This was a quiet, understated story of an "ordinary life". Zorrie is impossible not to love. Even though she is very much a part of her landscape and very (Midwestern) American, I saw something universal in Zorrie. There is that "something" that the women of her generation often had: grit and resilience, but also a quiet acceptance of things that never came to be.

I enjoyed this novel in a similar manner to [b:Stoner|166997|Stoner|John Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320600716l/166997._SY75_.jpg|1559207]. Somehow these books share a lot in my mind. However, even though the writing in Zorrie is mostly good (and sometimes truly great) I found it a bit inconsistent. There were parts I wanted to skip, when it all just got tedious. ( )

I started to like the book in the beginning pages, but found it going down hill. It was slow and boring. I cannot recommend it. ( )

Large moods in a slender frame - the book and its leading character are quietly powerful in their impact and presence. Despite the brevity of Laird Hunt's prose, he writes beautifully and evocatively with a mix of the plain and the metaphoric that give this novella a weight greater than the number of its pages suggest. It's a wistful, melancholic story of Zorrie Underwood's hardworking life in early 20th-Century Indiana, swaying like the tide to and from her past and present, carrying the flotsam and jetsam of the lives of those she has known. It's a tale of loss - of many losses - and the ways in which grief can or cannot be expressed; the ways in which bereavement can or cannot be reconciled. ( )

I found this to be a perfect book ( )

Clearly, my reaction to this book was quite different from the reactions of many people. To me, the book was 4-Stars for the first half and then went downhill and did not recover. I'll stop there. Maybe I am simply wrong. ( )