Here on Earth

By: Alice Hoffman

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

March Murray, along with her 15-year-old daughter, Gwen, returns to the small Massachusetts town where she grew up to attend the funeral of Judith Dale, the beloved housekeeper who raised her. After nearly 20 years of living in California, March is thrust into the world of her past. She finds that Mrs. Dale knew more of life than March could have ever suspected; that her brother Alan, whose tragic history has left him grief-stricken, has turned to alcohol as his only solace; and that Hollis, the boy she once loved, is the man she can't seem to stay away from.

Here on Earth is the dramatic and lyrical account of the joys of love, as well as the destruction that love can release. Erotic, disturbing, and compelling, this is without a doubt Alice Hoffman's most unforgettable novel.

©1999 Alice Hoffman (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Perfection

WOW...just unbelievable !! I felt I was there. The reader was exceptional. Absolutely fulfilling from start to finish. One of the best listens I've heard in a long time

pretty good

The narrator was excellent! I love Alice Hoffman, great story telling, captivating characters....but I found myself so frustrated & irritated by most of the characters in this book. It felt a bit unfinished as well.... the end didn't circle back to the 2 main female characters. Guess, this wasn't my favorite, but I didn't hate it.

Authentic well written and engaging

Authentic characters with depth and a story that reveals the fatal attractions that people experience. The added dimensions of connections with animals enrich the read. Makes one question why good is apparently so boring and bad so appealing. The patterns within patterns and repeated patterns speak to the inevitability of the human condition

Excellent performance

I like the open ending. It was good to dislike the main character - so look out if you need someone to root for!

The magical realm of Alice Hoffman

The only problem with an Alice Hoffman book is what to do when it's over, so engrossing is the ambiance she creates. Here on Earth, loosely based on Wuthering Heights, scoops you up and doesn't let you gently down until the very last page. I read this book in 1997 when it first came out. So powerful was it, that lost I became within its pages, with three young kids and a husband who all puzzled where the heck I'd gone. It also contributed to finally leaving my husband, who was not as abusive as Hollis, but with a similar history which had permanently damaged him beyond repair. It made me reckon with the fact that there are those you cannot love into happiness, more likely they'll pull you down into the place they, on some level, fear to ever leave. Alice Hoffman's writing is such extraordinary prose, that I always read the book at night as I listen to it in the day. Here on Earth is a wonderful audible experience, sweeping you into another world, surrounding you with magic and the fascinating complexities of human relationships. I highly recommend it.

extremely disappointing

I love Alice Hoffman. So, I figured the one of her books that made the Oprah book club would be one of her best. I was sadly wrong. I couldn't even believe I was reading Alice Hoffman. Through most of the book, I felt like I was reading a trashy grocery store novel. Once it started to seem like it was glorifying both an abusive relationship and an incestuous relationship, I almost just quit. I was pretty disgusted with most of the book. But I have a rule of finishing any book that starts out good, no matter how bad it gets, and the beginning felt like the beginning of any Alice Hoffman novel. It took a turn for the worst very quickly and stayed that way nearly to the end. Towards the end I started to get it and she started showing how bad of an abusive relationship it was and both the daughter first and then the mother both get away, but you have to get through 90% of trash to get to that. All in all, I feel like I just wasted a huge chunk of my summer reading time. But the saddest part of all to me is that because this is an Oprah book club pick, this may be some people's introduction to Alice Hoffman, and I think that's sad because if this had been the first novel I'd read of hers, I'd never read another one again. luckily I've already read too many other good ones. Not sure what she was thinking with this one...

excellant

great story, great performance.
enjoy! well placed. you will truly enjoy this story. good ending.

Not my fave

Interesting story and a little sad how being selfish matters. While very nostalgic- I didn’t like the characters at all.

Uneven

The writing is sometimes amazing and then there are sections where it seems like it was written by someone else. Also, the reader is a little fast. Sounds much better at 85%.

Good story, annoying performance

You don’t actually need to shout when the character shouts, nor do you need to whine when the teenager whines. Hated that, but the story kept me engaged.