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Sarah Conley Reading Group Companion
No one writes more accurately, or more amusingly, than Ellen Gilchrist about the quandaries that arise when we realize our hearts' desires. In her wonderful new novel, Gilchrist brings to life a spirited heroine who finally gets what she wants -- which turns out to be a lot more than she ever bargained for.Long ago in Kentucky, Sarah Conley fell in love with a young man but wound up marrying his brother -- a tangled melodrama of missteps and mistaken intentions that led to bad feelings and burned bridges. Sarah divorced and decamped to New York, became a celebrated novelist and magazine editor, and never looked back -- until she got a call from the woman who used to be her best friend.
Now Sarah faces the most difficult choice of her life. The man she loved, the man who broke her heart and married someone else, is suddenly free again. The old chemistry, the old magic, is still there. But as she embarks to Paris to work on a screenplay, Sarah realizes that "happily ever after" only happens in fairy tales -- and that her miraculous second chance is fraught with daunting complications.
Introducing her first new set of characters in a decade, Gilchrist has crafted an unforgettable novel that is as witty and intriguing as it is warm and wise.
Now Sarah faces the most difficult choice of her life. The man she loved, the man who broke her heart and married someone else, is suddenly free again. The old chemistry, the old magic, is still there. But as she embarks to Paris to work on a screenplay, Sarah realizes that "happily ever after" only happens in fairy tales -- and that her miraculous second chance is fraught with daunting complications.
Introducing her first new set of characters in a decade, Gilchrist has crafted an unforgettable novel that is as witty and intriguing as it is warm and wise.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Ellen Gilchrist
70 books261 followers A writer of poems, short stories, novels, and nonfiction commentaries, Ellen Gilchrist is a diverse writer whom critics have praised repeatedly for her subtle perceptions, unique characters, and sure command of the writer’s voice, as well as her innovative plotlines set in her native Mississippi.
As Sabine Durrant commented in the London Times, her writing “swings between the familiar and the shocking, the everyday and the traumatic.... She writes about ordinary happenings in out of the way places, of meetings between recognizable characters from her other fiction and strangers, above all of domestic routine disrupted by violence.” The world of her fiction is awry; the surprise ending, although characteristic of her works, can still shock the reader. “It is disorienting stuff,” noted Durrant, “but controlled always by Gilchrist’s wry tone and gentle insight.”
She earned her B.A. from Millsaps College in 1967, and later did postgraduate study at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
She has worked as an author and journalist, as a contributing editor for the Vieux Carre Courier from 1976-1979, and as a commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition from 1984-1985. Her NPR commentaries have been published in her book Falling Through Space.
She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.
As Sabine Durrant commented in the London Times, her writing “swings between the familiar and the shocking, the everyday and the traumatic.... She writes about ordinary happenings in out of the way places, of meetings between recognizable characters from her other fiction and strangers, above all of domestic routine disrupted by violence.” The world of her fiction is awry; the surprise ending, although characteristic of her works, can still shock the reader. “It is disorienting stuff,” noted Durrant, “but controlled always by Gilchrist’s wry tone and gentle insight.”
She earned her B.A. from Millsaps College in 1967, and later did postgraduate study at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
She has worked as an author and journalist, as a contributing editor for the Vieux Carre Courier from 1976-1979, and as a commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition from 1984-1985. Her NPR commentaries have been published in her book Falling Through Space.
She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
July 21, 2015
I bought this at a used bookstore for three dollars, happy to discover an old Ellen Gilchrist novel I had never read before. It turned out this was so much like so many Ellen Gilchrist short stories, and Sarah Conley was Rhoda and Nora and so many other Gilchrist heroines turned into one, and Sarah Conley gets to go to Paris and eat incredible food and wear incredible clothes and fly on the Concorde as if was nothing (yes this book is dated) and she is the editor at Time and has an agent who makes her lots of money and she gets made perfect love to on more than one occasion, and I didn't believe it all but I liked it, as far as fantasy lives goes. Fun to read. But really, what I liked how selfish Sarah Conley was, completely unflinchingly selfish. And how that was a good thing.
