Saturday, October 25, 2008

Review - Annie’s Song



Title: Annie’s Song
Author: Catherine Anderson
Publishing Date: 1996
Genre: Western
Rating: A
Sensuality: Hot

Oh my goodness! This book was absolutely fantastic. I was completely touched and enthralled with Annie’s Song. I could not turn the pages fast enough with this amazing story.

Annie Tremble is thought of as the “local idiot”. When she was six years old she suffered a fever and was never the same after it. What people mistake for madness is actually a loss of hearing. Annie is out in the woods when a group of young men come across her. The leader of the group Douglas Montgomery is drunk at the time. He is a mean son of a bitch and he rapes her. One of men in the group rats out Douglas to his brother Alex. Alex is completely shocked and appalled at his brother’s despicable behavior and kicks his brother out of the house. Alex then proceeds to go to Annie’s father and make amends. It comes to light a few months later that Annie is pregnant. Alex decides that the right thing to do is for him to marry Annie and claim the child as his own.

This story is full of emotion. Annie is completely misunderstood by everyone. She is the epitome of loneliness, unable to communicate with others and shunned by society at large. The only interaction she has had with people in her life is her immediate family. Even her own mother, at times, comes across as cruel and ignorant of Annie’s needs. It’s not until halfway into the story that the reader is given a reason for this. All the characters are multifaceted. It would have been very easy to hate Annie’s mom, but she is a complicated woman who made mistakes. She is after all only human and did what she thought was best at the time. I felt compelled to forgive her right along with Alex.

Annie is very innocent and child-like. Anderson does a very good job of showing Annie’s evolution from a scared young girl to a mature woman who knows what she wants out of life. Annie’s changes stem from her involvement with Alex Montgomery. Alex is an absolutely amazing man. Oh, wow. I just loved him. At first he stumbles with Annie. He is not really sure how to deal with her or how to handle the situation he finds himself in. Slowly though, he begins to see that Annie is smart and understands cognitive reasoning. When he discovers that Annie is deaf, I was moved to tears. That was just an absolutely amazing scene in the book; one of many. Then what he does for her, well, I can’t tell you. You will have to read it for yourself. But trust me, he just blew me away.

This book was just freaking fabulous. The depth of emotion Anderson was able to convey was bone deep. I can’t say enough about this book. I don’t know why I haven’t ever read anything by Catherine Anderson before. I will definitely be remedying that situation.

Here is what others had to say:

World According to Books

18 comments:

nath said...

Hi Jill :P

I was waiting to see your review of this one :) I think this was one of her most touching books. Seriously, Annie was a great heroine as well as Alex. I love how innocent she was... That scene where she thinks she's going to give birth from an egg, LOL :P I especially like the ending of this book :P

Sayuri said...

Ok, I'm putting this on the list.

Jill, you are some kind of book pimp!

Jill D. said...

Nath, I couldn't agree with you more. I thought that was so sweet. The ending was good. I liked how Alex gave Annie time to choose for herself. What a great hero!

Jill D. said...

Sayuri,

Oh, take my recommendations with a grain of salt - I might just be talking out of my ass!

I do hope you read this one, though. I thought it was fabulous and I hope you do too. Of course, people have been known to disagree with me :)

Wendy said...

I liked this one, but didn't love it. It veered a little too far into "sugary" territory for my liking and the "egg" scene pretty much pushed me over the edge.

But I'm well aware I'm in the minority on this one - so commence with the rotten tomatoes! LOL

(Pretty sure I still rated this one a B though).

Jill: Have you read Cherish? That's my favorite Catherine Anderson to date. Heroine is the only survivor when her family's wagon train is attacked. Hero is a former gunslinger turned rancher who rescues her.

Lori said...

I absolutely adore Anderson's backlist. Just fantastic!

Jill D. said...

Wendy, LOL, I can see how the egg scene could be too much for some. Don't worry, my throwing arm has a terrible aim :)

This was my first Anderson book. Cherish sounds really good too! I will add it to the list.

Lori, Honestly, I can't believe I have never read anything by her before. She is amazing! What is your favorite?

KT Grant said...

This is my all time favorite Anderson book. Alex and Annie are amazing and the way he treats her and finds out her disability and helps her tears me up every time.

Brie said...

Sounds fantastic. I'll have to add it to my wish list. :) Thanks for the review!

Lady of the Review said...

Hiya! :) Came across your blog via Wendy the Super Librarian. Liked it. Adding it to my sidebar.


And can I just tell you how glad I am that you reviewed Years by LaVyrle Spencer? It's one of my all-time favorite books. I love Linnea and Theodore. Yum!

Kristie (J) said...

I really enjoyed this one and her previous books to this. But then as Wendy said she went way too far into Sugarland for me - but Annie's Song? Thumbs up from me.

Jill D. said...

Katie, I am right there with you. I was reading in bed and my husband walks in the room wondering why the heck I am sobbing over a book! It was just so touching!

Brie, Oh yes, you should definitely read this. It's so different from other books I have read before.

Lady of the Review,

Thanks so much for stopping by. Ever since Wendy pimped me, my blog traffic has really picked up. (Thank you so much Wendy!)

LaVyrle Spencer is awesome! I have only read Years and Morning Glory. I soon plan on remedying that and add Vows to that list. Any others you recommend?

Kristie, So would you say it is her more recent books that are too sugary? Should I stick to her older ones?

~ames~ said...

This is one of the first romances I read way back in the day and I was so happy when I found a copy recently. I haven't read it in over 10 years so I'm holding onto that feeling of anticipation. LOL

I'm glad you liked this one.

Amy said...

This is one of my personal faves!

Christine said...

Wow, Jill. What a wonderful review. I'm moved just from reading your review. I am most definitely going to be reading this one. Despite the fact that I think I'll be in tears the whole time, it sounds very uplifting and heart warming. Thanks so much for the powerful review. And thanks to everyone else for their comments, too. You've all reinforced my need to read this one!

Lady of the Review said...

The Endearment was another one I enjoyed.

After Years, Vows and The Endearment, I started not enjoying Ms. Spencer as much. It got much more formulaic and just not as good (IMHO).

But yeah, if I remember correctly The Endearment was a good one. However, I will warn you it's been about 15 years since I read it, so I can't be 100% on that. :)

Jill D. said...

Christine, Nah, you won't be in tears the whole time, LOL! But it is a very moving story. I hope you get a chance to experience it.

Lady of the Review, I'll add The Endearment and keep in mind your other advice! Thanks. I appreciate your opinion :)

Sunnysmileqt said...

I'm putting this on my book list. This looks amazing. Maybe I'll even take a little cyber trip to amazon tonight...lol :)