Grand Avenue

I had the book and left it in a vacation rental before I finished it so I really wanted to read the ending.

To me this book was depressing and frustrating. Great friends? Really? A story full of cheating, abuse, lies, and a girl who gets away with murder and a “friend” of the victim who gets her off? If I wanted all that I’d just turn on the news.

Joy Fielding always writes about women's issues very well and this book is no exception. I look forward to Ms. Fielding's novels and are never disappointed. This paticular story centers around four women who are best friends and go through many difficult times together. Parts of this book are so real that as the reader, I found myself throwing the book down in disgust and then picking it up later because I couldn't get these women out of my mind, I had to find out what was going to happen next. One of Ms. Fielding's strength as a writer is her ability to create such believable, real characters. I was glad I took this book on vacation with me because I had plenty of time to devote to reading it and I wasn't the least bit disappointed.

If I could, I would have given Grand Avenue 3.5 stars. It is a page turner, and left me eager to see how the story line would all play out, though I felt it somewhat fizzled out in the end.Grand Avenue is the setting for four women, the Grand Dames, each unique in personality and appearance. Meeting in the park near their home with their young daughters, the women become fast friends and confidents. The stage is set in the first chapter, as the reader is immediately warned that two of the friends will die, one a horrible death, and that one will turn out not to be a friend at all, a betrayor.Grand Avenue was an entertaining, page-turner that left me anxious for the conclusion and kept me guessing with lots of twists and turns. Aside from the pure entertainment factor, the story also takes a look at the why's behind a person's personality, the insecurities, dreams and hopes. This novel would be a great read for a day at the beach, or to take along on a vacation.

Sad in places. Some reminded me of my own life, but Joy Fielding is a wonderful author.

This book, while older, is so great. I've read it a half-dozen times and I just love it every time I read it again.Her writing and character development are amazing. The relationships in the story are so great, and you can't stop reading because you just have to know what happens next. I chose this book for my book club and I'm glad I did - it caused a lot of conversation!

Fast shipping! Very nice condition! Will buy from again great price also! Amazon.com has better prices on their marketplace than any I've seen anywhere! I've wanted to buy this particular book for a long time, years, I really love this author, now that I've found a source I can afford, I plan to buy all of Joy Fielding's books! This was shipped through amazon.com also, a big plus in my book!

Joy Fielding is one of the few authors I always buy in hardcover, and she never disappoints. I don't agree with the reader who said they hated the foreshadowing technique she used in telling us that in the end, two of the four women would be dead, one by violent means. That clue heightened the suspense for me and kept me guessing throughout. I also thought Fielding handled the relationships between the women with a sure, honest hand. This was a great read with a completely satisfying ending. Highly recommended.

Ms. Fielding adopted her literary mom de plume from Henry Fielding, the great satirist and more significantly, writer of perfect, picaresque novels. While Grand Avenue is not quite picaresque, it pays homage to the form by presenting the reader with an ambitious number of twists, turns, plots and sub-plots. JF's ambition pays off and then some. As if by magic, she is able to keep four major narratives in the air, while tossing in at least four more that are smaller, yet equally significant. A feminist novel in the accessible-yet-profound manner of Mary McCarthy's The Group, GA addresses women's issues, often frightening (battery and rape) and heart-breaking (infidelity, the plague that is breast/ovarian cancer) while ceding the point that even within close, supportive groups, like this GOP, friction and betrayal often lies. As with every one of her books, and her oeuvre is impressively large, GA is compulsive reading. It is also her best novel, filled with crisp, funny, sharp language, utter candour and exact and exacting realism. Her deft management of the plot/s showcases her often-undervalued literary talent, and ultimately, and I am thinking of its conclusion, it is a book that will move you (unless you are cynical or dead) to tears without pandering or relying on tried and true formulae. The last scene is so beautiful, so breathtakingly clever in its management of concluding a book of this magnitude, that it is nothing short of an artistic marvel. I confess to adoring this writer so much that I read her book for people with rather serious learning disabilities, and I quite liked it. Proof I.d read anything she writes, yes, but it is her hard and unparalleled work that engendered this addiction. Stunning novel.

Das Buch stammt aus der Zeit, in der Joy Fielding eher Romane als Thriller schrieb. "Grand Avenue" verbindet meisterlich beides: die berührende Geschichte einer Freundschaft zwischen vier durchweg unterschiedlichen Frauen über mehrere Jahre hinweg. Auf der anderen Seite ist diese Geschichte verwoben mit einem entsetzlichen Verbrechen, auf das die Frauen, jede entsprechend ihres Charakters, anders reagieren und so dramatische Entwicklungen herbeiführen. Ich habe das Buch schon mehrmals gelesen (auch als Paperback) und bin immer wieder gefesselt. Es ist durchweg empfehlenswert, auch, weil es einer der letzten Romane ist, in denen Joy Fielding ihr ganzes Können zeigt.

Great

loved it, will read more from this author

Have read several of Joy Fielding's books - a very good write.