Here is a passage that stood out for me. "I have worked all my life to fix it so I could be with healthy people, Sarah told herself. With people who work, people are successful at what they do. And I will stay with them. I will not enter into the unhealthy madness of anyone, not even my own family."
Here is a passage that stood out for me. "I have worked all my life to fix it so I could be with healthy people, Sarah told herself. With people who work, people are successful at what they do. And I will stay with them. I will not enter into the unhealthy madness of anyone, not even my own family."
March 17, 2018
That was a fantastic novel. It's definitely one of my favorites by Gilchrist--I appreciate Sarah Conley being a driven, rather narcissistic, but basically honest and good person--and ending up okay. Gilchrist writes about nostalgia and grief and regret honestly.
April 14, 2012
About a third of the way into this book, I remembered that I'd read it 10 years ago. So I knew some of the key plot points. I've always loved Gilchrist's spunky female characters and sprawling plots. However, this book seemed way too long for the action contained within it. Also, I was struck by how unpolished Gilchrist's writing is--simple sentence structure, everyday words, terse dialogue. It seems that if a writer isn't using words to really describe anything, then her style ought to be tweaked. For instance, at one point a character gets drunk and embarrasses herself, causing her relatives to worry about her mental health. Gilchrist does not describe the drunkenness, only says that the character got drunk. Since there are, of course, many ways of being inebriated and making a fool of one's self, I had a hard time picturing what had happened in this scene.
May 10, 2022
My three stars range from 2 - 3. Interestingly, like a couple other reviewers, I had this on my book shelf for a couple years, having picked it up at a library book sale and thinking--I know this author's name so perhaps it will be good. Since I haven't read it, I was ready to re-donate it but thought I'd give it a read since it's almost summer and we know "summer reads" don't have to be earth-shattering.
Not sure it was worth it. There are some things I'll remember and think about, but overall, it felt voyeuristic; I felt myself reading just to see how someone with troubled family relationships could find happiness and enjoy themselves in Paris while making hundreds of thousands of dollars, having lovely drives into the French countryside, and eating wonderful food. There were odd name droppings of products (which make some sense, but still seem a bit heavy-handed), and a scene right out of 70s medical drama TV shows where the handsome doctor saves the life of a car accident victim by performing an emergency tracheotomy by using a Swiss army knife and a Bic pen (amazing how ubiquitous Bic pens must have been at one time) while his love stood by in awe of his mastery.
I also had misgivings about the way in which the writer sets up the dichotomy between the ambitious intelligent and rich main character and the boy she was charmed by as a child whom she returns to see for about 10 seconds. Apparently, because he lives in Tennessee and does farm and/or blue collar labor, he has some missing teeth but is somewhat envied by his richer neighbors for the family that literally hangs on him. . . . Really?
I'm not sure ultimately how I feel about the any of the characters and perhaps that's Gilchrist's strength. We are complicated; we don't (except the neighbor in Tennessee) have a single way of being or a single goal in life and that is challenging and worth examining. Sometimes our best selves are in conflict. Yet ultimately, because this isn't seen as universal but a lonely complication of rich, intelligent, driven, handsome/pretty people, it comes off as less insightful and more egotistic and, ultimately, not very satisfying.
Not sure it was worth it. There are some things I'll remember and think about, but overall, it felt voyeuristic; I felt myself reading just to see how someone with troubled family relationships could find happiness and enjoy themselves in Paris while making hundreds of thousands of dollars, having lovely drives into the French countryside, and eating wonderful food. There were odd name droppings of products (which make some sense, but still seem a bit heavy-handed), and a scene right out of 70s medical drama TV shows where the handsome doctor saves the life of a car accident victim by performing an emergency tracheotomy by using a Swiss army knife and a Bic pen (amazing how ubiquitous Bic pens must have been at one time) while his love stood by in awe of his mastery.
