Cassandra KingRezensionen

Story of six college friends. Follows their lives over the years til the death of one. Pretty good story.

While it remained interesting until the end, this seems to be more a story about serious illnesses among the author's loved ones and acquaintances--Pat Conroy's foremost. It presents a very personal picture of an 18 year marriage that succeeded against considerable odds--it was Conroy's third. There aren't that many insights into Conroy as a writer here, except that the book shows us he was Southern to the core. It did inspire me to go to Youtube to watch a speech Conroy gave to a small college in Georgia, as well as his commencement address at the Citadel in 2001. Both are impressive, and the first is hysterical. I guess Cassandra King Conroy has done us a favor at least by reminding us of her husband's greatness and inspiring us to read or re-read his work. But it still went on too long, and some aspects of the story really aren't quite believable. Judge for yourself. The narrator, Susan Bennett, however, was superb. Being from Alabama myself, her accent made me believe I was listening to the South Alabama-born author.

I'd put this book on my wish list a few years ago and my husband just surprised me with it this summer. When I began reading I kept saying that I would have loved it a couple years ago but it wasn't my style so much now. I was very sure it was going to be heartbreaking in a way that would hit close to home for me. It was. It also ended up grabbing me and pulling me in. I knew the characters, I cared for some, couldn't stand others. The story is really about love in many forms, deep and connected to selfish and obsessive. There is a strong religious tug of war, the main character is a preacher's wife with a liberal heart. Emotional slice of life story with plenty of moments to keep you turning the pages well after bedtime.

Tell Me a Story, My Life with Pat Conroy. Cassandra King Conroy. 2019. King relates her life with Conroy from the time they met until his death. For die-hard Conroy fans.

I liked how the women dealt with some issues such as Corrine, her love of gourds and what to do about her health and relationships, Julia and her aspects of her marriage to Joe Ed, and that they were all willing to drop everything to be with each other. Enjoyed hearing about their get-to-gethers - that part was hilarious especially the rituals on the pier as they crowned the queen each year.

Amazing book, it made me laugh and cry. I just adore these two writers as a couple and am so grateful that I have had the pleasure of meeting both of them. I learned a lot about their relationship. I hope she continues to write books and would love to see more from Conroy posthumously.

This is an autobiographical story of noted author Pat Conroy's third wife chiefly from when they met and ending several months after his death. Anyone who loves Pat Conroy's books and wants to know about this gregarious larger than life author. There are lots of touching and humorous anecdotes that will only add to the Pat Conroy mystique. We also learn of Ms. Conroy's background and her development into a great author in her own right. She handles the delicate topics of his illness and death with the taste and sensitivity of a grieving wife.

Tell Me a Story: My Life with Pat Conroy is a gift from the heart. Popular author, Cassandra King Conroy must have intuited that legions of her husband’s devotees wanted his wife to speak. Many of us had incorporated Pat Conroy into our lives. We were on an intimate level with the author who bared his soul through story, so when he died, we were blindsided. We hadn’t been given enough time to wrap our minds around a Conroyless world and were totally unprepared. So, Cassandra King Conroy stepped up. In the age- old tradition of a dyed-in-the-wool Southerner, she put her own grief aside and did for others in the only way Southerners know of: she told the entire story with endless detail and heartfelt panache. She gave us exactly what we wanted.
What strikes me about this memoir is its similarity in spirit to all things Pat Conroy wrote. Many of us heard Conroy explain the magic behind his writing by saying he wanted to explain his life to himself in hopes that readers would understand theirs. He unfurled his life on the pages in an artfully veiled manner, and it worked. In Tell Me a Story, Cassandra King Conroy removed the veil completely. With an honesty that can only be described as sheer bravery, she gave us the unvarnished truth, revealing the humanness of not only Pat, but of herself and those lucky enough to be a part of his orbit. The memoir is spellbinding, engaging, heart-tugging, and hilarious. Parts of it read like a madcap ride through a comedy of errors, for how best to describe a union forged later in life, replete with two cause and effect, complicated backstories seeking a semblance of harmony. And yet harmony was achieved, and that bird of a different feather soared. Cassandra King Conroy’s memoir is the construction of a life cobbled together by two world-class authors. It is deeply confessional and told in a voice you’ll never want to quit.

A memoir of the author's eighteen years as the third and final wife of the iconic story-teller Pat Conroy. Interesting, but veers into travelogue category too often for my taste.

