What do you think?
Rate this book
Pacific Avenue
Where do you go from the end of the line? This is the question facing Kathy Woodbridge as she steps off the bus in the port city of San Pedro, California. Nineteen years old, from Louisiana, she is running away from her past. There's a lot to run away from.
What do you do when there's no one to do for? That's what Lacey Greer wants to know, with her only child off at college. When Kathy gets a job at the office where Lacey works, she can tell that Kathy's in trouble. Lacey's husband advises her to stay out of it--but what's she supposed to do, buy a rocking chair?
Set in San Pedro, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans in the early seventies, Pacific Avenue explores themes of love, belonging, helpfulness, hope, forgiveness, reconciliation, interracial marriage, and healing from the trauma of war. At the end of the line, will Kathy find a way to return home?
/////////////////////
CHAPTER 1
I chose a window seat on the Greyhound, but I didn't look out. For almost the whole trip, I stared at the rough tan upholstery of the seat in front of me. It had a rip on one side and three dark stains.
A woman settled into the aisle seat. She raised her footrest, but it clunked back down. When I glanced her way, she caught my eye and smiled. "How do you make these things stay put?" she asked.
I meant to answer -- the words were lined up in my mind. But before I could say them, they slipped apart like beads when the string breaks. I gave up and studied the seat cover again. Still tan, still ripped, still stained. The next time I looked, the woman was gone.
Evening came, but I didn't use my reading light. Late at night, awake in the breathing dark, I imagined running my fingers over the seat back, erasing the stains, mending the seam. In the morning, I almost believed I could fix it. So, I took care not to touch it, not to find out for sure.
In the afternoon, the bus left the freeway and crept through downtown traffic. I turned then, and peered through the mud-spattered window. As far as I could see, Los Angeles was a city of warehouses. I sank back into my seat.
When we reached the station, I claimed my suitcase and dragged it through the waiting room to the street. Outside I found blank walls and empty sidewalks. No direction and no one to ask.
Well, I ran away from college, then from New Orleans, and then Baton Rouge. Is it too soon to run away from here?
The traffic light at the end of the block turned green, and cars passed me by. When a city bus stopped and opened its doors, I climbed on. I couldn't think what else to do.
I paid the fare and took a seat near the front. Even though I pulled my suitcase aside, it poked out into the aisle. More people piled on at every stop, and all of them had to squeeze past it. I expected everyone to glare, but nobody gave me a second glance.
The bus started, stopped, started again. We passed through neighborhoods with trees and shops. The crowd thinned as passengers got off, going home. Should I get off too? No, not here. Where? Next stop, no, the one after. No, not that one. Every stop would be a whole different life, a different second chance.
Choose, choose. I couldn't. I rode till the bus pulled over and parked.
"Seventh and Pacific, San Pedro, Port of Los Angeles," called the bus driver. He turned to me and added, "End of the line, Miss."
What do you do when there's no one to do for? That's what Lacey Greer wants to know, with her only child off at college. When Kathy gets a job at the office where Lacey works, she can tell that Kathy's in trouble. Lacey's husband advises her to stay out of it--but what's she supposed to do, buy a rocking chair?
Set in San Pedro, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans in the early seventies, Pacific Avenue explores themes of love, belonging, helpfulness, hope, forgiveness, reconciliation, interracial marriage, and healing from the trauma of war. At the end of the line, will Kathy find a way to return home?
/////////////////////
CHAPTER 1
I chose a window seat on the Greyhound, but I didn't look out. For almost the whole trip, I stared at the rough tan upholstery of the seat in front of me. It had a rip on one side and three dark stains.
A woman settled into the aisle seat. She raised her footrest, but it clunked back down. When I glanced her way, she caught my eye and smiled. "How do you make these things stay put?" she asked.
I meant to answer -- the words were lined up in my mind. But before I could say them, they slipped apart like beads when the string breaks. I gave up and studied the seat cover again. Still tan, still ripped, still stained. The next time I looked, the woman was gone.
Evening came, but I didn't use my reading light. Late at night, awake in the breathing dark, I imagined running my fingers over the seat back, erasing the stains, mending the seam. In the morning, I almost believed I could fix it. So, I took care not to touch it, not to find out for sure.
In the afternoon, the bus left the freeway and crept through downtown traffic. I turned then, and peered through the mud-spattered window. As far as I could see, Los Angeles was a city of warehouses. I sank back into my seat.
When we reached the station, I claimed my suitcase and dragged it through the waiting room to the street. Outside I found blank walls and empty sidewalks. No direction and no one to ask.
Well, I ran away from college, then from New Orleans, and then Baton Rouge. Is it too soon to run away from here?
