Reviews for Families of Southeastern Georgia Excerpted from Georgia's Coastal Plain A History

The average rating for Families of Southeastern Georgia Excerpted from Georgia's Coastal Plain A History based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-10-02 00:00:00 Deborah Carr EXCELLENT! Five stars. This story was heartbreaking, shocking, alarming and yet I couldn't stop turning the pages. The author had me pulled in right from the start - and the allure of the narrative drew me in deeper. This book is about a family in crisis and they are changed by their tragic circumstances. Ned and Rachel have always loved each other and have been married for a long time. They were that couple that was able to get through anything and come out on the other side..until the unthinkable happens.. Kate is the daughter of Ned and Rachel and is the apple of their eye. She is a scholarly student, an athlete, and a member of the student council. Every summer she goes to sleepaway camp and this summer was no different..until it was. Ned and Rachel picked up Kate and she was..different. Unresponsive. Angry. Not their Kate. Ned and Rachel's marriage is tested as they seek help for Kate. They try to support each other the best they can. Then, in the middle of all this, Rachel finds out she is pregnant with another child! They have mixed emotions about this, considering Kate's situation is far from resolved. This novel was unlike anything I had ever read. There were shocking moments in this book, where I thought "What the...?!?" It really made me think. I don't give a book 5 stars very easily..but this book deserved it. I flew though this novel at breakneck speed. I loved the character development of Rachel and Ned. I also liked the descriptive language the author used. This book made my heartache, which only the best of the best can do. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry. This novel is about heartache, love, resentment, and ultimately redemption and forgiveness.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-03-07 00:00:00 Mary Jo Domanski Eh. Shapiro is a decent enough writer to keep my attention, but falls short in terms of characterization (no one had personality unless it was extreme and highly unrealistic) as well as certain basic plot devices. This novel seemed to be a weak attempt at mimicking We Need to Talk About Kevin. Once again a couple struggles with a problem child, once again the parents differ over how to deal with it, once again a story is told and revealed in pieces throughout. Thing is, though, is that this story really bombed in all the ways that WNTTAK prevailed. The problem girl, Katie, leaves home to go to camp a straight A overachiever and returns sullen, pierced, and obnoxious. Her potty mouth declarations to her parents don't seem to trigger the sort of reaction one would think they would, and the parents are worried but don't actually interact with Katie in any sort of realistic way. Katie's change is never explained, and her progress is not at all explored, until one day she trips down the stairs holding her baby brother, who then has some sort of concussion and later shows delays in development. Somehow this leads Katie to accuse her dad of molesting her (never explored) though he clearly did not and boom, marriage falls apart as does his employment at the local high school and Katie's life as she is sent to some sort of boarding school prison for wealthy girls who can't behave. What exactly was the point of this story? What did anyone learn? Why did Katie become what she did? Why were these parents so dirt poor yet both came from very wealthy homes? Why was Rachel (K's mom)'s mom such a freaking jerk, the other extreme character, of course unexplored and her presence there important ... how? Readable but pretty poorly done.