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Over

Author: Margaret Forster
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

3 reviews
Sales Rank: 3323

Media: Paperback
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6

ISBN: 0099507668
EAN: 9780099507666
ASIN: 0099507668

Publication Date: August 2, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: brand new book. UK shop stock. un-used and un-read. in excellent order throughout. in stock now in the UK. delivery within the UK 2-5 business days, Europe and the US approx 7 days, and the rest of the world upto 28 days. (ab153)

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - Over

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•	The Other Side of You

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars

Lacking that special something December 19, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

This is a brilliant depiction of a family disintegrating following the death of a daughter, sadly a situation so often encountered in real life. The characters are well-drawn and convincing and the writing clear and concise. So why was I not compelled to keep reading, anxious to return to the book whenever I had put it down?

It's a difficult question to answer, but I somehow had to force myself to read to the end. Maybe because it was so obvious what was going to happen the story lost that sense of anticipation, of wondering how the author would resolve the conflicts she had presented so fluently. I have only read one other novel by Margaret Forster and again I remember that feeling of something lacking, some intangible quality that would lift the story out of the mundane. It was well-written, true to life, and dealt with a heart-rending topic, but, as with 'Over', I felt I could 'take it or leave it'. And yet I love novels without a fast-moving plot that chart feelings and how people deal with them - 'The Other Side of You' by Salley Vickers, for instance.

I know Margaret Forster's fans rate her highly, so I shall not give up on her yet and am about to start 'Keeping the World Away'. Meanwhile, I imagine her fans will not want to miss 'Over'. For me, though, it didn't quite make it.

5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant, heartbreaking novel November 5, 2007
29 out of 30 found this review helpful

Over is yet another novel from Margaret Forster that touches a raw, sore nerve. Over is about grief and death. Yet this "misery novel" is never mawkish or grim. When tragedy strikes, an erstwhile happy family tries to deal with the loss. Everyone copes with the death of their eighteen-year-old sister/daughter in a sailing accident differently and causes unintentional further pain to other members of the family as they do so. The book is not so much about the shock of the tragedy itself as what happens next - when it is over. The mother, a kindly school teacher, records the chain of events that leads to the family being torn apart and gradually find ways to pull together. It is crafted beautifully from the first sentence to the last. Don't be put off by the bleak subject matter. The book is about ordinary people filled with hope and love trying to understand each other and what has happened to them.

5 out of 5 stars

I Don't Know How She Does It! April 15, 2007
68 out of 78 found this review helpful

Ask what 'happens' in this novel and you have to say 'Not much', in terms of a runaway plot, that is. But Forster's gift is to write about 'ordinary' people and events so that the reader keeps reading avidly. Her theme is the coping with loss, and the effects on others of the strategies we employ to do this. I have enjoyed all her work, and am a fan, so perhaps this is biased, but I rate it the best book I've read in many months