Commitment

by Julie Ellis

A chronicle of one woman's struggle to realize her childhood ambition to become an architect. Set in America, from the Depression years to the McCarthy witch-hunts, it details the effects of her father's suicide, her aspirations to go to college, becoming a child-bride and her eventual success.

626 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

From the inside cover of the Kappa Books edition of Eden:

Julie Ellis was born in Columbus, Georgia. She moved to New York at age 16 with her parents, after her high school graduation. Julie studied drama, and was part of the mid-'50s Off-Broadway scene as actress/playwright/co-producer. Seven of her plays were produced Off-Broadway and presented on the summer hotel/bungalow colony circuits. She wrote 76 sides of children's records (hitting BILLBOARD'S Bestseller List). Her first paperback novel was published in 1960 and between 1960 and 1974 she wrote 143 contemporary, gothic, romantic suspense novels and 3 non-fiction titles that were published by major paperback houses.

Julie has written one hardcover/softcover bestseller per year (a number of early paperback originals now being re-published in hardcover in the United Kingdom). Ellis is published in thirteen countries. A favorite among library readers across the country, Julie regularly appears on LIBRARY JOURNAL'S "Pre-publication Bestseller Lists." In 1993 she made the United Kingdom's Registrar of Public Lending Rights List of the most-read authors in the United Kingdom Library System (minimum of 300,000 loans per author).

A single mother since 1972 (first separated, then widowed), Julie considers her major productions her daughter Susan and her son Richard. Julie is a passionate environmentalist whose convictions appear regularly in her novels (the devastation of our Northwest forests in LOYALTIES, the unnecessary deaths caused by the tobacco industry in LASTING TREASURES, gun control in COMMITMENT). Julie is a vegetarian with occasional lapses due to social circumstances. She alternates between her Manhattan apartment and beach house in Montauk.

Reviews

[Alena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this paperback up from the "Free" shelf at the library, so it was a good deal. :P This is one of the hefty paperback novels that were so popular in the 80s and 90s - it follows a woman throughout the course of her life, from the late 20s when her family loses their fortune in the stock market crash, to the 70s when her children get involved in environmental issues. It's a satisfying read, but I found it very predictable at points, and the story was a lot weaker when her children got involved.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

strange

[Amy Sjoquist · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't grab me.