I also had misgivings about the way in which the writer sets up the dichotomy between the ambitious intelligent and rich main character and the boy she was charmed by as a child whom she returns to see for about 10 seconds. Apparently, because he lives in Tennessee and does farm and/or blue collar labor, he has some missing teeth but is somewhat envied by his richer neighbors for the family that literally hangs on him. . . . Really?
I'm not sure ultimately how I feel about the any of the characters and perhaps that's Gilchrist's strength. We are complicated; we don't (except the neighbor in Tennessee) have a single way of being or a single goal in life and that is challenging and worth examining. Sometimes our best selves are in conflict. Yet ultimately, because this isn't seen as universal but a lonely complication of rich, intelligent, driven, handsome/pretty people, it comes off as less insightful and more egotistic and, ultimately, not very satisfying.
November 16, 2024
What in the Young and the Restless did I just read?! What a tremendously surprising and ridiculous thing. I vacillated between eye rolls, chuckles and guffaws, the occasional ironic pearl-clutching, and wanting to jot down a few lines of dialogue. Books don’t often catch me off guard (things we say now, sigh), but this one certainly did and I look forward to another romp with this author…also did ‘business ladies’ really wear this many silk pant suits in 1996? 😊
March 21, 2021
This is not the best Ellen Gilchrist I've read, but even when she is not at her best she is still awfully dammed good. Most of her works seem to center on the American South, and while Nashville plays an important role as setting for some of the action here, there is as much if not more action centered in New York and Paris, and that was a fun change of pace. I liked the fact that the story opens with Sarah's humble origins, otherwise it would have been more difficult for me to care about the couplings and failings of the upper crust. I also appreciated the fact that most of the story focuses on the dilemmas and musings of a mature and accomplished woman, though I wish that there had been more reminders of and flashbacks to her Kentucky years, as it did get a little hard to endure the carpe diem enjoinders of someone you have just been told is making $15,000 a month and living in Paris to boot. I don't share the complaints some other reviewers have of Gilchrist's style as a writer. I find her direct and fluid, not especially enamored of symbolism and gesture. This is a good and interesting story about an interesting and morally nuanced woman.
July 12, 2018
I've been a Gilchrist fan for something like 35 years, though I've only read her stuff sporadically. This book is different from the ones I know best - it's about a woman novelist who's an editor at Time magazine who is hired to write a film from a novel she doesn't like, and it's about her relationship with the man who married her best friend. It's about the changing nature of love, and the fulfillment of work, and the ways in which these two things interact. It's about the connections between members of the same generation, and the ways in which different generations use each other for different things. It's often beautifully written, occasionally clunky in dialogue. I enjoyed following Sarah's constantly shifting emotions and desires, and I thought it was a pretty neat trick the way Gilchrist subverts the expectations she built up as to how it would end. (It's interesting this was the second novel I read in a row about women who write novels, each with samples of their writing in a style different from that of the actual writer.)
July 9, 2017
I found this book on one of my daughter's bookshelves and started to read it because it was the first novel by Ellen Gilchrist I had come across. She does not appear in my bookshops and the library has only 1 book of short stories, a genre I am not fond of. My bad, because Gilchrist is a super duper writer. Sarah Conley befriends Eugenie when they are 14. They adore one another and stay friends through college. But when they meet Jack and Timothy at college things start to change. Years later Sarah, now a famous writer, hears from Eugenie's husband and is faced with insurmountable problems. This protagonist and her life were so beguiling I did not put down this book until it was finished. A superb voice. Wonderful dialog, fascinating people. I loved it.
