This was my first Kaye Gibbons book. . . .I loved it. It's actually hard to amuse me when I'm reading, and when it happens, it feels extraordinary. This one did that, the voice of Betty tells you (the Reader) about living as tight as a shadow with her mother Lottie, and her mother's mother's experience (that'd be Bridget, ya know), and the communities from whence they spring, and where they sprang to, and weaves many extra characters and happenings that keep you engaged and interested over your

Kaye Gibbons is one of my favorite authors. Fell in love with the book Ellen Foster.

Slices of life in rural Virginia which I thoroughly enjoyed. Women of home places during the first half of the 20th century and primarily in depression lacks. Honesty to crass words to valor. Work and card time within every day patterns and extremes. Loved the particular dialect and flavor. Every bit. No remnant was boring to me and no detail staid or flavorless. Betty lived nearly an antithesis for my own style, place and time period of community. Yet that didn't stop at all my thorough embeddi...

It pains me to give this 2 stars, because I find comfort and familiarity in Kaye Gibbon's writing, and this was no exception - she has a knack for giving strong, Southern woman an authentic and unique voice. However, this story was just... boring.

This is a quirky and brief novel by the North Carolina writer–part of my 20th-Century Backlist project.It follows four generations (very quickly) of women in a family that settles in rural North Carolina, from the Depression to the middle of World War II.It's funny at times, feels very old-fashioned in its narrative style, and is worth the quick read. I think a more representative choice for Gibbons would have been A Virtuous Woman or Ellen Foster. I'm surprised that the list I pulled this from

I read A Cure for Dreams only about a week ago and yet when I came to write this review, I realized I couldn’t remember a thing about it! Which is in itself a rather damning review… And yet I rather liked A Cure for Dreams. The fact is, it’s not about plot. It’s more about evoking this small Southern town, and what it’s like for the women who live there. The character studies are compelling and beautifully drawn, the prose is lovely, the atmosphere immersive, and yet not very much happens (and y...

This was an interesting historical novel about life in rural Virginia and Kentucky, set in the first half of the 20th century (including the "sinful city" of Richmond, where I lived for a couple years). The family's troubles felt authentic, and the author even researched songs of the period about the WPA and midwifing. There is a lot to like about the book - strong women characters and some nice colorful writing. For example, Mother Betty's death was described thusly: she "died in a chair talkin...

Years ago a friend introduced me to the work of Kaye Gibbons. Ellen Foster was a treasure as was A Virtuous Woman, so when hunting for something other than murder, I came across this novel. I have to say, that while the writing was still worthwhile, the story itself just left me flat. I just can't recommend it. Dang.

Like Erskine Caldwell, Irene Nemirovsky, Kaye Gibbons is an author who writes books that appeal to me, this one is no exception. A+++++++

More a linked collection of very short stories than a novel. Didn't mind the general drift — an arch description of the semi-secret life of women in a male-dominated (in fewer respects than the men may think) community in the middle of North Carolina from the First World War to the Second. The stories are somewhat revealing and often fairly funny, although one-dimensional. Did mind the narrative voice, which I interpreted as artificial and overly mannered; that may be wrong but the writing felt

Love the strong women Kaye Gibbons creates and all their southern ways. This was no Charms for the Easy Life—but I guess not every book can be. But it was still endearing and quirky. I’ll pick up anything she writes down.

If a novel can be winsome, this one is. Kaye Gibbons gives us the appealingly candid Betty who shares not gauzy reminiscences but tart recollections of her life from the earliest days of childhood to her beginning days as a young mother. Betty has the capacity to see, savor, and matter-of-factly share with us the eccentricities in all of the figures who populate her life, but most especially, the women. Because she sees herself and them without sentimentality, she can embrace them that much more...

Once I'd read "Ellen Foster" I couldn't get enough of Kaye Gibbons, and devoured all the books by her I could find. This one is set in the small towns of Virginia and Kentucky and celebrates strong women who survive within their rural communities.

I learned some about female relationships. I think this would have worked better as a short story.

Kaye Gibbon's story of 3 generations of strong irish women. Read this book to the end, but did not find it that compelling. I definitely love this author, but to me this wasnt her best work...

Quick read told as a conversation between mother and daughter. Nice switch between voices. I've read a few of her books.

Disappointing, in light of Ellen Foster which I really enjoyed.

