This was too maudlin and at times rather character belligerent at turns. Four generations and from Poland to Detroit. Women with their daughters or without them. Closeness or distance. Traditions kept or lost. Or new ones initiated in a new surrounding land.

I didn't become embedded because of the personalities for the younger characters. Or the tone of the language expression. But it was certainty authentic and appropriate for Polish immigrant experience.

The shocks weren't and the plot lacked, IMHO. But my taste needs more layers, this seems good attempt chick lit sentimentality fare.

Every Polish immigrant from this era I have ever known worked harder outside the home than this book connotes. Men, women, and children all. 12 s Rhonda BrowningAuthor 1 book11

I hated to see this book end! (Though the ending was perfect).

Pietrzyk's novel is a series of interrelated short stories, reading almost diary entries or brief memoirs, told by four generations of women from the same Polish-American family. You don't have to be Polish to appreciate the humanity behind the relationships and cultural similarities and differences between these women. Grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins . . . all linked by the same chain of love and dis.

Family traditions that bind (sometimes to the point of choking) are delivered here in ways that transcend all cultures, including yours, whether yours includes making pierogies, or pasta, or biscuits, or hoe-cakes. I found myself calling the women in my family more often while reading this story, as it caused me to yearn for tradition, for stories, for the kind of home that is carried in your heart, instead of found in a house.

This novel would make an excellent read for a women's studies group or ladies book club, though I'm sure any man could learn a lot about the workings of the female mind and heart, by reading this text.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 4 s Kristi2,322 19

I fell in love with this book and author twenty years ago and decided to read "Pears on a Willow Tree" again. I first became acquainted with Ms. Pietrzyk because a life-long friend of mine is her aunt. I fell in love with her style and character development from the very beginning. This books tells the story of a Polish family through generations of love and tragedy. I have also read: A Year and a Day (2004) - This Angel on My Chest (2015) - Silver Girl (2018). I was recently startled by the fact that I was completely engaged in her protagonist, read the entire book, and only after the fact realized that we never know the young woman's name. An amazing feat to me!! I highly recommend this marvelous voice in modern literature. Kristi & Abby Tabby 2021-kristi-abby-tabby2 s Suanne LaqueurAuthor 25 books1,536

A fantastic read. Starts with a recipe for Pierogi and ends with one for poppyseed cake. In between, four generations of Polish-American women talk, cook, argue, sew each other's wedding dresses, tell stories, and understand and misunderstand each other in the way only mothers and daughters can.

Pietrzyk has a nifty, uncluttered prose style and above all, a keen ear for the way women really do talk.

Loved it!2 s AngelaAuthor 1 book3

I first read this book 20 years ago. My boyfriend (now husband) gave it to me, explaining that it was about 4 generations of Polish American women in Detroit. I am Polish American and from the upper Midwest. I cried because I was so touched that he would seek out a book I would relate to based on heritage. It is not an easy book to read because the women are all dealing with challenges. It is however a very authentic book that deals with family and individualism in thoughtful ways.2021-reading-women-challenge2 s Kristine51 2

Best novel I’ve read this year!

Memories intertwined over the years and several generations of women in one family who’s great grandmother emigrated to America from Poland. Such exquisite detail, it feels all of our stories.2 s Susie PajaritoSuz26 1 follower

Very well written, engaging story. Good character development.1 Julie Nelson32 6

My cousin gave me this book for my birthday. She believed that the themes of family, and female bonding would ring true to our own family which has 9 female cousins. It's not a horrible book, but it's very predictable in it's "shockers." I think the author developed the history of the older generations fairly well. But I sense she tired of the story at some point in time and decided to throw in the shockers, which were not as shocking as poorly timed. It features a weak, whiny, main character, and I just hate that in a story. I kept hoping it would get better or the characters would be redeemed, but it just fell flat. 1 Monica Wiant62 1 follower

As a daughter of Polish immigrants, I was impressed by the veracity of the cultural details. Often, I would be struck by something in the story that I thought was unique to my family. Do all Polish mothers leave wrappers on their lampshades, hoard African violets, and set towels down on their chairs before sitting down? Sometimes it was painful to recognize exact fights I had with my own Polish mother.

