The Long Road Home

But, rather, a reprint of one of her first books. Have not read it yet as have moved it to the bottom of the pile for this reason. It may turn out to be excellent as her other books are; in the end.

Before I read Holly Kincaid's review, I was confused about this book. I love Mary Alice Monroe's books and this one was just not of the calibar that I have come to expect of her books. I had no idea that this was a reprint of her first novel. Now that I have discovered that interesting tidbit, I am relieved to know that it is still the same author but whose later books have grown into the wonderful books that I have fallen in love with.Since this is her first novel, it is not of the same calibar of her later books, but still a delightful reading. With Christmas here and the craziness of the season overshadowing everything, this book fits the bill in relaxing at night before bedtime.

This novel is about Nora MacKenzie, widow of the notorious Mike MacKenzie, a Wall Street player who committed suicide, leaving Nora bankrupt and left to clean up the mess he had left behind. This novel is also about C.W. or rather, Charles Walker Blair, another banker, who refused to loan Mike any more money and in whose office, Mike committed suicide. Both of them fled to Vermont to build new lives or rather, in C.W.'s case, to recover from the shooting.

There is intrigue in the novel that moves C.W. closer to finding out the truth about what really happened with Mike's financial situation and though he is Nora's sworn enemy, he finds himself falling in love with her. Nora flees to her sheep farm and falls in love with the farm and with C.W., even though she didn't fully trust him. Both of them have secrets and baggages that hinder their love for one another. This is a love story between two broken but proud people.

It's very predictable. It is more of a romance novel than it is a literary novel. However, since this is an earlier work of Monroe's, this is to be expected because in my experience, writers become more polished at their craft with every novel that comes after. So, if you are a fan of her works, you might enjoy this reprint. Just bear in mind that it's not of the same calibar of her later work. It is still delightful and perfect for those cold winter nights!

12/3/10

Long Road Home is yet another entirely predictable book with a predictable ending with some story details in between. It is actually a fairy tale in disguise. I think I could have felt better about this book if Nora had gone to her farm that had a ratty old farmhouse that she needed to fix up while running a farm that she has to learn about. Nope, she comes to a farm where she and her late husband had been building a multi-story mansion, only they hadn't bothered to make a decent road up to it. How did the former construction workers get themselves and their trucks including flat beds of lumber, etc. up to the building site? The author has apparently never built a house because this part of the scenario was pretty much impossible if regular cars could barely fit through the narrow road. Nora who was supposedly broke, still had money for groceries and other shopping. I wish when I was broke I had her source of funds! Of course, there was the multi-millionaire disguised as her ranch hand just waiting in the wings to scoop her up and help her solve all her problems with his money.

In this book Nora hadn't had any idea what her husband had been doing to earn, or not earn as was really the case, money but she was happy to spend it. Then she falls into the arms of someone with money. Perhaps it wouldn't seem like such a good story, but I would really like to see some rags to riches (in this case riches to rags to riches) stories where the characters actually have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, they don't have any way of making ends meet other than by hard work, and the romance consists of the two caring and working together. The proliferation of stories where the rich prince shows up to rescue the poor princess has passed its prime. Let's show women and girls that through hard work and attention to finances you can overcome adversity.

But if you want something easy to read that doesn't make you think much, this is the book.
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After Nora MacKenzie's husband Mike's suicide, and the overwhelming debts threaten to turn her world upside down, she escapes to the Vermont sheep farm--the one holding she has managed to salvage--and the promise of a new future.

A mysterious man has taken up residence at the farm as a hired hand. And "C.W." somehow manages to gain her trust over the months that follow, despite her initial resistance, as he teaches her how to run the farm and learn how to navigate this new life.

Back in New York, the attorneys that are in charge of the MacKenzie estate arrange the upcoming auction that will either bring in enough to clear her debts...or not.

Meanwhile, what effect will the secrets C. W. is keeping from Nora have on her plight, and will these doom their budding relationship? Will the trust she has placed in him be her undoing?

The long journey toward love, hope, and a new life can lead to joy or it can turn into another disappointment.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Nora and C. W., and kept turning the pages as the characters made one choice after another that could have turned out well or badly. The characters were very real and likeable, and there was that hint of mystery that kept the story from being just a romance. Themes of right vs. wrong, peace vs. chaos filled the pages and created a tale that will hold the interest of anyone who loves these kinds of issues.

Four stars. Some parts of the story, like the detailed descriptions of farming and financial maneuvering, were a little tedious, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of The Long Road Home.

I have read several books by Mary Alice Monroe, so I was happy when The Long Road Home was offered through the store Vine. Unfortunately, this isn't a new book by Monroe. Rather, it is a reprint of her first novel, originally published in 1995. The Long Road Home is not bad for a debut novel, but it is not nearly as close to what we have come to expect from Monroe.