The traffic light at the end of the block turned green, and cars passed me by. When a city bus stopped and opened its doors, I climbed on. I couldn't think what else to do.
I paid the fare and took a seat near the front. Even though I pulled my suitcase aside, it poked out into the aisle. More people piled on at every stop, and all of them had to squeeze past it. I expected everyone to glare, but nobody gave me a second glance.
The bus started, stopped, started again. We passed through neighborhoods with trees and shops. The crowd thinned as passengers got off, going home. Should I get off too? No, not here. Where? Next stop, no, the one after. No, not that one. Every stop would be a whole different life, a different second chance.
Choose, choose. I couldn't. I rode till the bus pulled over and parked.
"Seventh and Pacific, San Pedro, Port of Los Angeles," called the bus driver. He turned to me and added, "End of the line, Miss."
328 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
46 people are currently reading
490 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
September 7, 2013
Set in the 70s, this love story blends the most significant issues at the time: the war and racism. It illustrates both conditional and unconditional love. It shows the strength that can be drawn from community. It demonstrates the innate goodness of people. It's a very good book altogether; highly recommended.
June 2, 2010
The story starts with a young woman on a bus to Los Angeles. She is running away from her life in Louisiana. She ends up in San Pedro, CA at the end of the bus line on Pacific Avenue. Through her eyes, thoughts and flashbacks, and those of her friends, we learn why and what she is running from. This story takes place in the early 1970's when young soldiers were coming home to a country that has grown hostile to the war in Vietnam, before PTSD was a diagnosis for their nightmares and reactions to life. It also was a time when mixed race couples were not accepted, especially in the South. Kathy is struggling to find her way against these prejudices.
I am of the same generation, so I found the story compelling.
This book was a gift from the author. Thank you so much Anne!
I am of the same generation, so I found the story compelling.
This book was a gift from the author. Thank you so much Anne!
May 12, 2008
Nice Effort, Sad Story
This book took me about a month to finish . . . I simply wasn't motivated to get to the end of the story, most likely because of the structure. The plot is predictable by design, and I found it very sad--neither uplifting nor particularly moving. The writing starts out strong, with great use of mood and description, but soon lapses into the annoying habit of relying on italicized internal dialog for the main character. She is a young woman named Kathy, who escapes her sad life in Louisiana, boards a bus for the unknown, and winds up in southern California. A second character, Lacey, (Kathy's co-worker at a construction company) has an occasional chapter, where she primarily obsesses over finding out more about Kathy, but this is very much Kathy's story and Lacey is tragically short-changed.
Kathy goes back in time from her arrival on "Pacific Avenue" in SoCal, to the years just prior and her complicated, young-adult life, her bi-racial relationship with a troubled Viet Nam vet named Richard, their child, Jamie, and her racist parents--particularly her hateful mother--and her relationship/s with a group known as the "Motleys," who put on puppet shows for a living. Skimming over anything to do with the puppets and the shows, I kept looking to the pages that moved the story forward and played out the details as to why she felt the need to escape.
Ultimately, one feels great sympathy for Kathy. She's innocent and likeable; however, that internal italicized dialog kept getting in the way. On each page I wanted to tell her to SPEAK UP! Unfortunately, this writing technique ruined (for me) an otherwise compelling tale of love and loss.
This book took me about a month to finish . . . I simply wasn't motivated to get to the end of the story, most likely because of the structure. The plot is predictable by design, and I found it very sad--neither uplifting nor particularly moving. The writing starts out strong, with great use of mood and description, but soon lapses into the annoying habit of relying on italicized internal dialog for the main character. She is a young woman named Kathy, who escapes her sad life in Louisiana, boards a bus for the unknown, and winds up in southern California. A second character, Lacey, (Kathy's co-worker at a construction company) has an occasional chapter, where she primarily obsesses over finding out more about Kathy, but this is very much Kathy's story and Lacey is tragically short-changed.
Kathy goes back in time from her arrival on "Pacific Avenue" in SoCal, to the years just prior and her complicated, young-adult life, her bi-racial relationship with a troubled Viet Nam vet named Richard, their child, Jamie, and her racist parents--particularly her hateful mother--and her relationship/s with a group known as the "Motleys," who put on puppet shows for a living. Skimming over anything to do with the puppets and the shows, I kept looking to the pages that moved the story forward and played out the details as to why she felt the need to escape.
Ultimately, one feels great sympathy for Kathy. She's innocent and likeable; however, that internal italicized dialog kept getting in the way. On each page I wanted to tell her to SPEAK UP! Unfortunately, this writing technique ruined (for me) an otherwise compelling tale of love and loss.
