The Guest Book: A Novel Hardcover – Deckle Edge, May 7, 2019

I have such mixed feelings about this book so I think I'm going to need to break it down in pieces to sort through my emotions.1. The Writing. A freaking plus! 5 stars! Sarah Blake is an extraordinary talent when it comes to her writing style. Her work kind of reminds me of the great classics in that it's so elegantly executed with sweeping, graceful prose. She truly captured the scenery and the essence of the island and made me feel like I was right there in the book with all of the characters.2. The Content. 3 to 4 stars. The overall message of race and equality was executed well for the most part and this is the portion I would give 4 stars. I understood the point she was trying to make and the content she was trying to drive home. But while the message was there, there were times it got a tad lost in all of the minutiae along the way. Now for the 3 star piece of the content.... the relationships and timeline. The book covers several generations of characters and stories (which is superb) but there were times where I needed to mentally reset and remember which timeline I was in with which characters. And the relationships of the characters to each other sometimes became a tad muddled and confusing. Frankly, I needed a family tree to reference at times to keep myself straight.3. The Length. 2 stars. Listen... I'm all for long novels. When the length is warranted. This book probably could have benefited from editing down 50 - 100 pages of content. While Blake's writing is beautiful, there were portions of the book where descriptions of characters or scenery or feelings were so long and drawn out it felt bogged down.4. The Characters. 5 stars. While there were a lot of them, the characters were very well developed. In fact, some of the secondary characters were so good that they felt like primary characters and their stories really shone through. I could tell Blake put a lot of thought into developing distinct personalities and traits of each character.Overall, this is not a quick and easy book to read. It takes a lot of focus, attention, and patience. It is definitely not a book that you can put down and pick up repeatedly. I found myself needing to dedicate large chunks of time to read it so that my brain could focus and absorb the information presented. It is extremely dense but it has an important message.I don't think this book will be for everybody and judging by the reviews so far on Goodreads you're probably in one of two camps: those who appreciate Blake's writing and message and those who couldn't finish the first 100 pages. But if you can see it for more than just entertainment and as an exercise in thoughtful reflection, you will likely find it rather superb.-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Blake, and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to review.-

This is a sweeping multi-generational saga with the Milton Family at the center. Upper crust WASPs that own an investment firm. In 1936, Ogden & Kitty Milton purchase Crocketts Island. An idyllic and lovely island off the coast of Maine where they spend summers. There are several tragedies in this tale. Well written. However, the tone of this novel is extraordinarily preachy. I don't read fiction to be lectured. This author seems to have fallen into that trap.

Too wordy for me. When I read the part about going to the island and it took 3 pages to describe the trip, I knew this book would take a lot of patience to read. Then when I saw that the story switched back and forth with no indication as to time or place, my interest started to slide away, much like the plot, which was hard to follow. I am not going to finish it and wish I had never bought it in the first place. My bad choice.

After reading the Guest Book with Sara Blake's beautiful style of prose, I finally understand the difference between general fiction and literary fiction. The Guest Book will be one of the most significant novels of 2019. I will definitely need to read it again. The Milton's story, unfolding from the1930s to the present day is one powerful family saga. The novel is a testament to WASP culture in the U.S. wrought with racism and antisemitism. Secrets abound throughout the novel. Ogden and Kitty Milton, descendants of “Old Money," buy their own island in the 1930s to escape the real world. For many years, the island becomes their family's personal utopia. In 1959, an incident will occur that will change the family forever.The characters of the novel are so credible and have been brought to life through Ms Blake’s meticulous character development. I found the matriarch of the family, Kitty Milton to be a very complex character. Kitty cannot get past her privileged background. The decisions she makes, time and time again will haunt her forever.In the present era, the family wealth has diminished greatly. The heirs have to make a decision about what to do with the island. Kitty’s granddaughters, Evie and Min go to the island to tidy up loose ends and in the process uncover disturbing secrets about their family's history.

I gave it one star because that’s all it deserved.I was being generous. I read it to the end because I paid for it.It was a scramble of happenings with no separation of time.It just ran on and on. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.

This book was a book club selection however, I found it difficult to read for many reasons. First, I am a faithful Kindle reader; I tried reading a hardcover book and it was really hard to make time to sit down and read. Since I take my Kindle to bed each night and read, I downloaded the book. I got it read if 4 days max. My first impression was these characters were very prejudiced. I resented that there were negatives against ethnic and religious background. I found the characters hard to follow because it seemed to jump around and I had trouble keeping it straight. The book actually became enjoyable to me when Joan entered the picture and met Mr. Levy. There was a lot of sadness in this book perhaps the author wanted life to be real but this was a novel and I wanted to escape; I found the title misleading, again, at least to me. I gave the book 4 stars because I am sure she is a wonderful writer. I am just not her audience of choice.

I did not enjoy this book. What might have been a good entertaining story was muddled by her characters’ internal philosophical/psychological meanderings, none of which made much sense and which interrupts the plot constantly. I found myself skimming over too many sections and disliking otherwise likeable characters because they seemed so full of themselves. Maybe the author meant to portray them this way?

The problem with ambitious, multi-generational books is that they magnify a writers faults. If an author can’t write believable dialogue (and this is my major gripe with this book) it really shows when scenes are set in the 1930s, 1950s and modern day with a cast of characters.There are some memorable moments here but it’s all a bit obvious and creaking when it comes to the central plot device - especially when that plot (discovered involvement with nazis) is far from original.It’s an easy read but basically bites off too much to chew. And when it comes to books about decline of great families, this really ain’t no Buddenbrooks.

The book of the year for me! A beautifully written novel with echoes of Edith Wharton which examines the influence of the past on the present, the gap between family myth and reality and how hard it is to know the people of the past with just individual memories to go on.If I've made this sound like just-another-historical-novel then that is my mistake and don't let it put you off. This is special.

Great story, ultimately, if you can navigate the generations (many with similar names, Evelyn, Evie, et al) intertwined too tightly. But the thrust of the story set against monied wealth derived from dubious wartime associations; the stultifying conventions of traditional family values; alongside the female characters' fight for emancipation and recognition, is powerful and subtle. The great twists and turns of this novel, take the reader up to the 1960s and beyond, when racial tensions and the fight back of the black community gets hard and real. I loved most of the characters, flawed and emotionally damaged, yet seeking understanding of the other and hope for the future. The family owned island on which much of the action takes place, beautiful as it may be, should in my opinion, sink into the sea....well worth a read.

I enjoyed The Guest Book immensely - well-written and totally absorbing, the characters are rounded and believable. It reflects the changes in our society over the decades. A memorable novel.

I've no idea why this book is considered to be a "best seller" - a very over-rated phrase - because it was muddled, con fused and obscure. I got so fed up with it that I finally gave up. I wasn't remotely interested in the characters or what happened to them. There was nothing else to persuade me to continue reading it.