"Here on Earth" by Alice Hoffman was good enough to keep me turning the pages, but it fell short in some respects for me because of what I perceived as flatness in the characters. Marcheline Murray, known as March, has returned to her childhood home in Massachusetts to attend the funeral of the housekeeper who raised her, Judith Dale. March has brought her 15-year-old daughter, Gwen, along so that she can keep an eye on her and husband, Richard, has stayed home in California where they have lived for nearly 20 years. Richard is also from the same community where they met when young, but March is nervous about returning. The boy she fell hopelessly in love with as a teenager still lives here and she has never forgotten Hollis, and as she suspects, Hollis has never forgotten her.
This is the story of two lovers who are reunited 20 years after they've gone their separate ways and both have married other people. Hollis's wife is dead, but March's husband is alive and well. It is also the story of how one woman, who desparately loves a man and becomes consumed by him, begins to overlook his treatment of her and in the end, loses her self. Hollis has raised himself from a sorry child who barely spoke at all to the richest man in the town and county and who owns most of it. Those who used to mock him now step aside to allow him to pass on the sidewalk.
The story of March and Hollis is also the story of many women in society who are blinded by love and fear to believe that "he didn't mean it" and "he would never hurt me." With the exception of the daughter, Gwen, I didn't like most of the main characters. I loved Gwen's relationship with Hollis's horse, Tarot, and I think that Gwen's life was changed for the better by her experiences with this dangerous horse who loved Gwen and taught her wonderful lessons. Gwen is the character who changes the most, in my opinion.
"Here on Earth" is a dark story with a lot of symbolism and also truth in it. Just because I didn't feel it was worthy of four or five stars doesn't mean it isn't, but my reading experience left me feeling that the characters could have been more than they were in this literary novel by an author who has produced many other excellent books.
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Spoiler Alert - I rewrote the ending.
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022
Spoiler alert- Don’t read my ending until after reading the book!PTSD warning- this book has traumatic abusive situations- Both physically & mentally. I feel like it should have a warning on it. But maybe that takes away from experiencing it like March- making up excuses and being shocked of what someone is capable of.If you are looking for a sweet, comforting love story- this isn’t it. That being said, this book is enthralling. Somewhere it comes off the rails and goes dark. I understand that not all stories have happy endings. However- I think this ending is rushed and almost cruel after such a long descriptive story of love. I guess I just want to know it’s possible for love to go wrong and then be healed, grown stronger for having been through something. I want to know people in love can make healthy choices. I wanted this book to end pretty much any way but the way it did. It’s so sad, so depressing…. And life can be that way. This book was an escape I looked forward to and then struggled to finish. I guess sometimes it’s hard to have something so wonderful go horribly and have it shoved in your face, which is how I felt reading this. There’s so much regret, so much hurt. With the current ending, we need to know what happened to March especially…. & Gwen- it’s like the author just got sick of it and ended it. I know you may not like my ending. If you still want to… read the book and come back to it… or feel free to write your own. I felt so much better after I did, maybe you will too. I have never done that before, but I was so upset by this book (which says something about the tone and beautiful writing), that I felt it was the only way I could let go and heal myself from the ending.
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 28, 2013
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 22, 2022
I ran across a quote from the book "Here on Earth" by Alice Hoffman on one of my favorite blogs, Everyday Strange
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 3, 2018Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 13, 2021
Top reviews from other countries
Evelyn Norris
Another Great Alice Hoffman Read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 9, 2015JG
was rather disappointed, however it as well written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 28, 2016Bariane Louise Rowlands
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 14, 2016
