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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
It’s a book within a book: Isadora is the family historian, taking after her grandmother, Thelma, otherwise known as Tommy. When Isadora’s own mother needs money for her care, the daughters decide to list their mother’s home and all of their grandmother Tommy’s assorted treasures for sale. Isadora finds documents and combining them with stories from her grandmother, weaves a tale about her grandmother’s fascinating life, beginning when her great-grandmother Glenna decided to move her girls to the wilds of Montana, leaving her cheating husband by himself. While Glenna is more consumed with her own passions and her own life, Tommy is stuck with raising herself and younger sister Katherine. The novel follows Tommy’s journey from 5 years old until beyond her death, culminating in a fascinating perspective on American history and culture in the 20th century. This is more than just a historical fiction novel or a novel about women’s lives. It’s a story about independence, about relationships between sisters, between mothers and daughters and the familial bonds between generations. I highly enjoyed this novel.
I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.
"Drawn from the author’s own family history, An Elegant Woman is a story of discovery and reinvention, following four generations of women in one American family."
Kind of a meandering tale, I had a hard time getting into the story and found myself reading sections twice to remind myself of who was who and what was what.
2 stars
"Drawn from the author’s own family history, An Elegant Woman is a story of discovery and reinvention, following four generations of women in one American family."
Kind of a meandering tale, I had a hard time getting into the story and found myself reading sections twice to remind myself of who was who and what was what.
2 stars
I didn’t feel emotionally invested in this story or its characters. There were many characters but we didn't go deep enough into any of their stories for me to relate or empathize. Uneven, lacking a focus I was looking for in the narrative.
A sweeping epic family story, An Elegant Woman attempts a grand story of the 20th century, that in times felt like it took a lot of effort to get through.
For my full review, please visit my blog at: http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2020/05/27/an-elegant-woman-book-review/
Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
For my full review, please visit my blog at: http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2020/05/27/an-elegant-woman-book-review/
Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
This century-spanning family saga’s summary caught my attention with a description of 3 sisters organizing their grandmother’s possessions after her death “trying to decide what to salvage and what to toss.” (After performing these tasks at my own grandfather’s home last year I felt especially drawn to this topic.) An Elegant Woman is author Martha McPhee’s family history, including all the stories that have been passed down, leaving room for multiple revisions and embellishment through 4 generations of women. The 400 page book reads like a novel, but exists in that strange spot somewhere between non-fiction and fiction…creative non-fiction. I liked reading this but would tend to drift off thinking about my own family stories. I highlighted a lot of great lines throughout that were powerful not only in relation to the story but to me personally (controlling your own narrative, the vicious repetitions of motherhood, familial expectations, etc.) Readers who want a traditional story structure (beginning, middle, major event, climax, conclusion) may not like this, but if you enjoy individual family histories and are open to a more abstract story structure you should give it a shot.
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This century-spanning family saga’s summary caught my attention with a description of 3 sisters organizing their grandmother’s possessions after her death “trying to decide what to salvage and what to toss.” (After performing these tasks at my own grandfather’s home last year I felt especially drawn to this topic.) An Elegant Woman is author Martha McPhee’s family history, including all the stories that have been passed down, leaving room for multiple revisions and embellishment through 4 generations of women. The 400 page book reads like a novel, but exists in that strange spot somewhere between non-fiction and fiction…creative non-fiction. I liked reading this but would tend to drift off thinking about my own family stories. I highlighted a lot of great lines throughout that were powerful not only in relation to the story but to me personally (controlling your own narrative, the vicious repetitions of motherhood, familial expectations, etc.) Readers who want a traditional story structure (beginning, middle, major event, climax, conclusion) may not like this, but if you enjoy individual family histories and are open to a more abstract story structure you should give it a shot.
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An Elegant Woman is a story about Stewart sisters and their mother Glenna. The author has drawn stories from her own life and the characters are wonderfully written. I couldn't relate to them, but I could feel them. This is my first multigenerational family story. I was surprised that I loved it. If you want to read heavy, emotional women's fiction, pick this one. Not an easy or fast read, but definitely an inspiring one about what we choose to remember/tell about our own lives!
Thank you NetGalley, Martha McPhee and Scribner for letting me read and review this memorable book. This review is my own and is not influenced in any way.
Thank you NetGalley, Martha McPhee and Scribner for letting me read and review this memorable book. This review is my own and is not influenced in any way.
adventurous
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Complicated, rambling story. Based on the author’s family, so the characters take precedence over plot. Two characters are so similar (the narrator’s grandmother and great grandmother) that it was a bit confusing at first.
At almost the exact middle of the book, the main character, the narrator’s grandmother “Katherine”, aka Tommy, Mrs Charles Mitchell Brown, Aunt Thelma and Grammy, has a conversation with her employer. After making several uncomfortably penetrating observations, he gives her some advice: ownership your narrative, whatever you want it to be. We create our origin stories, our myths, and we believe them, and then others believe them. And then they are the truth.” Katherine goes on to take the raw material of her life, blends it with the origin stories handed down to her, and creates an epically mythical story to hand down to her children and her children’s children.
I love family sagas, and this is a wide-ranging one covering a vast space of time and distance. Like the narrator, at one point I needed to write down the family tree.
If there is a weakness, it is in Winter’s story, which is perhaps more told than lived. But all of these characters are absorbing and complex. I enjoyed the book immensely.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I love family sagas, and this is a wide-ranging one covering a vast space of time and distance. Like the narrator, at one point I needed to write down the family tree.
If there is a weakness, it is in Winter’s story, which is perhaps more told than lived. But all of these characters are absorbing and complex. I enjoyed the book immensely.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A "moving, multigenerational saga" is one that always piques my interest. At the start I quite liked this one, the writing was lovely and the idea of cleaning out the house and sifting through many artifacts and memories of the strong matriarchs in the family was intriguing. However, it begins to run dry, and I struggled to keep up with the many names and the overall focus of the story. This kind of story should have been something that I connected with and strongly, but I found that I just could not connect with it much at all. Sadly. It wasn't one that I wanted to reach for every chance I got and that unfortunately is a clear indication it just isn't working as well for me as I had hoped.