All She Ever Wanted

Kathleen Seymour's relationship with her teenage daughter, Joelle, is at a breaking point. Kathleen is afraid that Joelle will leave home and never return, just like several generations of the women in Kathleen's family. Will learning about each woman's story help Kathleen and Joelle repair their relationship, or will it drive them farther apart?

This book reminds me of an old country song, You Never Even Called Me By My Name. As the supposedly-perfect song seems to come to an end, performer David Allan Coe protests that it's not the perfect country song because there's been no mention of Mama, trains, pickup trucks, prison, or getting drunk. The last verse takes care of these omissions. It starts "I was drunk the day my Mom got out of show more prison..." This book has the same feel. It's like the author took a chronology of the 20th century and made a list of all the significant events she wanted to include: Irish immigrants, New York tenements, sweatshops, Prohibition, speakeasies, Black Tuesday, the Depression, mobsters, Communism, World War II, factories, USO dances, the Cold War/fallout shelters, the Kennedy assassination. (There are also Mamas, prisons, and people getting drunk, but I don't remember any mention of trains or pickup trucks.) Take this paragraph, for example:

Even at the tender age of nine, she had already perfected the art of making a grand entrance. She waved her hand like Mamie Eisenhower and called out, "Hello-oo, I'm here-ere," as if we had been holding our breath, waiting for her to arrive. You would have thought she was Elvis Presley the way the other girls gathered around her. May and I had never been in the same class before, but the rest of the kids already knew that if a Hayworth was your classmate, you could expect a small truckload of treats at all the class parties. The Hayworths were the richest family in town. May's brother, Ron, who was two years older than May, ruled the playground the way Jimmy Hoffa ruled the Teamsters.

Several of the characters behaved either inconsistently or illogically. The characters didn't feel like people in their own right, but like vehicles to convey an evangelistic message. It seems that the author doesn't want the reader to miss the message, so it's explicitly stated. Unfortunately, by choosing to "tell" rather than "show", the author tells a story that most readers will quickly forget rather than one that will leave a lasting impression. show less

This was a story that grabbed my attention and held it all the way through. You have to keep your focus though, because it switches back and forth to the present time and then takes you back to the past and helps you understand the main character and the reasons for why her grandmother, Fiona, her mother, Eleanor, and herself had struggles in their life. It is not a feel good, romantic novel, but a very well told story of the lives of three generations of women, and understanding all they went through.

Kathleen fled her home 35 years ago, running from poverty and shame. An invitation to go back to her hometown is initially cast into the trash. But after a huge disagreement with her daughter and a failure to communicate with her, her show more husband suggests that Kathleen and her daughter, Joelle, take the road trip and get to know one another. So begins the story; first Kathleen will have time to tell Joelle her story and the sad life she once lived. Then others will begin to weave the story behind Kathleen's mother and then Kathleen's grandmother. It was all very well written and kept me constantly keeping each lady separate, but recognizing how they all affected one another.

I had a hard time putting this story down once I began. It is a sad story really, but I felt the truth that Kathleen's father shared at the end of the book showed how Christ can truly change a person and the bitterness and sadness can be replaced with the peace that comes from knowing Him! Well done Lynn Austin. show less

Wauw wat een prachtig boek is dit weer,het word haast langdradig om steeds van die hoge punten aan haar boeken te geven,maar het is gewoon een top schrijfster.
Zodra het boek over Kathleen begint laat het je niet meer los haar problemen met haar dochter zorgen dat ze zelf terug gaat naar het verleden en dan krijg je in het boek verschillende verhalen van haar moeder en oma die geweldig goed aansluiten op het heden.
Ik vond ook dit boek weer een aanrader

This is the story about three women (or maybe I should say 4?)

It starts with Kathleen telling her daughter Joelle about her upbringing in a family with a thief for a father,a resigned mother who favors her younger brothers,and the live in maternal communist uncle.They are poor and because of the fathers and brothers shenanigans have a very poor reputation in the city where they live.