Nora Mackenzie is separated from her rich, high-powered Wall Street Investor husband, Michael Mackenzie. Since they were not divorced, Nora becomes a widow when Michael dies tragically. When the dust clears, it is discovered that Michael was deeply in debt and Nora is forced to sell off almost everything she owns and to make major changes in her life. She decides to abandon New York City and move to a working sheep farm that she and Michael once loved. Most of the locals treat her poorly, believing that Nora is just another city girl who will bail out when things get tough. Nora is determined to succeed, however, and gets help from Charles Walker--a most unusual hired hand. But it appears that Charles has some deep secrets and is not whom he seems to be. In fact, Walker has also fled NYC to escape some ghosts there, and one of those ghosts is Michael Mackenzie. How believable is that? In fact, much of The Long Road Home is unbelievable--especially the ending.

Monroe has developed into a fine writer and while it's interesting to see where she got her star, I don't think I would have selected The Long Road Home if I had known this wasn't a recent novel.

This is a sweet story in the traditional genre of the romance novel. Young widow, Nora MacKenzie, pitted against the big bad guys. Left nearly destitute by her philandering, drunken husband, the story revolves around her carving out a new life in the wilds of New England. Of course, there is the requisite handsome, mysterious stranger, with a hidden past and ties to her husband. We, the reader, get to follow the story of Nora conquering the neighbors with kindness and the heart of the mysterious stranger.

As stated in some other reviews, this is one of Mary Alice Monroe's earlier novels and it shows. While most of the book is well-written and interesting, there are a number of errors which a good editor or a more experienced writer would have caught. For example, near the beginning of the book, Nora runs into an old maple tree which is later removed (scene with mystery man sawing it down). However, towards the end of the book, she remarks about the old bent maple on her drive as she passes it. Hunh? The time line of the story line seems jumpy and confusing, vacillating between seasons. Other scenes are not fully developed and might have been better left out. And, overall, this is a particularly sanitary romance story. Things have come a long way in the past 15 years. You could give this book to your grandmother or Aunt Tilly without embarrassment.

Overall, a nice read for a rainy afternoon.

When Michael MacKenzie barges into the office of the President of Blair Bank and blows his brains out, he leaves his wife Nora with nothing - except enough debts from his wheeling and dealing to bankrupt her. Nora negotiates to keep a small sheep farm in Vermont, while the rest of her assets go to auction; she hopes to gain enough money to pay off Mike's loans.
She quickly moves to her farm, determined to make it her home. She has never had to work for a living, so she has a lot to learn. Lucky for her, her farm manager, C.W., is astute financially as well as a good shepherd. He becomes her only ally, until her neighbors recognize her determination and pitch in with her to try to make the farm profitable.
Then she learns someone is spreading rumors that she is desperate, threatening to ruin her chances of recovering enough money from the auction.
This is a re-issue of Ms. Monroe's first fiction novel. Like her later works, it is a very comfortable read. It flows smoothly as the plot develops. Her protagonists stay in character throughout, letting the reader easily empathize with them. While the reader may suspect the outcome early in the story, there is a really well-worked-out end game to Nora's problems - and her relationship with C.W.

This is not fine literature/haute cuisine. This is a book that is like pizza: a set formula, that may vary slightly but is still a formula, with ingredients that vary in quality, not the best nutrition, but not without sustenance, and pretty much always good enough. This is a literary romance novel. You are always going to have a heroine in adversity, a hero who is somehow precluded from uniting with the heroine and at least one of them has grounds to dislike/distrust the other. They overcome these odds and live happily ever after. In the course of overcoming these odds, in the best books, we believe the characters, there are well-drawn supporting characters, the adversities and the overcoming thereof ring true and we learn something about the world around them. Here, there is a somewhat implausible plot involving a banker who, after witnessing and possibly triggering the suicide of our socialite heroine's high-flying businessman husband, goes off the radar for a year, after going off the rails and into rehab, remaking himself as a crack shepherd who educates the experienced sheep farmers of Vermont and earns their undying devotion (yeah, sure). The family-owned bank he leaves is run by characters out of Dynasty, not like any bankers I've encountered (and I did work in that world for many years), and lawyers out of Dickens. This business-educated socialite, for some reason, does not retain counsel of her own, and decides to forego a cash payment for [ta da] a sheep farm in Vermont--THE VERY SHEEP FARM the banker is working for. Yeah sure. There is an effort made to justify this coincidence, but really.

Nonetheless, Mary Alice Monroe, in a re-release of her first novel, is an excellent crafter of pizza-tales. This is not as masterful as some of her later books, but it still holds up for the most part. These are always fantasy tales, but you need enough plausibility to suspend your disbelief, and she writes so well that pretty much you do. The Vermont scenes ring a lot truer than the New York ones, but most of the book is set in Vermont, and it is a very tasty pizza, indeed.

