This book seemed entertaining and satisfying at first. Now I'm getting bogged down. The narrator has some horror to disclose, but getting to it involves a lot of anecdote and flashback but no real cohesive story. Grr! It makes me tense.

I looked for the one you just read, Sara, but the PL library didn't have it--or someone had checked it out.

I honestly could not even get through it! Maybe it's not fair to give it one star when I only made it 3/4 of the way through the book before finally putting it down for good (and note - I ALWAYS finish my books).
I just didn't like and couldn't appreciate the characters, didn't see the beauty in the prose, and the story just did not catch me.

I liked this sad story about a mother, daughter, son-in-law and grandson living in a small town in Illinois. Very poor, this family can't catch a break. The domestic scene is full of arguments and nasty put-downs. But everyone loves the baby. How to bring up the baby? Back to arguments and nasty put-downs.

Unrelieved bleakness from the heartland. A coming of age story of a girl with no opportunities, who doesn’t try to make anything of herself, but hooks up with the first man that comes along. Ugh, though beautifully written and fully realized.