Kathleen through a friends mother finds solace in religion and the chance she might leave one day and never come back.She cant believe how her shabby mother is the daughter of the elegant Fiona.

Then we get to Eleanors (Kathleens mothers) story and how she came to turn from a classy young woman to a woman who is just subsisting.

Finally its the grandmothers show more story and how her deep dark secret came to influence the lives of her children and grandchildren.

Intepersed between these chapters are the mother-daughter chats beetween Kathleen and Joelle.

I didnt know the author was a devout christian when I started reading this book.I might not have picked it up if I had known.At first it wasnt that noticeable.

There were signs in it of Kathleen finding such a comfort in God,and the grandmothers final act of calling her local priest to make peace with God. As the book went on it became even more clearer.

While this was an ok book I found that there were several things that irked me about.Not like it was a truly horrible book but like it was written for someone who was...well not me.

I found it a bit strange that Kathleen had no idea what become of her brothers after she left.Yes I know she wanted to leave it all behind her but they were still family and the siblings not trying to find out what happened to their sister was also a bit strange.

I found that the bit about Eleanors first marriage husband pretending to have died in WWII and secretly annulling the marriage was very melodramatic.

Another thing was how the women were made out to be like these victims of circumstance and of men.Like how the author wanted to emphasize that men were these flawed creatures whose shortcomings (adultery,thieving,lying about being dead) women had to ENDURE in a graceful manner.

It ends on a bittersweet tone when its remarked how much like her grandmother Joelle(Kathleens daughter) looks.

Found Joelle a bit of a dunderhead for not knowing who Greta Garbo was show less

This is a family saga covering a number of decades. Fiona Quinn comes to America from Ireland with great hopes for the future, she hopes to marry a wealthy man. Fiona succeeds in accomplishing her goal at great cost to herself and her children. Fiona's daughter, Eleanor marries and lives in poverty with a husband who is absent much of the time. She and her children depend on others for clothing and other things. Eleanor's daughter Kathleen can't wait to grow up and escape the poverty and bad memories of her school years. Her mother's inability to help her children, causes Kathleen to have strained relationship with her own daughter. Kathleen receives an invitation to celebrate with her father and brothers and sisters whom she hasn't show more seen in years. She is very reluctant to attend this reunion. She finally agrees to go and take her daughter, Joelle. As Kathleen visits with her uncle she learns the story of her grandmother, Fiona. As she visits with an old friend she learns more about her own mother, Eleanor and she begins to understand her a little better. After meeting with her father and her siblings there is forgiveness and reconciliation. show less

Plot Summary: What happens, When & Where, Central Characters, Major Conflicts
Kathleen doesn't like to talk about her past. But a confrontation with her daughter and an invitation from her estranged sister force her to open up about her background. As she and her daughter travel to the New York town where she grew up, she tells her about what it was like to grow up in extreme poverty, with a dad who was a thief and a mother who was chronically depressed and ill. Kathleen never wanted to visit the places and people that caused her so much pain again. But returning to her hometown gives her a chance to learn the truth about Eleanor, her once vibrant mother, and Fiona, the grandmother she barely knew.


Style Characterisics: Pacing, show more clarity, structure, narrative devices, etc.
Shifts from Kathleen's point of view to those of her mother's best friend, her grandmother, her uncle, and her mother. The story unfolds slowy, with pieces gradually falling into place. Sometimes the way the characters talk is too much like the author's own detailed way of describing the story--the switching points of view while a character is supposed to be telling their story leaves you wondering if they really told it the way the author told it or more like the way people talk. So the dialogue seems unrealistic at times. But the characters and the lessons they learn are meaningful and the places and situations so well described that it is easy to get caught up in the story.



How Good is it?
A strong tale exloring the consequences of the decisions made by 3 generations of women. show less

A heart-wrenching, heart-warming story about the struggles of women from several generations wrought with sorrow and secrets and finally salvation through honesty and love.