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A review by readingwithmygoldens
An Elegant Woman by Martha McPhee
5.0
4.5 stars rounded up
Since there isn't as much press for this one, I want to provide a short summary for those reading this review. Isadora (a novelist) and two of her sisters are going through their grandmother's belongings as she has passed away and it is their job to review what can be sold or thrown out. You know the deal, that person in your family that saves absolutely everything? Well, that's this scenario. What a nightmare, right? Well, what makes this story so special is that the granddaughters actually know some of the history behind the objects in this house because their grandmother Katherine (aka Thelma, Tommy - more on this later), made it a point to repeatedly tell her children and their children the stories of their family dating all the way back to Mary Queen of Scots up through the Civil War.
Isadora is the granddaughter who was closest to Katherine so while her sisters look at most everything as junk and something to get rid of or sell, she treasures the history in the belongings and wants to write a story on her grandmother. It is from Isadora's point of view that we learn about their grandmother's life. Beginning in the winter of 1910, at a train station where Katherine's mother, Glenna, is taking her and her younger sister out West to Montana to start a new life because Glenna is leaving their father in the dead of night due to his philandering.
The characters in this book are WOW. They are fully developed characters who are powerful, flawed, headstrong and human. There is something in here for everyone. Though Glenna is extremely unlikeable, there is something to be said about how she lived her life and the courage it took to move around the state of Montana and Nevada with the gusto she had. I most enjoyed the dynamic between the sisters, Thelma (who went by Tommy and later became Katherine), and Katherine. I could write a dissertation on their relationship, but I won't because this review already is too long. There is a lot to dislike about both sisters, but I think that's one of the other themes of this book - the humanity we all share as flawed beings. We all make mistakes and all do the best we can in the environment we are raised. The decision that Thelma makes sets both sisters on a course that will reverberate through the generations.
The largest theme discussed in the book, which caused me to ponder about my own family history, (which I unfortunately know very little about), is that what the younger generations know is all based on the stories we are told from our ancestors. If there is no written record (or if that record is difficult to obtain), we can only rely on word of mouth. With this, falsehoods can be inserted and once those falsehoods are accepted as truth, events can be altered. These tiny alterations play a big part in the history of this family and was an interesting perspective that I hadn't considered before.
If you hadn't guessed already - this was a freaking fantastic read. I haven't read historical fiction in a long time (on a genre hiatus), but this reminded me why I love reading about the past. Nostalgia is a powerful force and the history nerd in me was geeking out entirely while reading this meticulously researched book that spanned from 1910 to present times and followed each generation. Multi-generational stories are my JAM and this did not disappoint in the slightest. I read somewhere that this is loosely based on the author's family and so I can see why this book was a decade in the making.
My last thought has to do with generational stories overall, but its something I wish to note here.
There was some slight confusion as I tried to grasp whose point of view we were listening to in the beginning. Once I got the rhythm down, I didn't want to stop reading. I become increasingly annoyed with my generation when reading these books. Most of the time, we are depicted as vapid, money hungry with no regard or appreciation for the past. The steady decline in American life in large part due to loosely regulated capitalism and corporate greed makes me want to vomit. Being born in the early 80's, I remember enough about life with department stores, catalogues, corner/general stores - essentially a more small town feel. I think with advances in technology and globalization there are a lot of positives, but it makes me wish I could take a time machine and visit the world my grandparents grew up in. Make no mistake, I'm not naive enough to think their lives were perfect, but I think human beings had a lot more appreciation for their work, their reputations, their word and how they treated one another than we do now. It really makes me so sad that so many contemporaries have little to no appreciation for the hard work and sacrifices of our ancestors. How hard they worked to make our lives better and how little we regard those struggles because we are so busy living our lives. I want to make it clear that I also think we have a lot more to contend with than previous generations, particularly in a world where the 1% rules everyone else (this is before COVID), but I think the American way of life that my grandparents fought for is dying and I sincerely hope that my generation realizes this and is able to lead us to a better and happier place soon. (Didn't mean to opine for so long about this since it's a little off topic, but the book brought up some very strong feelings for me on this topic. Apologies for the soap box!)
I cannot urge you enough to read this book and I sincerely hope you do.
Thank you to Scribner and Martha McPhee for sending me a print copy to review. Thank you also to Netgalley for providing an egalley to review as well.