February 13, 2011
Ugh. Naive construction of characters. Poorly written. This could have been an excellent book because the plot was potentially good. But, the author did not execute it well. The worst parts were the rambling italicized thoughts of the characters used to portray their conflicts and intentions. This may have worked in more experienced hands. But, it did not work here.
July 24, 2013
Started out well enough, but quickly became a tired and typical story of a young woman who finds herself homeless and proceeds in the most unbeliavable ways to build a life for herself with the most tired and typical "quirky" characters. I finished it and feel as though I should have been reading something else...
November 20, 2010
Pacific Avenue starts off at a good pace but slowly declines. I just want to get the book over with now. The whole puppet business and the time surrounding that, bogs the story down - way down. Though I do like some of the characters. One of my favorites is Sam.
June 17, 2010
I was looking forward to this but ended up pretty disappointed. I think this is probably a better book for a teen-aged girl or young adult than someone my age. Having lived through that era I found it a generally interesting story but the writing style was just way too simple for my taste.
January 14, 2012
It starts out fantastic but then just drags. There is so much sadness as you find out what happened in her life to bring her where she is. After all the drama the ending seemed much to hurried. It seemed that all the suffering had been for nothing.
April 8, 2013
"It starts out good but then just drags. There is so much sadness as you find out what happened in her life to bring her where she is. After all the drama the ending seemed much to hurried. It seemed that all the suffering had been for nothing."
April 18, 2012
ending was a disappointment. Richard had no redeeming qualities that made me want to like or empathize with him.
February 14, 2013
Really enjoyed this book. Another love story that draws you in and takes you on a journey.
June 18, 2019
Richard, a Vietnam vet who suffers with nightmares brought on by the war and Kathy Woodbridge, a young woman who believes that her mother hates her for some reason she doesn't understand, fall in love with each other. The problem is that he is black and she is white in a 1970's world that isn't quite ready for that. When she gets pregnant, they move to New Orleans because of what they believe to be a race-related attack on their cat/apartment. There they meet the Motleys, a group of unusual people who bond together. Richard and Kathy get involved in Vietnamese puppetry which may just save them, but when Jamie dies, Richard ends up in jail and Kathy ends up in California.
January 3, 2018
Read this on my Kindle and it was free, so thought I'd give it a try. Finished it, but was not really thrilled with the story.
May 29, 2018
Didn't live up to the potential.
Read
August 10, 2020N
July 25, 2022
Amazing story, thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Yes, some parts were hard, but that's the way of life sadly. Author handled it well!
October 20, 2016
Really enjoyed at first but went downhill fast. Could not feel any emotion from any of the characters. They just plodded along. The story line got sidetracked on something stupid which I couldn't seem to figure into the plot. Didn't finish.
October 1, 2016
Anne L Watson’s Pacific Avenue is one of those novels that would be easy to dismiss as mere romance. However, that would be unfair. Pacific Avenue is also a story about young adulthood, racial prejudice, middle-class expectations, and the psychological effects of war. Kathy is young, white, and middle-classed; the daughter of an idealistic college professor and a closet-racist of a housewife. Lacey is middle-aged, black and poor; an under-payed secretary whose own daughter has just left for college. The pair serve as narrators for the story that ensues, Kathy recounting the story of a failed interracial relationship with Richard Johnson; and Lacey providing an alternative view point on the same. One of those stories, then? Yes, to some extent. Watson’s novel falls strongly into the realm of literary fiction. In some intangible way, it reminds me of Kim Edwards’ The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. Unlike last week’s novel, this is just the sort of story I enjoy. So without further ado…
What is good about the novel? I loved Watson’s handling of the complex racial issues at hand. With depressing regularity, these sorts of stories are written as black vs white where whites are all immoral aggressors, and blacks are all moral victims. Pacific Avenue is not without its racists – from the unidentified stranger who stalks Kathy and Richard, to the young woman’s mother, who hides her viciousness behind a Stepford facade and expects her daughters to do likewise. However, the novel also discusses racism among people of colour; Richard fears that his estranged father would completely disown him if he knew that he were to marry a white girl.
Read more at ASP Reviews.
What is good about the novel? I loved Watson’s handling of the complex racial issues at hand. With depressing regularity, these sorts of stories are written as black vs white where whites are all immoral aggressors, and blacks are all moral victims. Pacific Avenue is not without its racists – from the unidentified stranger who stalks Kathy and Richard, to the young woman’s mother, who hides her viciousness behind a Stepford facade and expects her daughters to do likewise. However, the novel also discusses racism among people of colour; Richard fears that his estranged father would completely disown him if he knew that he were to marry a white girl.
Read more at ASP Reviews.
