A review by suannelaqueur
An Elegant Woman by Martha McPhee

4.0

So this is the third book I've read in 2022 that I categorize as "narrative nonfiction masquerading as fiction." Or maybe vice-versa. Anyway. Violeta was a bomb (and I'm a huge Allende fan so it kills me to say that); the Troubleseeker was better, but it couldn't sustain itself; An Elegant Woman is by far the most successful. Still, while I thought the writing was spectacular, I found the book organized very strangely. Jumping all over in time in between the first person present narrator and the events of the past. There are a lot of characters to keep track of but their development was excellent. The writing sustained me through the convoluted storyline. I enjoyed reading this but it did take effort.