I wanted to love this book, but the central character was so stubborn, selfish, and broken that I just couldn’t enjoy her story. 1 Amy Cardinal4 1 follower

This book was actually written by my cousin and although there are a lot of stories in it that bring me memories of my family, many women that I know that have read it said it brought back a lot of family memories for them as well. This is a book about the binding of women in a family and the different dynamics that they bring to the mix. It shares traditions and delves into the uniqueness of the different family members and how the fit as a whole as well as together.
1 Donna Jo Atwood997 6

From Rose, the immigrant from Poland, to Amy, her great granddaughter who goes to teach English in Thailand, the four women--mothers and daughters--interact and leave little hints of their lives for the reader to react to.
I really enjoyed this story of mothers who want to hold on and daughters who need to leave. The sharing of recipes, stories, and hints for managing life were much I remember the sessions with my mother, aunts, grandmother, and great aunts.
2011-spring-challenge family fiction ...more1 Barb Bailey1,075 38

This book is an unusual account of a Polish American immigrant woman named Rose and her extended family . It is a story of how mothers and daughters of 4 generations interact, grow into their own, move away, and yet remember family traditions and ties that bind. 3.5 stars 2014 fiction1 Donna Lull11 1 follower

Interesting look into Polish heritage and family dynamics. I enjoyed reading about the changes from generation to generation. I also loved the passing on of traditions.1 Luc266

Reminds me of my childhood!! 1 Cathy462 5

This book tells the story of four generations of Polish women, starting with Rose, who immigrated from Poland in 1919; her daughter Helen, who lives near her mother in Detroit; Helen's daughter Ginger, who can't wait to escape from the Polish family and Detroit, and who is an alcoholic who relocates to Phoenix; and Ginger's daughter Amy, who teaches English in Thailand. It's about the closeness (almost claustrophobia) of the extended family - the generations of mothers and the cousins, aunts and siblings - and how the women navigate this closeness, or choose to escape it. Ginger is an unlikable and unsympathetic character who drinks too much and acts out her anger in childish ways. Amy, the youngest daughter, is the most sympathetic. I identify with her desire to escape, to travel, to record her travels, and to experience other cultures and life in general.

Overall, I got bogged down in many spots throughout the novel. I could certainly understand the desire to escape the family expectations and dynamics. Petra614 10

Peren aan een wilg vertelt het generatie verhaal van een Poolse familie die naar Amerika emigreert. Het vertelt, zoals vele generatieverhalen, het verhaal van de vrouwen in de familie. Hoe de traditie blijft voortbestaan in de Poolse keuken, maar ook hoe sommige dochters de drukkende/beklemmende familie proberen te ontvluchten door naar de andere kant van het land te verhuizen.

Generatieverhalen kunnen prachtig zijn, zoals Anna, Hanna en Johanna, maar het kan ook een niet veelzeggend verhaal zijn. Wat in dit geval nogal complex is opgetekend. Zo wordt elk hoofdstuk door een andere vrouw verteld, dan een dochter, dan een moeder, dan de grootmoeder. Waarbij in elk verhaal een kleine zijlijn voor een tante, nicht of andere vrouw is. Dat maakt peren aan een wilg een vermakelijk boek, waar geen echte verhaallijn in zit, maar waar elke lezer een stukje van zijn of haar eigen familiegeschiedenis in kwijt kan. Lori273

Once again, a story with great potential and poor execution I stopped at page 50. There were too many characters to effectively apply the structure of alternating and making each chapter about one of the four generations of women. It was messy and confusing. Verbally it was hard to figure out which character in a particular chapter was the grandmother or great-grandmother because one character's grandma was another character's great grandma.

Also, the women's stories weren't woven together within the chapters and there was a complete lack of attention to paid to the men in their lives, and one thing is clearly understood in this world among all cultures- as women our lives our forceably shaped by men. I know it was an exploration of how these four generations of women shaped each others lives, but still.....they were daughters, wives, mothers, sisters and that shapes them too.

Rachel979 12

3.5 stars.
This novel was written from the points of view of several women of several generations. The family emigrated from Poland to Detroit in the early part of the 20th Century. This novel would have been better served to be written in a linear fashion. Initially I found it hard to keep track of who was whose mother, daughter, etc.

I did enjoy the characters. The women were feisty, smart, super opinionated and loved to gossip but the love they shared came through loud and clear. Of the recipes mentioned in the novel it was sweet to see them explained as "take a knob of butter as thick as your finger bent over and use a teacup full of flour." There was love, plenty of sadness and some bigotry in the story which I believe was accurate to its time and place. This story had the emotional pull of women's family relationships with each other and I was pulled right in. This was a richly imagined world and I enjoyed being in it. Alicia14

A beautiful story of a Polish family who immigrated to United States, landing in Detroit as told through the women of the family. The book is told through the different perspectives of generations, the grandmother just arriving to the US, the mother struggling to find her voice, the daughter looking for space and a new adventure away from family and the granddaughter seeing the layers of the family and trying to put all the pieces of who she is within her family together.coming-of-age Stephanie781

Such dysfunction.

It's hard to read a book that is such a downer the whole way through. I wanted more from each of the female characters in this book. Though I know there are generational and cultural differences that are acknowledged, it just all seemed so severe in this book that it wasn't a pleasant read. Caroline1 review1 follower

Got about 30 pages in and couldn't stomach it anymore. Annoying, flat characters. No plot. Awkward writing. Way too much mundane dialog. I really wanted to this book -- it was a gift with a note to me from the author. Sorry, but it will not stay in my library.
Autor del comentario:
=================================