A Joyful Noise

I logged on to see if there's an excerpt of this wonderful book, so I could send it to all my family and friends online. I am only 60 pages into it - because the copy I bought for my husband has been out of loan constantly! We love Westport so I thought my husband was biased in saying this was a great book as he laughed out loud, but once again, he is SO right! Read this book if you love to see the humor in family relationships!

When Aunt K forgets that there's not a horse in front of the car and drives off the road, I laughed out loud. This special look into Janet Gillespie's time spent at her grandmother's home in Westport Point, MA is delightful. Stories of sailing to the mudflats to hunt for clams, unforgettable special breakfasts and funny visitors from the city are told so you see clearly an era gone by - a time when summers - and bare feet - went on forever. What a happy childhood!

My family and I discovered this book on a summer vacation in Cape Cod. Ever since, whenever we've found it at used book sales we've snapped it up to give to friends. Warm, hilarious, endearing, inspiring (to parents hoping to create the same quality of memories for their own children), this book, though set in the 1920s and very much a part of that era, is in its depiction of family relationships, timeless. One of my favorite memories is of my father, a dignified man, now deceased, attempting to read aloud to me a section dealing with Pop and the Reader's Digest... he was chuckling so hard he was hoarse and had to stop and wipe tears from his eyes. (Twelve years later I can still see him.)Buy this book and dive in for a wonderful read.

Joyful Noise is back in print! Yeah! I've become a regular to the area of Massachusetts where the book is set, and this book was great summer reading for me. It's a wonderful story about all the characters of her family, and their adventures. Beautifully written.

My grandmother wrote this book and I believe it is a gem! She has a wonderful story telling ability and an amazing ability to recall her happy childhood. Her sense of humor is evident throughout the book. One of my favorite chapters refers to her trip to the church bazaar to purchase Christmas presents for her parents and her brothers. She was so joyful in her purchases - presents to which she gave a great deal of thought. I have shared this book with several of my friends and have always recieved rave reviews. If you get ahold of a copy of it - hang onto it! It is a treasure.