A finalist of the Pen/Faulkner award

Lizzie Hayes, a member of the San Francisco elite, is a seemingly docile, middle-aged spinster praised for her volunteer work with the Ladies Relief and Protection Society Home, or "The Brown Ark". All she needs is the spark that will liberate her from the ruling conventions. When the wealthy and well-connected, but ill-reputed Mary Ellen Pleasant shows up at the Brown Ark, Lizzie is drawn to her. It is the beautiful, but mysterious Mary Ellen, an outcast among the women of the elite because of her notorious past and her involvement in voodoo, who will eventually hold the key to unlocking Lizzie's rebellious nature.

Reserved for bookray

I just didn't like this book. The characters didn't have any personality and I couldn't figure out what the plot was all about.

I will be sending it out on Monday for the bookray.

I'm looking forward to reading this on my upcoming vacation. It seems to be set in one of my all-time favorite vacation cities, San Francisco!

Wonderful! It took until 3/4 of the way through the book to find out the story behind the intriguing title, but find it out I did -- and learned a lot about American history and human nature along the way.

The only reason I didn't give it 10 stars was because I was sorely disappointed at the ending. It was very well-written, as was the entire book, but I liked (and identified with!) the character of Lizzie and wanted something different for her.

Not to write a spoiler for future ray participants but --- maybe Lizzie herself liked the job and people who would comprise her future. I sure wouldn't have!

Thanks for the chance to read this very engrossing novel.

Mailing to nyla7.

Perfect timing! I just finished what I was reading today, and found this treasure in my mailbox! I'm eager to start it.

I really wanted to like this book. The blurb was so enticing, I think it really could have been fantastic. I share pjsmom's opinion of the characters and plot... both seemed vague and didn't pull me in. But I'm glad Megi53 liked it, just goes to show how books appeal to different people! I will send it on as soon as I get the next person's address.

On it's way to Lyssrose now! (Sorry for the delay, life interfered for a few days).

Just received this in the mail - I have bookrings first, and then I'll start this one.

Looks good! :)

I'm so sorry I took so long to read this - I started taking college classes again this fall, and unfortunately, underestimated the amount of studying I needed to do before finals! I ended up reading this over the holiday break, and am about to PM the next person so that I can send it along (hopefully before next year!) ;)

As for the book, I found it to be extremely confusing - I needed to reread several pages, just to keep straight what was happening. As a result, I don't think I ever developed any kind of connection to the story; mostly, I finished it because I was on an airplane, and my other books were up in the overhead bin! *lol*

I'm glad I didn't purchase this, as I didn't really enjoy it, and I'm left thinking that I probably won't go out of my way to read anything else by this author.

Released on Thursday, December 30, 2004 at about 4:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at n/a in Bookray, Postal Release Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Dropped in the mailbox; on its way to Jenvince, who I hope enjoys it more than I did!

Received yesterday. I will get to this as soon as I can - have 2 rings ahead of it.

Humph. I'm not sure how I feel about this story. Some parts were interesting, other parts were confusing. I got lost at some points and just plain, well, confused. Oh well, can't win 'em all! :)
Will have this in the mail today to Suefitz.

Received and adding to my ever growning TBR