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serendipitysbooks's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Seventeen years later Grazia Deledda became the second woman to be honoured, for “her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general”. After the Divorce is set on Sardinia and the descriptions of the island are magical. Constantino is convicted and imprisoned for a murder that he didn’t commit, but accepts his fate as punishment for his marrying in a civil rather than church ceremony. His imprisonment leaves his wife Giovanna destitute, with no way of providing for herself and her family. She takes advantage of a new law to divorce him and goes on to marry a wealthy but brutish man. When the true murderer confesses Constantino is released and he and Giovanna begin an affair.
This felt rather melodramatic to me, probably a reflection of when it was written. The plot did highlight issues with the power wielded by the Catholic Church as well as the lack of power, agency and options available to women, and the way they were judged harshly regardless. I also very much enjoyed the depictions of the social interactions among the islanders and seeing how money played into them.
hashtag_alison's review
3.0
This novel is an interesting mix between juicy scandal and cautionary tale. While the details of the story seem a little overwrought now, I can see how it would have housewives in a tizzy back when it was published. However the constant religious overtones pull it out of daytime soap territory in a way that I personally found somewhat mismatched.
What it succeeds in best is being a readable and compelling portrait of its time, like a character study of a decade. That's not usually something I can hold an interest in (maybe because those are usually about the 70s for some reason?) but this was an interesting, quick read despite its heavy subject and scope.
What it doesn't succeed at so much is building relatable characters. They all feel a little exaggerated and cartoonish and would seem more at home in some form of satire than in such a serious story. Because of this (and the constant self-flagellation (see religious overtones)) it was hard for me to feel strongly for anyone. Every time something happens they jump into these big dramatic "woe is me" monologues and it's like Okay, you got enough feelings about this for both of us.
In conclusion, while I didn't enjoy it in the way one wants to enjoy a juicy book about a controversial divorce, or a book with compelling story and characters, I do feel like I learned something and in the end I'm glad a read it, I feel like I expanded my horizons by doing so.
That sounds a little harsher than I intended. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm on the positive side of ambivalent about this book. Like, it's more something you'd be forced to read in a Lit class, but it's one of the ones you wouldn't mind having to read.
I like that better. That's my summary.
What it succeeds in best is being a readable and compelling portrait of its time, like a character study of a decade. That's not usually something I can hold an interest in (maybe because those are usually about the 70s for some reason?) but this was an interesting, quick read despite its heavy subject and scope.
What it doesn't succeed at so much is building relatable characters. They all feel a little exaggerated and cartoonish and would seem more at home in some form of satire than in such a serious story. Because of this (and the constant self-flagellation (see religious overtones)) it was hard for me to feel strongly for anyone. Every time something happens they jump into these big dramatic "woe is me" monologues and it's like Okay, you got enough feelings about this for both of us.
In conclusion, while I didn't enjoy it in the way one wants to enjoy a juicy book about a controversial divorce, or a book with compelling story and characters, I do feel like I learned something and in the end I'm glad a read it, I feel like I expanded my horizons by doing so.
That sounds a little harsher than I intended. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm on the positive side of ambivalent about this book. Like, it's more something you'd be forced to read in a Lit class, but it's one of the ones you wouldn't mind having to read.
I like that better. That's my summary.
franfernandezarce's review
3.0
*3.5*
in 2017, it was the year of virginia woolf. in 2018, it was the year of marcel proust. in 2019, it will be the year of the female nobel prize laureates. hurrah!
FEBRUARY: grazia deledda (won in 1926, 17 years after the first woman, selma lagerlöf)
according to the nobel commity, deledda won due to her "idealistically inspired writings, which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general." i would say that sounds about right.
there's nothing trully spectacular about this novel. the title itself gives away the ending (not the mention of a divorce, because that seems fairly obvious but the subtitle of being a romance ) although i wouldn't really complain about it. i don't really have much to complain about this novel overall. i didn't dislike it neither i loved it. certainly, i would recommend it--although i wouldn't put it at the top of my list of recent reads to recommend.
quite neither here nor there. to be honest, this book was too short to achieve more than it set out to do.
in terms of style, it reminded me to [b:Three Cheers for the Paraclete|1347891|Three Cheers for the Paraclete|Thomas Keneally|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1189649009s/1347891.jpg|1890577]. very simple and domestic without being actually dull; which, i suppose, amounts much to the author's talent as well as the translator's. in terms of the plot, the premise makes it sound as if the stakes are much higher than what they actually are. i was expecting something a bit more soap-oper-ish; instead, it was nothing of the sort. it is, indeed, dramatic, just not overly.
it more or less amounts to an autumn read, its brevity assuring you a comfortable read for a single afternoon while you relax and not worry about much.
in 2017, it was the year of virginia woolf. in 2018, it was the year of marcel proust. in 2019, it will be the year of the female nobel prize laureates. hurrah!
FEBRUARY: grazia deledda (won in 1926, 17 years after the first woman, selma lagerlöf)
according to the nobel commity, deledda won due to her "idealistically inspired writings, which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general." i would say that sounds about right.
there's nothing trully spectacular about this novel. the title itself gives away the ending (not the mention of a divorce, because that seems fairly obvious but the subtitle of being a romance ) although i wouldn't really complain about it. i don't really have much to complain about this novel overall. i didn't dislike it neither i loved it. certainly, i would recommend it--although i wouldn't put it at the top of my list of recent reads to recommend.
quite neither here nor there. to be honest, this book was too short to achieve more than it set out to do.
in terms of style, it reminded me to [b:Three Cheers for the Paraclete|1347891|Three Cheers for the Paraclete|Thomas Keneally|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1189649009s/1347891.jpg|1890577]. very simple and domestic without being actually dull; which, i suppose, amounts much to the author's talent as well as the translator's. in terms of the plot, the premise makes it sound as if the stakes are much higher than what they actually are. i was expecting something a bit more soap-oper-ish; instead, it was nothing of the sort. it is, indeed, dramatic, just not overly.
it more or less amounts to an autumn read, its brevity assuring you a comfortable read for a single afternoon while you relax and not worry about much.
cassiel's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
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