Homestead

This book did not hold my interest. The story lines were quite bland, boring and dark at times. Jumping around from character to character made the book confusing and a bit irritating to read. I had difficulty empathizing or relating to any of the characters as their stories were told briefly before the author would move on to other characters. I rarely do this, but having read about two thirds of the novel, I just could not bring myself to read anymore. However, I really enjoyed and would highly recommend this author's Wilderness series written under the pen name, Sarah Donati. I am surprised they are written by the same author as the overall styles, plot and character development are vastly different.

This book started strong, but then sagged. First few characters are very well developed and the plot interesting, but as the generations unfold, the new people are not 3D, with a few exceptions. The generations flew by with just a passing reference to the earlier, interesting plot lines. That character you loved, what happened to her? Oh, she died. Unsatisfying.

I’m loving this book. The writing is gorgeous. The characters have captured my heart. I began reading without any expectations or knowledge about the book and it took a bit before I realized this was structured differently. Intimate stories of simple yet complicated villagers. I’m enjoying it immensely.

I probably would have learned something if I stuck to it, but boredom jumped off the page and finished it for me.

this is an unusual book, honest and straightforward. The community described is isolated in the alps and one could say their life is primitive The characters are very vivid and lifelike which makes the narrative of past into present events seem credible. They live on the barest of essentials and the author makes this seem an acceptable and ordinary way of life. Maybe we all have ancestors who lived like this. An fascinating book with more depth than on first sight

Since I always enjoy multi-generational sagas, I was most enthusiastic when I first picked up this book. But I'm afraid that I didn't enjoy this title nearly as much as I thought I would.Lippi's writings, at times, did invoke the spirit and solitude of the isolated Alpine farming village and the women who lived there. And these images and characters did fill the pages of the interlocking stories over an 80 year period. While the reader becomes familiar with these women's lives, losses and regrets, all of the stories weren't nearly as spirited or poignant as they could have been.And for some strange reason, the family trees appeared as endpapers at the back of the book and since I didn't see then till I was almost finished with the book, I felt that having them in the front might have made things less confusing and I also might have enjoyed the book more.I know that Rosina Lippi spent time in a village similar to the one she wrote about and I am sure this book was factual but I was hoping for stories with a bit more. I have since learned that Rosina Lippi also writes historical fiction under the name of Sara Donati. I now plan on reading one of these books to see if I like them better than this one.

Lovely story. Fresh, raw and interesting characters. Family drama at it's best. Love, mystery, connection, history and conflict. And, eternal gissip.

I forget who recommended this book to me, but I would like to thank her in absentia. Homestead is spectacular. The setting is an isolated Austrian village, and the inter-related stories span several generations of the villagers, exploring their known and secret links and relationships to each other. The history told in Homestead spans the time from early 1900s to almost 1980, and some of the most gut-wrenching and poignant tales concern the nearness of the Nazi threat during WWII. Once met through the pages of this book, the characters and their motives and secrets will stay with you for a long time.