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ttodd86's review
4.0
Although it is sometimes noted that this book is a bit of a departure from his usual subject matter, Woodrell's regular readers will recognize the region, character types and the language of The Maid's Version. Another very good book from an author who deserves more notoriety than he receives. One issue in this book might be the structure, where he jumps around a bit in time. Given that this is a relatively quick read, that type of jumping around -- although apparently troubling to some readers and reviewers -- is not as problematic here as it might
labunnywtf's review
3.0
Disappointing. I agree with other reviewers, the format made this very difficult to follow. For a short book, there's an awful lot of information, and it all becomes jumbled after awhile. I still barely understand what I read.
The ending was also disappointing. I expected better, I didn't expect that the person you suspected throughout would actually be the whodunnit.
The ending was also disappointing. I expected better, I didn't expect that the person you suspected throughout would actually be the whodunnit.
lisawhelpley's review
4.0
Wow, great book. Not something you can casually read and not pay attention, but WORTH IT to really get absorbed in the story. The writing is just gorgeous.
barbaraskalberg's review
1.0
Meh. Wasn't interesting enough to continue. I found I just didn't care.
ridgewaygirl's review
4.0
In The Maid's Version, Daniel Woodrell stays with his usual Ozark setting, this time in the small town of West Table, Missouri, but goes back ninety years to a fire in a dance hall that killed 42 people. Revolving around a teenage boy named Alek who goes to visit his grandmother in 1965, the book shifts in time and between points of view, but constantly returns to Alma, and what she knew. Alma, a near illiterate maid working in the house of the bank president at the time of the fire, is willing to share her memories and suspicions with her grandson.
Woodrell doesn't believe in padding. Each of his novels is pared to the bone, with much left unsaid. The Maid's Version is no different in this regard, although there is a wider focus, giving less the story of a person or event than a picture of a small town in the Ozarks between the Great War and the Great Depression. West Table may be a fine place for many, but for those struggling to get by, it's as harsh an environment as any. Alma and her sister Ruby, raised by a hardworking mother who is unable to cope when her useless and abusive husband dies, are left to fend for themselves before they were teenagers. Alma finds work as a maid, but Ruby discovers that there are easier ways to earn a living.
This is a terrific book, with a host of wonderfully complex characters realized in as few words as possible.
Woodrell doesn't believe in padding. Each of his novels is pared to the bone, with much left unsaid. The Maid's Version is no different in this regard, although there is a wider focus, giving less the story of a person or event than a picture of a small town in the Ozarks between the Great War and the Great Depression. West Table may be a fine place for many, but for those struggling to get by, it's as harsh an environment as any. Alma and her sister Ruby, raised by a hardworking mother who is unable to cope when her useless and abusive husband dies, are left to fend for themselves before they were teenagers. Alma finds work as a maid, but Ruby discovers that there are easier ways to earn a living.
This is a terrific book, with a host of wonderfully complex characters realized in as few words as possible.
littletaiko's review
3.0
I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. The premised is interesting - a mysterious explosion at a dance hall kills a large group of people. Who was responsible? One member of the town seems to know and eventually over the course of the book, the reader does too. My main problem is with how the story unfolded in a very non-linear fashion. Sometimes that works, but here it made it really difficult to get into the story or to develop a connection with the characters.
emiliedoleshel's review
4.0
Loved this book. The prose was beautiful and artful. I couldn't put this little book down.
tensy's review
4.0
This is a cross-genre type of book. While it does contain a mystery at its heart, the story dwells mostly in the character development of a town's worth of Missourians. Woodrell is a beautiful writer and captures the cadence of speech found in southern Missouri towns. Its one major flaw is the structure. The story flips back and forth in time and with characters, which often leaves the reader perplexed, and in the audiobook version which I listened to, required frequent rewinding. For a short novella, this one packs a wallop, highly recommend!
kategci's review
4.0
Daniel Woodrell writes beautiful novels about sad situations. This time he has written about a dance hall fire which actually happened in 1939 in Missouri and made national news. He has moved it back to 1929 and set it in the fictional small town of West Table. West Table is like other small towns with both wealthy and poor living near each other, but separately. The fire and explosion bridges the gap between the wealthy and poor as the Saturday evening dance was attended by many townspeople regardless of social status. The cause of the explosion is never made public and this novel follows Alma deGeerDunahew's quest to have the real truth told. Alma was a maid to several wealthy families and believed there was a cover-up to protect reputations. Over the course of the summer, she tells her version of the story to her grandson. Woodrell has written a quick, captivating story about a forgotten tragedy.