I read The Sunday Wife because my favourite beach is on the very first page and the town that I live in is mentioned multiple times. I have often driven through Seaside. And at first I liked it as much as I had hoped. Some of the characters are so realistic that I felt as if I knew both preachers, albeit in Southern Baptist form. The story keeps moving and I read the book quickly.
Here's why I'm only giving it two stars. Through the whole book we watch as Dean slowly spreads her wings and realizes she can fly, and yet she goes from


SPOILERS



one relationship with a bully to another. The ending is supposed to be so happy--Maddox and Dean are so perfect for each other, right? Well, we keep being told that. And for most of the book he seems like a much better mate for her than her husband. But by the end of the book he has pushed her into a relationship with him even though she has repeatedly told him she wasn't ready, that she wanted to try to save her marriage, etc. Every time he has agreed to give her time, to let her be, etc, he goes and pops right back up again and forces her into an intimate moment, eventually causing her infidelity to go public and chase her out of town. At more than one point he tricks her to get his way. By the end of the book I was convinced that he was just as selfish and self-centered as her husband.
I hate books that promote unhealthy relationships as "romantic." I think it's a terrible message to send, that a woman's "no" only means "no" if the guy is unattractive or poor. And, lol, I am tired of sex on the public beach scenes in books! To me it's just so unrealistic as to bring me out of the story to make me laugh.
And then there are the characters. Yes, there are the preachers who are eerily well done. But most of the others are really never explored, have one note, and some even seem to serve no real purpose at all.
I think that this author shows promise, and I might (key word being might) read one of her other works. I guess I have to thank her for putting my hometown and places I love on the map. But will I ever read it again? Nope.

This was touted as an uplifting story about friendship. It was a bleak, depressing ramble through the lives of some extremely unfortunate (or in one case completely narcissistic) women. Life's a sh*tshow sometimes; don't read this if you're looking for any sort of escape.

Helen is the new wife of Emmet Justice. They met in the year after his wife died, in Florida where he had fled, trying to get his late wife Roslyn out of his mind in a new place. The change of scenery seemed to work, as Emmet met and fell in love with Helen Honeycutt, a dietitian with a cooking show. Helen convinced Emmet to take her to his vacation home, Moonrise, in North Carolina.

Helen is introduced to Emmett and his late wife Roslyn's friends. They all loved Roslyn and do not act kindly to the new bride. Willa, the housekeeper, is the only woman that is willing to befriend Helen.

The book is narrated by multiple characters - Helen, Tansy, and Willa. All three women have a different idea of what is going on around them, and it is interesting to read what each knows that the other doesn't.

Roslyn herself is a major player in the book, although she is dead. She is everywhere, a ghostly presence, in the memories of the people of Highlands, in the essence of Moonrise, and in the decaying and dessicated night garden behind the house. To Helen, Roslyn is an ideal that Helen feels she can't live up to. She is perfect in Helen's mind, to the manor born, full of grace and poise, the ultimate hostess and wife, beloved by those who have met her.

But what Helen didn't know is that the Roslyn's perfect life had some cracks, and the more that she tries to emulate her, the wider they get. The suspense keeps building, and it gets to the point that the reader wants to shake Helen, or Emmet, or Tansy, or Kit, or whoever. As Helen gets slowly driven crazy, so does the reader. Just when you think you can't take it anymore, the secrets break and the walls come crumbling down.

I found parts of the story a little slow, but they were worth reading through to get to the good stuff. Moonrise however was also complex, suspenseful, and full of doubts. I really did enjoy it, and think it would be even better if read somewhere you could overlook mountains, and read by moonlight.

A hokey novel of six Southern life-long friends. I found it mediocre and maudlin.

I was really enjoying this book until the end, which was unsatisfying. It felt like the author got tired of writing and simply tied up a few of the subplots and left the rest dangling. Loved the setting and dialogue, but overall it was disappointing.

Helen Honeycutt marries the recently widowed Emmet Justice, a charismatic television journelist, whose previous wife, Rosalyn, in an automobile accident. The much-loved Rosalyn died when her car drove off a mountainous road near Moonrise, the family's home near Highland, N.C., in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A number of Emmet and Rosalyn's childhood friends are gathering in their mountain homes. Although Helen has met the group, her reception was ill-received since many believe that Emmet married Helen out of giref. The newlyweds decide to travel to Moonrise and join the group hoping that the group will learn to love and accept Helen into their midst. Upon arriving at Moonrise, she falls in love with the mountain setting, the Victorian mansion and its nocturnal gardens. As she begins to reach out to the members of the group she begins to discover there was more to Rosalyn's death than was reported.

This example of contemporary Gothic literature is told from the point of view of three individuals in alternating chapters: Helen; Tansy, the friend who finds it difficult to accept Helen; and Willa, the current housekeeper for the friends' homes surrounding Looking Glass Lake. Although the conclusion was less than I anticipated, I enjoyed this Southern author's rendition of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca.

I enjoyed this book, and found it to be a fast summer read. I liked the characters and their development and found myself rooting for them, as well as wishing a horrible death on others. [ha] I recommend it.

Willodean (Dean) Lynch has spent 20 years married to Ben an ambitious Methodist minister with aspirations to rise to a position in the powerful Bishop's cabinet. Dean has been a dutiful "Sunday" wife but has not been welcomed by Ben as a wife in any other areas as he only sees Dean as a necessary part of his ministerial duties. After Ben is promoted to a large church in Crystal City, Florida, Dean once again finds herself living in one more parsonage, a home that belongs to the church and not to her. Ben hopes to bring Maddox and Augusta Holderfield into his congregation as they are the richest and most influential couple in town and when Augusta and Dean become immediate friends Ben is overjoyed. Beautiful and vivacious Augusta takes the shy Dean under her wing and helps bring her out of her shell and, more importantly, out of Ben's iron-fisted shadow. Dean renews her love of music, especially her playing of the dulcimer, and befriends people that Ben definitely does not approve, namely a gypsy psychic and a gay couple. As Dean's marriage stifles her Augusta confies secrets to her friend that both frighten and dismay Dean. A tragedy will force all in Dean's new life to reexamine themselves and their values.