If you enjoy long romances that flesh out its characters and is detailed in its descriptions, this is the book for you. Sometimes you just want to live with a book for a week or two and get saturated in its plot and its characters' lives. Widow Nora MacKenzie is left with very little after her husband killed himself. She's able to hold onto a farm they bought in Vermont and after the vultures descend and tear apart her financial future she heads to the sheep farm to recover only to be met with more hardships. C.W. Walker fled New York City after a devastating turn of events. All he wants is peace. Is it a coincidence that he knew Nora's husband and he ended up as a farmhand on her sheep farm? Nora and C.W. are two people desperate for a new start in life. Both have been wounded. Both are reluctant to trust anyone ever again. This is a warm romance that will have you rooting for its characters' happily ever after.

the long road home by mary alice monroe: an author who writes very well about all kinds of problems and how the characters in her books solve them.
I love this author. this book is about a woman who relocates to vermont to the sheep farm after her husband has used all his money and others and
commits suicide leaving her with nothing. the workers at the farm really are her family now and pitch in at any time to help out. she finds out that one
is not who she thought he was and he goes out of his way to change the things that happened in the past to clear her husbands name an the debts.
really great nature scenes that as a northeastern i treasure.

I really did not expect to like this story - which is why it took me so long to review. I began and stopped this book more often than I can count but I finally got into the novel and I was sad when it was over.

My main complaints with this story is that there are quite a few holes that never quite get filled in but my biggest beef with the story is that the ending just seems kind of rushed. You have this long meandering tale and then BAM! It's all wrapped up. Despite this I really enjoyed this book and look forward to recommending it to friends to read.

A book about greed, hate, suicide on one hand and on the other about friendship, trust, compassion, confidence and love.
What more can you ask for?
This book is about a woman and a man, whose lives are intertwined by all of these things. And, about the people around them who help them on the way to finding themselves and each other.
When I started the book I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but as I continued reading each chapter draws you in and I found I had to keeping reading to find out if good wins out over evil. I recommend this one.

This is my favorite Mary Alice Monroe book! There is suspense, happiness, sorrow and love. I always learn about something in her books. The characters are written well and the tensions and resolutions in relationships keep you reading even well into the night.

I generally get just so far in love stories before abandoning them but this one caught me unaware
. I even overlooked the corny " ...and everyone lived happily ever after..." resolution to consider reading another by this author. Well done.

Not as good as her later books. It seemed rather disjointed in places and I had a hard time following the story line at first. The moderately graphic sexual episodes seemed out of place and totally unnecessary.

So predictable - a chick book. I was saddled with this LONG boring book on tape for an 8 hr drive. Spent much of the time skipping over the frequent "steamy" love scenes between Nora and CW. Not my kind of writing but had nothing else to listen to. If I had something better I would have tossed it in the trash can.

Mary Alice Monroe is one of my favorite authors. This was a departure from her previous books that were based in the Low Country of SC but it was every bit as good. Her characters were so real and the plot was excellent. Hope she keeps them coming!

Not as good as her later books. It seemed rather disjointed in places and I had a hard time following the story line at first. The moderately graphic sexual episodes seemed out of place and totally unnecessary.

So predictable - a chick book. I was saddled with this LONG boring book on tape for an 8 hr drive. Spent much of the time skipping over the frequent "steamy" love scenes between Nora and CW. Not my kind of writing but had nothing else to listen to. If I had something better I would have tossed it in the trash can.

Mary Alice Monroe is one of my favorite authors. This was a departure from her previous books that were based in the Low Country of SC but it was every bit as good. Her characters were so real and the plot was excellent. Hope she keeps them coming!

I usually avoid romance novels like the plague so I'm not sure how this one slipped through. That said, it's not as bad as some I've read but it is totally predictable and follows the general course those romance novels travel. It is well-written and I finished it. If you like romance, you will like this.

Certainly a country romance, but with surprising sophisticated twists that kept me turning pages. I love MAM's character development and authentic New England flavor. She paints each scene with just the right colors and essential details to make the reader feel as if she's on location herself. Enjoy.

I always look forward to her new releases as they bring me back to the low country with a great story and history intertwined. This story was disappointing in that regard but a good read non the less.

I usually avoid romance novels like the plague so I'm not sure how this one slipped through. That said, it's not as bad as some I've read but it is totally predictable and follows the general course those romance novels travel. It is well-written and I finished it. If you like romance, you will like this.

Gripping story of tragedy , wealth and power. Well spun story with well thought out dialog that made the story believible and interesting. The story had a damsel in distress as well as a hero to the rescue. Doesn't get much better than this. Get a nice glass of wine, sit by the fire or on tge beach in the sun. Geab this book and enjoy!