Another one that tugs your heart.I love anything Kaye Gibbons writes. She has a way of reaching in and grabbing your heart strings. Good read!

I am currently reading this book and I just finished reading chapter 6. Something I like abut this book is that, the chapters are very short so it's very easy to understand the story. "A Cure For Dreams" is about a girl named Betty Davies Randolph. She is telling her daughter the story about her mother, Lottie O'Cadhain. So far Betty starts off by explaining how great of a mother Lottie was. She explains how everyone in there town loved her and she was an extremely talkative person. Than she sta...

Here's my 2 cents:I finished this book the same day I checked it out and never once read it's description, a thrill if you will. As for me, I loved this book and it will stay on my shelf of "comforting little reads", however, this is a hate it or love it book.The character's don't have much depth, the stories jump around despite it being in chronological order, it covers a bunch of topics from suicide to childbirth, and despite all these "blemishes", these flaws are what made this book a great o...

This is a chronicle of the lives of two people - a mother (Lottie) and daughter (Betty). The book is mainly told from Betty's POV, although Betty's daughter both introduces and concludes the book with a short letters.Lottie and Betty's lives are filled with the burden of being poor and with being women when that didn't mean much, but this book is surprisingly light. The misfortunes of the characters, Lottie and Betty but also the supporting cast of family and townsfolk, are told in an amusing, a...

My Original Notes (1997):Not nearly as good as her other books. Same sort of plot, too. (Strong women and men that leave them.) It didn't grab me like Charms for the Easy Life. A quick read, though. So-so.My Current Thoughts:After reading Charms for the Easy Life and Ellen Foster (both of which I loved), I was eager to read all of Gibbons' backlist and went on to read A Virtuous Woman and A Cure for Dreams. I read all four within one month and now I wonder if that's why I wasn't as impressed wit...

3.5 stars. This is a heartwarming story of a Depression era family living in a small S Carolina town. The characters are so sweetly drawn it was a pleasure getting to know them. The women's relationships are the center of the work. The story is almost secondary. Every character is quirky and individual. Betty, the main character and focal point of the story goes from teen to married young woman. Her mother is an inveterate gossip and through her we know the life of the women in the town. It is a...

This very short and spare novel features Betty Davies Randolph telling the story of her mother, and of her own childhood and young adulthood, marriage, and her daughter's birth. Betty and her mother Lottie were both strong women who led their lives as they saw fit (though they weren't necessarily happy in the end--are these stories meant to be the cure for her own daughter's dreams?). As usual, I would have liked more--especially more from Marjorie. I definitely want to read Gibbons' better-know...

Kaye Gibbons' narrative can start in the middle and make you feel like you've known her characters all your life. This story of free-spirited Lottie O'Cadhain Davies and her "mini-me" daughter Betty had me cheering their self-reliance while mourning their misfortune in choosing life partners in the hard-scrabble, pre-Depression South. Men are characterized as, at best, necessary evils or at worst, "a cure for dreams".

I picked this one up because it's been on my shelves forever. I don't know why it's taken me this long to get to it, but that's kind of the book it is - unassuming. Short, beautifully written, and not much really happens. It's just a peek into one character's world. It was the everyday-ness of a life - nothing earth shattering, but plenty of prose that made me nod with appreciation. I've been thinking ever since I finished it -- what makes this simple and ordinary story feel like a classic?

3.5/5 I needed a book that I could read quickly to honor my one book per week resolution and this did the trick. I've been a fan of Kaye Gibbons since Charms of the Easy Life and this book had a similar voice of strong female generations. However, the other edge of a quick read is there isn't a depth to the story, although the characterizations were strong.

I truly enjoyed the book. Other reviews claim the book was boring or slow, but I felt that the pace was fitting for the time and town, without a lot of exaggeration. There were moments where I literally laughed loud and others where one of the relationships reminded me so much of one my own. If you're looking for a light-hearted, lazy Sunday read, I'd recommend this book!

I grew up in North Carolina, hearing the women talk about their lives, and reading this novel made me feel I had come home again. I could see Granny's face and taste her cornbread and fried chicken, accompanied by a chilly glass of "co-cola."

Took me a all summer to finish this Super short book. Just didn’t care for it. I didn’t care about any of the characters, and since this is a character driven not a plot driven book, that is a problem.