The tumultuous 60's have not yet touched the women of Kalyna Beach. As first generation Ukrainian Canadians, they are enjoying advantages their parents never were able to provide. While their husbands work in the city, the women and their children are able to summer at their cottages. Each Friday, the husbands join them for the weekend; it doesn't get better than this.Women cannot leave their work behind; the daily schedule still requires all the attendant duties. Instilled are the cultural rules and mores that not only bind them, but unconsciously pit woman against woman on a daily basis.Friday afternoon gin and book discussions provide their respite before the men return. On Sasha's porch, they gather to discuss their books; books hidden in secret places in each cottage; what a disgrace it would be for a child or husband to find a copy of FANNIE HILL. Relaxed and amiable, the discussions eventually digress to gossip.With the release of the movie Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor provides a provocative twist to previous discussions. Richard Burton is rebuked, but given this group's mindset; Elizabeth Taylor as woman has taken the low moral ground and cannot be forgiven.Each woman carries her secret burden: Sonia, a mother with four daughters drifts to thoughts of her previous life as a model. She and Laura, her oldest clash as Sonia struggles to regain her lost self while Laura begins the journey to find herself.Sasha asserts herself as the group leader, intent upon keeping the ladies in line, while she struggles with her own ideology. Nadia, wife of the most successful man among them, flits in and out, a butterfly searching for the most fragrant flower.The end-of-season party at Nadia and Jack's villa approaches and all that was will never be the same. Secrets are discovered, and promises are broken. Will summer at Kaylna Beach ever be the same?I didn't want this book to end; it was a fantastic read. A different culture, but similar to mine as an immigrant of Polish descent. This book gave me a better understanding of my mother; especially as I read about Chucha Marta's past.I read Caramelo recently, and was amazed how different cultures adapt to their new environment. Some flourish, some remain forever imbedded in the Old Country.
I bought this book by accident at a second hand store. When I got home and saw that I had actually brought this book home I was a little annoyed as I thought it was going to be stupid and then when I saw that it only had 2.5 stars on GoodReads, I was really annoyed. However, since it's the end of the year, and I had one more book to read to reach my goal of 50 book for the year, I decided to trudge through it as it would most likely be a quick read. I couldn't put it down. I've decided that it's getting bad reviews because the title suggests that it's about a book club which it is not. It's about Ukrainian immigrants in the 60's that all have summer cottages in Ontario. It's a story about the pressures of being immigrants, trying to fit in, the hardships and rewards of parenting, the stress and pressure of marriage. About children growing up, learning tough lessons and stark realities. It's a story about love and loss, hopes and dreams and chasing after happiness. I was totally immersed in the lives of these characters. I have given it 4 stars in hopes to boost it’s overall rating. I would give 3.5 if I could. I would definitely read more books by this author.
Do You like book The Ladies' Lending Library (2007)?
This would have been a great book if the author didn't spend so time describing every little detail. She would spend a page or two just describing things in too much detail. But I kept reading because I thought it would get better. The title did not fit the story. Sure the summer cottage neighbors got together to discuss and share books, but only two times that I can recall and it seemed those discussions were skipped over and the author again described too much detail about things that had nothing to do with the book discussions. It was overboard so much that made each character a bit boring.I feel if you take out all the unnecessary descriptions, the actual story would be about 30 pages long. I would have loved more about the actual summer of the moms, their kids and what was happening on a day to day basis. Was a great idea, but this author failed :(
—Kathy
Picked this one up, hoping for a bit of escapism and lighter reading than some other stuff I'm currently into... I could only make it to page 86. I kept thinking it would get better. There is no focus... too many lengthy descriptions of characters and no real substance. In fact, there are so many characters that you don't even end up getting who is who, and why they're important to the storyline. If there is, in fact, some semblance of a storyline beyond page 86. In short, don't bother with this one.
—jenny
I guess this book is what they are referring to when they say, "don't judge a book by it's cover." That's what I did and I find myself regretting it.I'm only 70 pages into the book and it's been a long, slow and unenjoyable read. First of all, it really doesn't have much to do with a "ladies lending library." There is some mention of the mother's exchanging naughty books, but that's it. No discussion. Perhaps that changes? So far the plot has not been revealed. If this is meant to be a character study instead then it completely fails. So far there have been A LOT of characters introduced, each with some small subplot that doesn't really connect with the other in a way that makes you actually care or stay interested. I'm having a hard time staying focused on the "story." I find myself getting to the bottom of a page and then having to go back up and re-read the page again. The author has an awful habit of overflourishing (I made that word up, please send me royalties if you use it) everything. She describes almost every single detail to the 9th annoying level. Sometimes, it's okay to just say, "she sat down on the yellow chair." But it takes this author about 10 minutes to say just that because she feels the need to "poetically" describe every.single.little.thing. We'll see. I'm hoping it will get better. I'm stubborn and hate shelving a book before I'm done reading it, but I may make an exception here. Updated - no, it didn't get better and I didn't get much further. I let this one die. It was due back at the library and I wasn't about to pay overdue fines for it. The last straw was going 4 pages and reading Sonia as Sasha or vice versa - I just couldn't keep a grasp on those characters and keep them straight. I'd get them confused.
—Gaia
