I started to like this book when Margaret Hughes went home and asked her possessions if she could take on a boarder. I liked it even more when Mrs. K, a wonderfully meddling, caring, Jewish, bowling, red-headed old lady was introduced. Though the book does take some unlikely turns, and it could probably have been a bit shorter, it was a really enjoyable read. Tenderly written, full of history, character-driven, and intelligent.

The audiobook narrator was amazing. Not only did she create unique voices for all the main characters, she also sang and performed the following accents: Irish, British, Southern, French, and Yiddish. Wow.

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This one was a strange one for me because I kept vacillating between whether I liked it or didn't like it. I would read a few chapters and think I could keep going, but then hit a few more which made me nearly not finish.

I enjoyed the writing style and loved the imagery. I liked the strange characters. Loved the dream sequences. There was some suspense going on that kept me interested.

But ... Really thought one of the main characters was a huge baby and she grated on me. I don't appreciate sex scenes or that many F words. There were a few characters introduced who felt significant upon initial meeting, then disappeared almost the entire book. The ending felt really rushed and so very cliche. I didn't feel very connected to the characters, any of them. Some of the scenarios seemed sort of ridiculous. And what the heck is that story line which resulted in August?! Makes no sense.

As you can see, more negative than positive. So no need to own it and likely won't recommend. ( )

Overall, this book was interesting, but in some places it was confusing and slow. Eventually it circled back and filled in the gaps, answering the questions I had. The concept was unique. I know other books have been written about strangers changing each other, but this book did it in a new way. I don't think I saw what was going to happen just by reading the description of the book. The characters were well developed, although there were many, and sometimes I had to take a second to remember who was who. I wasn't especially happy with the ending, as it seemed kind of abrupt. Basically all the plot lines had concluded, yet it seemed like there should have been more...I'm not sure how to explain that, exactly.

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes good fiction, but doesn't want to read something supernatural or fantasy. This is a good, general fiction novel that has a feel-good story. ( )

3.5 stars. I've read many reviews that call this book "charming." OK - I'll buy that, mostly. It's also odd, quirky, sweet at times, terribly unbelievable. I enjoyed the notion that opening up our lives and our very brokenness to other people can enrich and expand our lives in ways we never expected. ( )

Intriguing. All of the characters were "broken" in some way. Margaret lives alone with a collection of valuable antiques for company. She places an ad and takes in Wanda as her first boarder. The back story of the antiques is that they were stolen by the Nazis and Margaret's father knowingly bought them. Margaret traced and returned what she could, but she can't find the owner's of the rest. One drunk day, Wanda and Margaret smash Margaret's wedding china to smithereens, which launches Wanda's new career - she has a gift for putting the pieces into interpretive mosaics. Margaret adds more boarders, much to her ex-husband's dismay, now forming her surrogate family out of the broken people she befriends. ( )