January 27, 2020
I was recently introduced to Ellen Gilchrist through a short story ("The Stucco House") that I really enjoyed, so I rushed to check out more of her work. What worked so well in that short story sinks this novel. I've never been one for that Hemingway-esque "all the emotions are under the surface" style of writing. I don't know if I'd exactly compare Gilchrist to Hemingway, but this felt to me all surface, thin plotting, cardboard cutout characters. I suppose the author wants us to dig for whatever was her intention, but I found that I didn't care enough about anyone to dig for anything. Let's hope that this was a rare miss for Ellen Gilchrist and not emblematic of her novels.
June 20, 2020
I liked this more than I expected. I picked it up just because Paris sounded like an interesting twist on the 'going back to my hometown after a traumatic event' narrative and I was not disappointed. If you are looking for characters to fall in love with and a fairy tale romance, you probably won't find them here. If you are looking for a raw emotional trip through some of life's unexpected ups and downs with some amazingly descriptive settings , this book has you covered.
February 21, 2025
I am sorry but I could not stop thinking of a Hallmark movie plot where a wildly successful woman from a big city returns home to the south to fall in love again with her college sweetheart. Add in fixing up her grandfather’s farm. Too much detail of fabulous French food and what color scarf to wear. On the good side, the heroine is sharp and gutsy and gets what she wants. And boy can she write fast.
March 4, 2024
Loved being back in an Ellen Gilchrist book. Wonderful story that only Gilchrist could tell about a strong Southern woman and her loves. I am so sad that Gilchrist won’t write any more books. She will be missed.
February 4, 2018
Sarah is a complicated woman, not really likeable, but she struggles with her life choices. Gilchrist writes very well and there is lots of interesting dialogue.
December 15, 2023
good story, another book a mom would totally love but i’m not complaining!
December 10, 2025
I didn’t like this book one bit.
January 21, 2013
I broke one of my own rules: I usually finish a book if I get past page 50. Can't do it with this one. I'm finding it a complete bore, populated with unlikable people & life's too short to attempt to complete it. I was surprised at how little I liked it: I've read short stories by Ellen Gilchrist which I really liked. I was prejudiced in Gilchrist's favor for another reason: I attended an Iowa Gilchrist family reunion every single June in my youth. My grandmother was a Gilchrist!!
This book is a complete nap inducing bore. Anybody who wants it, just let me know: it's not going in the 'must keep' collection.
This book is a complete nap inducing bore. Anybody who wants it, just let me know: it's not going in the 'must keep' collection.
March 24, 2008
This is classic Ellen Gilchrist. If you like her short stories you're apt to enjoy this novel. It is not heavy reading, yet has intriguing characters, a plot that moves, and insights into the human condition.
If you enjoy Paris, or even just reading about it, then that is a leg up on additional pleasure from reading this book.
Gilchrist specializes in quirky characters who come to life on the page, as well as dialogue that always reads as conversation. She's one of my favorites.
-- Paul
If you enjoy Paris, or even just reading about it, then that is a leg up on additional pleasure from reading this book.
Gilchrist specializes in quirky characters who come to life on the page, as well as dialogue that always reads as conversation. She's one of my favorites.
-- Paul
January 17, 2009
I didn't even finish reading this book, which is extremely unusual for me. Even bad books I will finish reading, but this was unpalatable.
The sentence structures were exactly the same, one after the other, subject-verb-object, almost no variation. It was like listening to my six-year-old reading his readers to me. The story was predictable and the writing painful.
And I have loved Ellen Gilchrist's Rhoda stories and novels. Loved them. I actually cannot believe she wrote this book.
The sentence structures were exactly the same, one after the other, subject-verb-object, almost no variation. It was like listening to my six-year-old reading his readers to me. The story was predictable and the writing painful.
And I have loved Ellen Gilchrist's Rhoda stories and novels. Loved them. I actually cannot believe she wrote this book.
October 22, 2008
This book started so promisingly, and ended nowhere. What happens to the rest of your adult life when you belief you've made a critical error earlier in your adult life, but decide to stick with it? It's a compelling question, and she addresses it somewhat, but then the plot is overtaken with Sarah's attempt to write a screenplay, which wasn't very interesting. Meh. It had me for a while, and I felt compelled to finish it, so three stars.