November 27, 2015
I seem to remember this was a freebie on Book Gorilla or Book Bub. It languished on my Kindle until I was on vacation and had nothing else to read. The story was well-intended, though predictable.Minimal character development. Her family seemed so unrealistic. What rankled me was the author's habit of adding details that - for me, at least - didn't add to the narrative. Mucho descriptions of what the characters are looking at, handling, eating interspersed with dialogue. Furthermore, I would have preferred a straight forward narrative to the way the author constructed this story. The side story of the puppet show was novel. However, Watson went into so much detail I felt like I understood puppetry better than I understood the character's motives. I did learn a valuable lesson: be wary of free books online.
November 14, 2013
This was a book acquired through Book Bub and was free.
I think what I liked most about the book was I could identify with the era, early 70's and what my age was then and thus put me close in age with one of the main characters. It deals with relationships between ethnicity, Vietnam and how returning veterans were treated.
It was different read than my usual as I tend to read more mystery and thrillers. I enjoyed the book but found myself wanting it to move at a faster pace.
I think what I liked most about the book was I could identify with the era, early 70's and what my age was then and thus put me close in age with one of the main characters. It deals with relationships between ethnicity, Vietnam and how returning veterans were treated.
It was different read than my usual as I tend to read more mystery and thrillers. I enjoyed the book but found myself wanting it to move at a faster pace.
April 28, 2014
A multifaceted gem
The cover of the book caught my eye first. It took until the end of the book to find out the fitting significance. Having lived thru the seventies, many of the issues were familiar to me. It was interesting to think back to what I felt or experienced regarding the Vietnam War, racism, interracial relationships, and creating families from love if not blood. This is a wonderful book.
The cover of the book caught my eye first. It took until the end of the book to find out the fitting significance. Having lived thru the seventies, many of the issues were familiar to me. It was interesting to think back to what I felt or experienced regarding the Vietnam War, racism, interracial relationships, and creating families from love if not blood. This is a wonderful book.
July 8, 2014
Initially a good concept, but the characters were wooden (and not because they were young), uni-dimensional and shallow. Too much pointless dialog in a book that is dialog-driven, and very little insight and development of a major tragedy that was pretty much glossed over by the main character's other concerns. Zero resolution at the end, and I wasn't even left wondering what would happen. Flat.
April 13, 2016
This book started out pretty well. The character development was good but they slowly just became insignificant characters after the initial background of each one was gone through. The puppet show aspect was way too much and in focus from the rest of the story therefore overshadowing the main plot. While the ending left you hoping for one outcome I still felt like I was left wondering how these lives all came back together or didn't so to speak.
March 28, 2013
I would say this is a little more of a 3 and a half star but I like to round up as I enjoyed it and it was free for me... It is a unique story. I was interested but a little bored at times. I liked the random characters in the book that somehow worked perfectly together in the story. It is a nice read. Makes you think too, how would you handle being in Kathy's situation? I would recommend this.
January 30, 2014
This story is about a teen, Kathy, and a black young man, Richard, that fall in live in early 1970`s. Faced with racism in her own family and from society they flee to a city more sympathetic with their interracial relationship. This book is very realistic and emotional. A wonderful story of love, heartbreak and second chances.
October 24, 2015
A beautifully moving read
Honestly? I could NOT put this book down. What a beautiful, tragic, bittersweet tale of innocence, love, loss, relationships, friendships, choices and maturity. I shed a few tears ... it was an amazing read. Sad to see the ending because I enjoyed it so much. A MUST read!!!
Honestly? I could NOT put this book down. What a beautiful, tragic, bittersweet tale of innocence, love, loss, relationships, friendships, choices and maturity. I shed a few tears ... it was an amazing read. Sad to see the ending because I enjoyed it so much. A MUST read!!!
July 23, 2010
There were quite a few real-life situations presented in this book but the main thing I got from this story related to the importance of getting counseling when one experiences any type of trauma in their lives.
March 27, 2013
It was kind if a history lesson on how things were and how it affected people when they were still fighting agains segregation. It's a love story and a success story all in one where the main character Kathy learns to follow her dreams no matter what.
June 30, 2013
The story of a white woman and black man in post-Viet Nam era. The characters are interesting and the book kept my interest. The reason for only 3 stars is that, for me, it is not an action-filled, plot heavy book. However, I'd recommend it.
July 5, 2013
racism/veitnam nightmares/death/ family
Took awhile to get into the book but it is one of those books that you think about after you finish it. Any book that leave an impression like that is a very good read.
Took awhile to get into the book but it is one of those books that you think about after you finish it. Any book that leave an impression like that is a very good read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews