One True Thing: A Novel

The story is dated, even for 1994. The characters are stereotypes; the cold English professor, self-centered daughter, egotistical law student boyfriend. Cancer treatment had progressed beyond the author's knowledge, particularly pain management . (I have personal experience.) Suicide is one of the first things considered. The author missed the opportunity to develop the mother's dilemma-helping your family who she protected for so many years through her death. In an interview the author admitted she doesn't research medical or legal issues. For one who has a beautiful command of the English language, the book read like it was written by a teenager.

This is one of my new favorite books. After seeing the movie (starring Meryl Streep) I was intrigued to get more "invovled" with her character. The book did not disappoint in the least. Great read.

I chose this rating because of the complex characters and the subject as well as vivid description of the time and place. The entire book transported me so completely that I felt that I was there, sharing the experience. Lots of food for thought remains after sadly leaving my new friends and returning to my world.

It's hard to speak the language of our children. This novel brings into focus the difficullties of children and parents in their relaltinship. We need to step back to evaluate the important things and readjust our lives if we need to do so.

The movie version was definitely better in terms of describing who Ellie was and the relationships she had. This was almost a bore to read. Perhaps I should have read this first then see the movie! I just liked the screenplay better than the actual novel.

Beware, gentle reader! Do not buy this book! If someone gives you a copy, do not open it. For if you do, the tendrils of human passion in Anna Quidlen's poignant narrative will reach up to you from its pages, seize you by the throat, and not let go until long after you have gasped through to the last page. You have been warned!

I vacillated between the love-it star and the like-it star. I was engrossed from the very beginning and cried in the middle so that tells me the characters and the story drew me in. However, the ending -- which began about 3/4 through the book -- had me skimming paragraphs for meat. It wasn't necessary to throw in the drunken encounter in a bar -- that didn't provide anything in regard to the story overall. Plus, I do think the ending was drawn out too much. However, I was surprised at the outcome -- another good thing; I like twists. One other thing, I was a nurse and am now a hospice volunteer. I have never known -- although I suppose it's not without merit -- of a terminal patient, one on hospice, who was autopsied after death. It's simply not a common occurrence. That made the story fall apart for me. Yet, the development of the 3 main characters was great. I could relate to the daughter because I too was much closer to my dad than my mom, I came to understand and have sympathy and empathy for the mother, and I disliked the father although I too had a little emotional warming when he would carry his wife and when he fed her. So with regard to most of the book, I loved it and will continue to read Anna Quindlen.

Beware, gentle reader! Do not buy this book! If someone gives you a copy, do not open it. For if you do, the tendrils of human passion in Anna Quidlen's poignant narrative will reach up to you from its pages, seize you by the throat, and not let go until long after you have gasped through to the last page. You have been warned!

I vacillated between the love-it star and the like-it star. I was engrossed from the very beginning and cried in the middle so that tells me the characters and the story drew me in. However, the ending -- which began about 3/4 through the book -- had me skimming paragraphs for meat. It wasn't necessary to throw in the drunken encounter in a bar -- that didn't provide anything in regard to the story overall. Plus, I do think the ending was drawn out too much. However, I was surprised at the outcome -- another good thing; I like twists. One other thing, I was a nurse and am now a hospice volunteer. I have never known -- although I suppose it's not without merit -- of a terminal patient, one on hospice, who was autopsied after death. It's simply not a common occurrence. That made the story fall apart for me. Yet, the development of the 3 main characters was great. I could relate to the daughter because I too was much closer to my dad than my mom, I came to understand and have sympathy and empathy for the mother, and I disliked the father although I too had a little emotional warming when he would carry his wife and when he fed her. So with regard to most of the book, I loved it and will continue to read Anna Quindlen.

This book focuses on family relationships as well as the relationships of men and women. The book begins with Ellen sitting in jail accused of killing her mother Kate with an overdose of morphine. The book then goes back to the time that Ellen learned that her mother had a fatal cancer. Her father laid a guilt trip on Ellen to get her to leave her job in New York City to take care of Kate. I could empathize with Kate and Ellen during their many struggles and occasionally I felt sorry for Ellen's father and brothers. At times it was a tear jerker. In addition to the family dynamics, Quindlen shows how Ellen changes over time. Then there is the question of who did kill Ellen. Was it a mercy killing or a desire to get rid of her?

I found the book to be a page turner and hated having to put it down.

I like Anna Quindlen's writing, but the plots are just too mundane for me. There were some words of wisdom worth copying and quoting, but as a whole I'd rather read someone with a little more humorous take on life.

I really enjoy Anna Quindlen's writing. This novel was sad and a little difficult to read because of content but she writes so purely and honestly that she enriches your understanding of difficult but honest human events.

A real page-turner!
Quindlen gives her readers a chapter by chapter reason to keep reading. She brings home
the family conflict and personal challenges of caring for an ailing parent. Role reversals
are common in this day and age - whether we like to admit it or not.
Well written and impossible to put it down!
KK

This book had me riveted! What a compelling story!