Review Date: 05/27/2020
Publication Date: 06/02/2020
Since there isn't as much press for this one, I want to provide a short summary for those reading this review. Isadora (a novelist) and two of her sisters are going through their grandmother's belongings as she has passed away and it is their job to review what can be sold or thrown out. You know the deal, that person in your family that saves absolutely everything? Well, that's this scenario. What a nightmare, right? Well, what makes this story so special is that the granddaughters actually know some of the history behind the objects in this house because their grandmother Katherine (aka Thelma, Tommy - more on this later), made it a point to repeatedly tell her children and their children the stories of their family dating all the way back to Mary Queen of Scots up through the Civil War.
Isadora is the granddaughter who was closest to Katherine so while her sisters look at most everything as junk and something to get rid of or sell, she treasures the history in the belongings and wants to write a story on her grandmother. It is from Isadora's point of view that we learn about their grandmother's life. Beginning in the winter of 1910, at a train station where Katherine's mother, Glenna, is taking her and her younger sister out West to Montana to start a new life because Glenna is leaving their father in the dead of night due to his philandering.
The characters in this book are WOW. They are fully developed characters who are powerful, flawed, headstrong and human. There is something in here for everyone. Though Glenna is extremely unlikeable, there is something to be said about how she lived her life and the courage it took to move around the state of Montana and Nevada with the gusto she had. I most enjoyed the dynamic between the sisters, Thelma (who went by Tommy and later became Katherine), and Katherine. I could write a dissertation on their relationship, but I won't because this review already is too long. There is a lot to dislike about both sisters, but I think that's one of the other themes of this book - the humanity we all share as flawed beings. We all make mistakes and all do the best we can in the environment we are raised. The decision that Thelma makes sets both sisters on a course that will reverberate through the generations.
The largest theme discussed in the book, which caused me to ponder about my own family history, (which I unfortunately know very little about), is that what the younger generations know is all based on the stories we are told from our ancestors. If there is no written record (or if that record is difficult to obtain), we can only rely on word of mouth. With this, falsehoods can be inserted and once those falsehoods are accepted as truth, events can be altered. These tiny alterations play a big part in the history of this family and was an interesting perspective that I hadn't considered before.
If you hadn't guessed already - this was a freaking fantastic read. I haven't read historical fiction in a long time (on a genre hiatus), but this reminded me why I love reading about the past. Nostalgia is a powerful force and the history nerd in me was geeking out entirely while reading this meticulously researched book that spanned from 1910 to present times and followed each generation. Multi-generational stories are my JAM and this did not disappoint in the slightest. I read somewhere that this is loosely based on the author's family and so I can see why this book was a decade in the making.
My last thought has to do with generational stories overall, but its something I wish to note here.
There was some slight confusion as I tried to grasp whose point of view we were listening to in the beginning. Once I got the rhythm down, I didn't want to stop reading. I become increasingly annoyed with my generation when reading these books. Most of the time, we are depicted as vapid, money hungry with no regard or appreciation for the past. The steady decline in American life in large part due to loosely regulated capitalism and corporate greed makes me want to vomit. Being born in the early 80's, I remember enough about life with department stores, catalogues, corner/general stores - essentially a more small town feel. I think with advances in technology and globalization there are a lot of positives, but it makes me wish I could take a time machine and visit the world my grandparents grew up in. Make no mistake, I'm not naive enough to think their lives were perfect, but I think human beings had a lot more appreciation for their work, their reputations, their word and how they treated one another than we do now. It really makes me so sad that so many contemporaries have little to no appreciation for the hard work and sacrifices of our ancestors. How hard they worked to make our lives better and how little we regard those struggles because we are so busy living our lives. I want to make it clear that I also think we have a lot more to contend with than previous generations, particularly in a world where the 1% rules everyone else (this is before COVID), but I think the American way of life that my grandparents fought for is dying and I sincerely hope that my generation realizes this and is able to lead us to a better and happier place soon. (Didn't mean to opine for so long about this since it's a little off topic, but the book brought up some very strong feelings for me on this topic. Apologies for the soap box!)
I cannot urge you enough to read this book and I sincerely hope you do.
Thank you to Scribner and Martha McPhee for sending me a print copy to review. Thank you also to Netgalley for providing an egalley to review as well.
Review Date: 05/27/2020
Publication Date: 06/02/2020