Although this was an interesting story the character of Ben was so pious and mean-spirited that I had a hard time believing Dean could stay with someone like that especially after her world was opened up by Augusta. Dean was a coward through so much of the book but I did like her character especially the friendship between the two women. Augusta's secrets were indeed disturbing and it is understandable that the naive Dean would not have a clue what to do with them. The story moved a bit slowly at times but I enjoyed it on the whole.

A shy, insecure Helen Honeycutt meets rich, handsome Emmet Justice when he arrives as the new anchorman and news director at the television station where she hosts a noon-time 15-minute cooking demonstration. He’s a brooding widower, and is won over by her unassuming nature and great cooking. After they marry she discovers an old photo album that includes pictures of his late wife at their mountain estate, Moonrise, and Helen begs and pleads until Emmet agrees to take her there for the summer. But the late Rosalyn Harmon Justice seems to still haunt the place, and none of their long-term friends can forgive Emmet for replacing their beloved friend with this new “Bride.”

Within a few pages I recognized the plotlines and characters of Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca. But this modern retelling of that classic falls far short of the mark. King may have intended it as an homage to DuMaurier’s novel, but the result is a travesty, a mediocre soap opera with hardly one likeable or sympathetic character – including the “heroine.” The characters are thinly drawn and behave like they are in junior high rather than late middle age. We’re told how this character loves that character but never shown any evidence of this love; instead we get scowls, angry looks, sullen silences, awkward missteps, and so much jumping to conclusions that I got an aerobic workout just reading about them.

The one character that captured my attention was Willa, the Mountain-woman housekeeper/estate manager. I would have loved to have more information about her backstory and to follow her future. Maybe some other author will read this and take up the challenge. From what I’ve read of King’s writing, I wouldn’t trust her with Willa’s story.

So why give it even 1 star? Well, as irritated as I was with the trite, maudlin writing I have to admit that I was somewhat captivated by the story. Maybe it was the similarities to Rebecca … I kept thinking to myself “Oh, this must be Mrs Danvers!” or “I bet she’ll wear the same dress Rosalyn wore.” Playing that little game kept me moderately entertained, so I grant it 1 star.

Perhaps my affection for REBECCA by du Maurier has clouded my judgement, but I was very underwhelmed by this book. The characters were flat, the dialogue was choppy, and the alternating narrator didn't add anything to the plot - in fact, it barely moved the plot along. Definitely skip this one if you're a big fan of the work that inspired it.

Loved the descriptions and the conflict between "best friends". No one is exempt from shallowness and deception in this book about betrayals.

Rebecca without the enchantment.

I thought that the author's speech was very nice but I didn't think that there was enough additional information that this should have been turned into a book. There was way too little in this book to warrant the big price for the book.

I received this book for free from a giveaway, and unfortunately did not enjoy it at all. It was very cliche, and while it was a quick read, it had little substance. It was a very pretty book, and King's speech was a fine one, but I didn't feel like there was enough to it to warrant a book.

This book is billed as a contemporary retelling of Rebecca, that masterpiece by Daphne du Maurier. Don't believe the hype, it is not of the same calibre at all.

Helen Honeycutt is a 40 something divorced dietician who does a cooking segment for a TV station in Florida. Emmett Justice has just joined the TV station as a way to cut ties with Atlanta where he lived with his wife, Rosalyn, before she died in a tragic accident. The chemistry between the two is electric and Emmett proposes to Helen very quickly. They marry without letting anyone know. Emmett and Rosalyn had a close group of friends in Atlanta who also spent summers together at their summer homes in Highlands in the Blue Ridge Mountains. These friends are sure that Helen is a gold-digger and took advantage of Emmett. They get their chance to know more when Helen and Emmett decide to return to Moonrise, the summer home Rosalyn loved, for a summer with the whole gang. Helen is intrigued by Moonrise and its moon gardens but also feels like she is unwelcome, perhaps by the spirit of Rosalyn.

Tension builds but it never really grabbed me. That perhaps is because there are three narrators, Helen, Tansy (one of the close friends) and Willa (the local who takes care of the homes). This book is billed as the author's best book yet; if so, then I feel no need to seek out her others.

I loved this book. The characters are beautifully written and completely believable.

Dean is a minister's wife moving to a new town, a new parsonage, a new congregation. Her husband is really only concerned with his career and appearances. Dean makes a friend in Augusta, a wealthy and prominent free spirit in town. Augusta encourages Dean to have dreams of her own and to stand for her own beliefs instead of bowing to her husband's wishes. However, Augusta is not telling the truth about everything and when the truth comes out, Dean is devastated.

Loved Dean, Maddox, Augusta, and despised the two main men of god in the book. Dean's husband bothered me so very very much. Maybe he reminded me a little of my exhusband. But even Vickery was awful with his hypocritical actions. But both men were well written enough to be able to hate them. A really satisfying read.