Actually, it reads almost like two books in one.

Part One of our story opens on a driven, head-strong protagonist. Ellen is the daughter, in her mid-20's, of a small town college professor father who is driven and head-strong (and a bit cold and distant) in his own right, and a stay-at-home suburban Mom who is the quintessential housewife/mother/nurturer. It is obvious early on that while the two sons of the marriage "belong to" their Mom, Ellen is her father's daughter all the way. She has spent a lifetime emulating him and seeking his approval. In fact, so driven is she to be a success in her father’s eyes during her younger years that someone once said of her that if her success depended on it, she would "walk over her mother in golf shoes." It is also noteworthy that Ellen was not only valedictorian of her local high school graduating class, but when she was 17 she won an essay contest on the subject of euthanasia, in which she took a decidedly "pro" stance in circumstances where the quality of life of the patient is so sorely compromised as to make that life not worth living. (This detail will not bode well for Ellen later on.)

In this story - where the plot never lags - we hear at the very beginning that Mom Kate is in the hospital undergoing some "tests." Before long it is divulged that she is suffering from ovarian cancer that has spread to the liver, and the prognosis is not good. Ellen's father, for motives that are a bit murky (it could be his genuine concern for his wife, or his own inability – or unwillingness - to deal with her condition, or something quite else), lays what is tantamount to a guilt trip on Ellen, and through psychological maneuvering essentially shames her into giving up her high-powered New York City journalism job to come back home and care for her mother during her last days. When Ellen balks, her father accuses her of having no heart, and Ellen relents. Certainly, it's not that she doesn't "love" her Mother, but as aforesaid, her life up until that point has been all about her father, her mother basically playing second fiddle.

The story largely describes poor Kate's descent into mortal illness. We are taken from her hair loss during chemotherapy, through her physical debilitation and reliance on a wheelchair, all the way to the final degradation of wearing diapers and being spoon-fed. The descriptions are painstaking….and painful to read. All during this time, however, mother and daughter are bonding. Before things go too far downhill, they start a book club, and a cook club, just the two of them, and - more significantly - for the first time in Ellen's life, mother and daughter are communicating. When Kate ultimately passes away, Ellen discovers that her mother was the “one true thing” in her life. [Note: for someone who lost her own mother in her early 30’s this part of the narrative had me shedding tears onto the pages I was reading.]

Shortly thereafter, the autopsy report points to a suspicion of foul play, and inasmuch as Ellen is for the most part Kate’s sole caretaker, giving her morphine pills as needed, the authorities come after her and prosecute her criminally. Part Two of the story reads almost like a different book. Just as Ellen’s mother’s death cleaves her life in two, so too does it cleave the book in two, and the plot goes down a completely different path.

A misunderstanding between father and daughter that is quite central to the latter half of the story causes tensions to mount between them, and - not to give anything away - a lost letter plays a pivotal role in the outcome of the relationship between the two.

Regardless of the change in direction, both "parts" of the story are equally gripping: We have the story of Kate's illness and her growing bond with Ellen; and then we have the story of Ellen’s life after her mother’s death, not only how she deals with an impending prison sentence, but also how she morphs in her attitudes towards both parents and the changing dynamics within the remaining family.

In conclusion, although I am fantasizing about a film being made from this novel, and can even imagine the plot being handled deftly, I can’t imagine any actors doing justice to the delicate interplay between the characters in this book. Although the topic is quite depressing, reading this book was such a rewarding experience; it is a shining example of why we read and love novels. You can’t not be drawn in by the plot, which makes this SUCH a page-turner, but more significantly by the nuances of the family relationships described. I can only imagine what life experience author Anna Quindlen drew upon to write so tellingly about family dynamics and to be such an astute observer.

Unearthing this almost 25-year old book was like discovering buried treasure. Overall, a truly excellent read.

Another true thing is that this is a most interesting and thought provoking book. I found a bunch of Anna Quindlen books in a box in the garage and just happened to pick this one out of the box. If you can judge a book from the number of positive reviews this seems to be the favorite of her many books.

Ellen Gulden is a brilliant 24 year old who reminds us many times in the first part of the book that she graduated from Harvard. She had discounted her mothers importance in her life as she sought attention from her distant father. When her father tells her that he needs Ellen to come home and care for her dying mother Ellen is bitter and angry that she has to give up her life to take care of a mother she doesn't know.

This is a smart and beautiful story of Ellen discovering and loving who her mother is and letting go of who Ellen was. It is also the story of the near disintegration of a family and learning who your friends really are. And, near the end, there are some surprises.

I liked this book so much I will be rescuing the rest of the Anna Quindlen books from that box in the garage.

