Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman

Why, oh why do I even bother with an “Oprah’s Book Club” book?  This one has been on my shelf for many years, so I decided to give it a try.  The big “O” on the front means awful, horrible, and demented. 

March Murray returns to her New England hometown after living in California for nineteen years.  She brings along her sixteen year-old daughter.  She meets Hollis—the man she loved so desperately as a teenager.  He has gone from a homeless teenager to a man who owns half the town and demands respect from everyone he meets.  Can they make love work this time (despite March’s husband who remains in California)? 

Appalling themes exists in this book…abuse in the name of love, greed, revenge, knowingly helping someone ruin their life, not to mention the sexual relationship that goes unnoticed between March’s daughter and her first cousin.  I found no redeeming value in this book. Why did I keep reading?  I couldn’t believe that a book with that many accolades couldn’t have some redeeming value. Don’t bother.

 

1 Star (Rated R for language, sex and violence)