...more
This was required reading for one of my classes in college, but I really enjoyed it then, and have read it several times since. This isn't really a coming of age sort of story, it's really more of a coming into a conciouness sort of story, as the main character, Maggie Deloach, learns what she is all about. The details and the narrative combine to create a world that just sucks you in. Even if you're reading it in January of 2009 in NYC, you feel like you're sitting on a wide porch, lamenting t...more
Anne Rivers Siddons is in my top five favorite contemporary authors. True - this isn't her absolute best, but it is strong. She has the best way of making you feel as if you are exactly where the book takes place and in the same time period. This takes place in the south (Alabama for the most part) during the ages of harlequin glasses and the budding civil rights movement. Siddons is able to, through fiction, illuminate what it was like then, which is something that those of us not alive in the ...more
This little book is one of the best book I have ever read. It deals with the 1960's intertgrtiom of a southern university. One student's acceptance of and passions for the changes and people envolved caused her to lose friends and family and to gain a deep understanding of the human conflict.
Anne Rivers Siddons isn't quite a guilty pleasure--I really enjoy her novels, though I don't relate very well to her Southern heroines. This is one of her first novels. I liked it, but I didn't feel as drawn in as will her later ones. Still, a good summer read.
This was a pretty good book. My only complaint was it spent a lot of time building up to the climax, but then kind of fizzled after that even though there was still like 60 pages left in the book.
I always like Siddons, some more than others, but I like the way she develops her characters, and her psychological insights into what molds and drives them.
Not a bad read. You get teh light hearted stuff of a college girl and the social issues of he time. It d have a couple of slow parts though...
This book isn't nearly as cheesy as the title makes it sound. Engrossing story of a proper sorority girl at Randolph University (aka Auburn) in the 1950s, just as the civil rights tremors are beginning. As a writer for the student newspaper, she writes an "imflammatory" article favoring integration that turns everyone except a few people against her. The story is based on the author's experiences at Auburn, where she wrote a similar article that ended up gaining national attention and ...more
very good!
An OK book!
2.5 stars
Started off slow, but won me over after the first 70 pages. I always enjoy her books.
I just finished Heartbreak Hotel - the first book written by Anne River Siddons. It takes place on the campus of a small college in Alabama in 1956 and chronicles the coming of age of a young sorority girl as she becomes aware of the larger world. It particularly looks at the beginning of the civil rights movement and her new-found awareness.
The author does an excellent job of capturing a sheltered young woman's awakening to a world larger than the one her parents have prepared her for. Randolph is, of course, modeled on Auburn University, and as an Alabama native and a member of the generation after the one in the novel, I found it credible and fascinating.
It was her life story, if you like the book the Help by Emily Stockett, you will love this story!
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It was a little difficult to get into because of the time period, but I could definitely see someone who grew up during the time of the Civil Rights movement enjoying this book. I enjoyed the overall story, but couldn't relate to this book as well as the other Anne Rivers Siddons books I've read.
Kaethe
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review of another edition
Shelves:
strong-smart-female-protagonist,
adventure,
fiction,
social-issues,
age-ya,
feminism,
beloved
Privileged white girl discovers empathy during the Civil Rights movement. I'd love to see YA readers discovering this.
This was probably the most important book I actually read as a teen. It gave me my first insights into the struggles of others and the privileges I enjoy that others do not.
This was probably the most important book I actually read as a teen. It gave me my first insights into the struggles of others and the privileges I enjoy that others do not.
The perspective of this book is really the best part-from a southern girl waking up to the Civil Rights movement at its beginning. The details of life in the 50's really make you feel in the moment and her choice to reject the life that is almost in her grasp is really inspiring.
Ahhh, sorority life and a bunch of Barners. They call the school 'Randolph' in the book, but it's obviously Auburn. Civil rights movement, romance, a little bit of everything!
A reminder of how much has changed for the privileged Southern white woman coming of age in tumultuous times since the 1950's; and what things remain the same.
Yet another book that I have read over and over. I adore Anne Rivers Siddons, and this book and "Peachtree Road" are her absolute best.
good book about racial integration....in the early years, and the effects on people in college.. I love the characters.
Anne River Siddons' writing never ceases to amaze me. A wonderful book I highly recommend.
If you enjoy diving into other citys and seeing what life is like outside your world.
Another solid book by Anne Rivers Siddons.
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