Even though from the prologue you know a major development that occurs late in this story, knowing it is what keeps the story from perhaps being maudlin, as the title is somewhat. I wish i could select both Suspenseful and Thoguhtful and Dark and Hopeful.
As I read I remembered the movie from so long ago, and now that i've finished reading I doubt I will re-watch the movie, though it's tempting, because I'm confident that Meryl Streep playing the mother, great an actor as she is, was miscast. Even then, Streep was too famous, too well-known, too strong a persona to represent the reticent, even mousy housekeeping mother of this book. I always think of Streep as having a nervous twitch in most of her part, this character was solid housewife and mother, boring as that may sound to some. . The twists in this book, which is a compelling read, are the discoveries of character throughout the process of Ellen, the main character and voice tending, her mother as she is dying. I can't imagine going through this at such a young age and with similar feelings as Ellens. I was with my mother only in the last 2 weeks at her hospice bedside when i'd just turned 60, and by then one would think it is a different story, but this novel does an excellent job of portraying the depth of a mother daughter relationship, no matter what it was like prior to the mother becoming terminal. It was gritty and not maudlin for a moment, real true feelings, strong contrasts of lifestyle, though not relationship style which may be predictible because it so often is. What one thinks one knows and what one finds out about oneself and one's mother in the dying process is well documented here. My own mother was nothing like Ellen's mother Kate, yet the universality of the relationship came through and the ending twists are strong and hopeful, as it also plucked some strings of regrets, but also self acknowledgments of compassions I did develop. Its a very self-refelctive book for anyone who has or ever had a mother.

This is a beautiful though depressing story about how family dynamics play out when one of the family members becomes terminally ill. Ellen, a successful young writer, is coerced into quitting her job so she can come home and care for her dying mother at the insistence of her father who says she has no heart. Ellen becomes homemaker and caregiver to her mother, and in the process takes an introspective look at long-held opinions she has about her parents, and herself. Ultimately, she is accused of killing her mother. The characters live through the range of human emotion: sadness...frustration...heartbreak...love...and ultimately growth. The book had a surprising twist that I didn't expect. Anna Quindlen is a talented writer, and this novel did not disappoint.

This book was so therapeutic to me after losing my father to cancer 8 years ago. It brought back so many memories, but it really hit the nail on the head when it talks about the"dying with dignity" issue. My father was so well known in the community, and such a pillar of strength to us family members, that none of us really knew how to deal with the fact that we now had to be the pillars of strength for him. It is hard to see how debilitating cancer can be on a loved one, but nobody portrays this any better then Anna Quindlen did in this book. Try to imagine no longer having hair to comb, or having to be pushed around in a wheelchair, or what it must feel like to have to wear diapers....Those are issues that both sick people, and elderly people have to deal with. There is so much we take for granted when we are in good health. This book focuses on dealing with both the physical and mental issues involved with debilitating health, as well as the effect it has on the other family members. ]
This story centers around a couple in their late 40s stuggling to cope with the wife being diagnosed with cancer. Their children are already grown and out of the house when the oldest child, Ellen, has to give up her successful career to come home and care for her mother - mostly to appease her father. At first the daughter is very angry and focuses on what she had to give up, but along the way she realizes the many sacrifices that her mother gave just to be a good mother, a good wife, and a good citizen. During the duration of the book the mother and daughter bond like they never have before, and it makes you realize how important family really is. This is another "have a box of tissues near by" book, especially for those of you who lost a parent to cancer. This book is a MUST READ - and you will be glad you did.

When I started reading One True Thing, it took me a while to realize I had already seen the movie with Meryl Streep, but as is the case most of the time, the book is undoubtedly better. The book explores complicated family dynamics that are revealed to the reader as Kathy Gulden, the mother who uses her acute intelligence, warmth, creativity and nurturing and loving spirit to devote herself to her children and to her husband, is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Ellen Gulden, is the first child and she is her father's "golden girl." Her father is a professor of English at the local Langhorne College. Ellen and her father share a love of the written word and they have always engaged in esoteric debates and discussions about literature. In short, Ellen idolizes her "brilliant" and charming father, whom everyone else seems to adore, and she looks at her mother's homemade Christmas decorations, expertly made casseroles and well-managed home with a sort of disdain. Ellen's two younger brothers are unable to bond with the father as she does, and the feeling one gets is that the brothers don't seem to "pass muster" in the father's eyes.

This is a story of personal transformation and the destruction of illusions within a family. Ellen is guilted into caring for her dying mother, and she does it at first to garner her father's approval. As the novel unfolds, Ellen begins to see the reality of who her mother truly is. She discovers her mother is not just some cardboard figure who has wasted her life baking brownies for her family. ELlen learns life is so much more complicated than that. SHe learns things about her father that she never could have imagined. Ellen is given the opportunity as caretaker to exhibit her softer, gentler side, so different from the description of her as someone who would walk over her mother in golf spikes to succeed. We tend to oversimplify and cast family members in some preconceived and rigid mold, and often we are blind to the truth of who they really are. Quindlen explores this beautifully.

THe book is well written, but at no point was I bowled over by the the beauty of the prose. I think I am spoiled after reading a book like The Kite Runner, but Quindlen tells an excellent story here and it is one worth telling. I am glad Ellen had the opportunity to learn about what a much more complicated and multifaceted person her mother was before it was too late.