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mimimilaa's review against another edition
3.0
*3.5 stars
Contemporary-A-Thon Book #3
While this is technically full of historical stories about interesting women that didn't get the fame they deserved, each story focuses mostly on the women and not the time period that they are alive (with a few exceptions where aspects such as segregation are important). Therefore, I am still counting it for this readathon.
Contemporary-A-Thon Book #3
While this is technically full of historical stories about interesting women that didn't get the fame they deserved, each story focuses mostly on the women and not the time period that they are alive (with a few exceptions where aspects such as segregation are important). Therefore, I am still counting it for this readathon.
dilchh's review against another edition
2.0
I know I did say that I was somewhat bored with the story, but it does not mean this is a boring book. I think others might have enjoyed this book more. It has a great premise, and it was very interesting for me to go and search about the real lives of the women that were mentioned in this book. It was interesting to imagine that had these women were born in today’s era, they could have been bigger and more impactful than they were already are. It was inspiring to see women from the bygone era that had already fought of what was deemed as normal and acceptable by the society during that time. Although I must say that it was possible for these women to be true to who they are; be it a speed boat racer, an avid smoker, an open lesbian and/or bisexual, simply because they came from somewhat of an influential family, therefore they seem to be untouchable.
Apart from the very interesting characters in the book, I have to say that I don’t really enjoy the author’s voice very much. It was always so dark, depressing, and sad. I don’t know if that was in anyway intentional, but reading it for almost on every story in the book is just so exhausting for me. I feel like it was an endless battle between giving up this book or just march on and see if by the end of the book I would have changed mu mind (spoiler: I have not changed my mind, I still think it was exhausting). I get that these were suppose to be short stories, but it just irks me so much that many of the stories had no proper ending whatsoever. I am a firm believer that a story has to have a proper ending. I mean, you brought up what seem to be a problem that your characters are facing and then the story just abruptly end. I don’t know what am I suppose to do with that.
Make no mistake, I still think those who enjoy historical fiction, stories about powerful and interesting women, and just enjoy interesting and different kinds of short stories, would probably enjoy this book. So, if you are any one of those people, do give this book a try. I know I made it sound like this book is such a bore and a chore, but there are some interesting stories worth noting; namely stories on Allegra Byron which is such a tragic story, Butterfly McQueen’s story which is very thought provoking, Dolly Wilde’s story about wasted life, and the story about the women in Bergen-Belsen which I find the most interesting of all.
Apart from the very interesting characters in the book, I have to say that I don’t really enjoy the author’s voice very much. It was always so dark, depressing, and sad. I don’t know if that was in anyway intentional, but reading it for almost on every story in the book is just so exhausting for me. I feel like it was an endless battle between giving up this book or just march on and see if by the end of the book I would have changed mu mind (spoiler: I have not changed my mind, I still think it was exhausting). I get that these were suppose to be short stories, but it just irks me so much that many of the stories had no proper ending whatsoever. I am a firm believer that a story has to have a proper ending. I mean, you brought up what seem to be a problem that your characters are facing and then the story just abruptly end. I don’t know what am I suppose to do with that.
Make no mistake, I still think those who enjoy historical fiction, stories about powerful and interesting women, and just enjoy interesting and different kinds of short stories, would probably enjoy this book. So, if you are any one of those people, do give this book a try. I know I made it sound like this book is such a bore and a chore, but there are some interesting stories worth noting; namely stories on Allegra Byron which is such a tragic story, Butterfly McQueen’s story which is very thought provoking, Dolly Wilde’s story about wasted life, and the story about the women in Bergen-Belsen which I find the most interesting of all.
addy_rose's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
The overall concept and want to highlight women who were historically written out and undermined was genuinely interesting, but unfortunately the execution just didn't work. The author wrote in a very unemotional and detached way that made nothing these women did feel important or worth something. I also struggled a lot with deciphering what was true about these women since most of the stories are written from a second persons point of view of the woman of topic, but they weren't a real person in their life. So it felt very difficult to decipher what was true about these females and what was how a fictional character was viewing and interacting with them, it was a bit challenging and only detached the reader more from the importance of these females and who they were. All in all there were some stories I thoroughly enjoyed but this book feels like a weak jumping point to just learn different names and do your own research and learning, not to glean actual information about these women or to take really anything from.
winterafternoons's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted this to be so much more than it was. Maybe it's because I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but everything here felt shallow and incomplete. The writing was average, nothing special. But some of the stories were interesting and she did manage to capture my interest enough to finish the whole thing. I liked the variety of emotions she captured and the different range of characters and situations. My favorite was probably the story about Lucia Joyce.
laila4343's review
5.0
I loved this book. These stories are fierce and alive, and often sad. It made my TBR explode, because I wanted to read about the real women that inspired the stories. I headed straight to Google after every story. I want to write a blog post about this when my brain doesn't feel like swiss cheese.
lgmaxwell722's review
3.0
What most impressed me about this book was the women who I read about. I definitely want to learn more about some of the characters. Although the work is historical fiction I thought the stories were very well done. An intriguing read to learn more about women lost in the fabric of life.
toniclark's review against another edition
5.0
If I were to rate this book in light of all the fiction I’ve read in the past couple of years, I’d probably give it four stars. But as a short-story collection, it definitely gets five from me.
Megan Mayhew Bergman’s Almost Famous Women is best story collection I’ve read in a while. In fact, it will probably remain an all-time favorite — both for the clever idea and for the execution. In both content and style, it’s a standout. From the Author’s Note, it’s clear that Bergman spent many years researching the lives of these real-life, “almost famous” women, women known to us mainly, if at all, by association with others more famous — for example Lord Byron’s illegitimate daughter, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s sister Norma, Oscar Wilde’s niece Dolly.
The theme binds these stories together and there are some interesting links between the characters in them, as well. For instance, the main character in one story might be mentioned as a past lover in another. Yet each of these stories stands alone. Each is a gem in its own right.
Bergman creates unusual and fascinating settings and vivid, complex characters to people them. I particularly liked the stories in which the point of view is that of someone close to the almost famous one. Naomi Fry wrote in the New York Times (Jan 30, 2015) that, “By including these lesser-known women, Bergman emphasizes the charisma of their better-known contemporaries; and by assiduously depicting their intimacy and power struggles, she allows for a close examination of the multiplicity of women’s experiences.” That I fell wholly and easily into each story is due both to the subject matter and to the intellectual curiosity and skill of the writer. Bergman makes each of these largely forgotten women seem larger than life. This is the best of historical fiction. But there’s more. These stories, singly and taken together, celebrate lives lived fully and passionately, even if they sometimes end tragically. They encourage us to think about the boundaries of our own and others’ lives and how to live within them or enlarge the living space.
There are a couple of exceptions to the general theme. One is "The Lottery, Redux,” a retelling of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and set in a near and dystopian future. And there are a couple of shorter pieces which didn’t seem to fit into the collection as well, but which work well as short-shorts.
I greatly appreciated the Author’s Note, in which Bergman discusses the sources of both her inspirations and the historical details with which she fleshed out these tales. I’m grateful to Bergman for having brought these almost famous women back to life. Just imagine how many more such stories could be told.
I read the gorgeous paperback with its stunning, shimmering orange and silver cover. I’m trying to cut back on hard copies these days, but this one’s a keeper.