December 28, 2011
One of the worst books I have ever read. I only paid fifty cents for it at a college used book store, and I still feel ripped off and want my money back.
I read this a long time ago and all I can remember about it is that it was poorly written and one of the characters kills herself because she doesn't want to have children or something like that.
At the time, it was the worst book I had read until I came across Twilight and Towelhead.
I read this a long time ago and all I can remember about it is that it was poorly written and one of the characters kills herself because she doesn't want to have children or something like that.
At the time, it was the worst book I had read until I came across Twilight and Towelhead.
January 20, 2012
This book has been on my shelf for probably 10 years, an old book club book that I had never read. I could have lived without it. I just didn't care for the characters Gilchrist created. Each and every one of them indecisive, whining narcissists. While I did enjoy some aspects of the lead character's foray into the balance between work and love, and whether or not she could adapt herself to change, it was really the only aspect of this book that I truly enjoyed.
October 16, 2012
I would actually give this book 3.5 stars. I think it could have been better. Some plot threads were just dropped or I adequately dealt with. The relationship of the main characters was missing the reality of the intervening years that they were apart. Gilchrist really wanted to have the romantic plot but knew it rang false so she went back and forth on it. I think Sarah Conley had more of a backbone than that.
January 12, 2016
Really disappointing after all the wonderful stories/books/characters Ellen Gilchrist has written. I just found it corny and self-indulgent. The characters, however much described seemed cardboard, unconvincing and just didn't seem well-formed. The first section had an echo of Wallace Stegner's "Crossing to Safety" when the 2 couples got together, but lacked Stegner's insight and light handed touch. Even the writing in this novel seemed to be off-key
September 20, 2007
I just keep reading Ellen Gilchrist, and I'm not exactly sure why. I find her writing style kind of annoying (for the love of God, would it kill you to use a comma?) and her characters tend to be oddly similar: ballsy, quirky, tough-minded women who charm the world and inexplicably come into wealth. This one was along those same lines. It was decent entertainment, anyway.
September 3, 2009
Yay -- yet another book moved from the why-have-I-moved-this-book-five-times-enough-already shelf to the to-be-given-away shelf (a staging area for its last move by me).
A while back, I read a book of short stories by Ellen Gilchrist -- most of which I liked better then this novel. I found the title character a little annoying.
A while back, I read a book of short stories by Ellen Gilchrist -- most of which I liked better then this novel. I found the title character a little annoying.
October 9, 2012
As I said earlier, I got off track from my "to read" list. This book had been on my shelf for a few years. When we moved to another state into temp living last summer, I scooped up several books from that shelf.
Sarah was likeable enough in the story, but there were so many gaps in the tale that I just can't give it more than 2 stars.
Sarah was likeable enough in the story, but there were so many gaps in the tale that I just can't give it more than 2 stars.
March 28, 2016
I love this book as well as all of Ellen Gilchrist's books. A book doesn't have to be real and totally believeable to read and enjoy it. She is the best storyteller I have ever read and that is why I read books. Guess if you want realistic reading, I'd say read non fiction. Ellen brings in an aspect of mystery and science and other worldly to her books. I can't get enough of her writing.
May 24, 2013
This novel isn't Ellen Gilchrist's effort. The storyline gets bogged down, and various threads in that storyline aren't brought to conclusion. The main character is Ms. Gilchrist's typical strong, Southern woman. All in all, it wasn't an awful read.
February 26, 2016
When her old friend’s death brings her back to the man she’d loved in college, Sarah has to try to re-work her life to include her new love. Is she bound by the past, or simply tied to her past/family/history. Can she accept this new tie and still remain true to herself?
January 5, 2008
Ellen Gilchrist has the tendency to be overly dramatic in her writing, but I still love the stories she tells. I can get over the drama, though I do some eye rolling when it pops up.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews