Roman Spring of Mrs Stone

Rating:
Summary: Woman Power, Menopause and Nihilism
Review: Mr. Williams has managed, yet again, to create a tragic, flawed and brave heroine who stands unique amongst his other memorable female portrayals.

Newly widowed, the over-indulged and aging socialite Mrs. Stone travels to Rome where, amongst her circle of charmed and wealthy peers, she discovers truths about her own inner life as well as the seedy underbelly of the society in which she'd til now played a prominent and sneering role.

A developing, doomed relationship with a young Italian call-boy (controlled by an equally memorable female pimp) uncovers Mrs. Stone's latent passion and lonliness, leading ultimately to a melodramatic submission to the nihilism of anonymous sex.

The depth of Mrs. Stone's passion combined with her reserved dignity represent (to me) the singular beauty and subtle power increasingly inherent in women as we grow older. A beauty and power that are still tragically devalued and discouraged by our society today, more than 30 years after this timeless prose was written.

Read this book for yourself, and for all of the women in your life.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Williams
Review: Tennessee Williams is, of course, one of the country's master dramatists. So much emphasis is placed on his plays, however, that it is easy to forget that Williams--poet, novelist, essayist--was a true man of letters. While it lacks the intensity of "Streetcar" or the heartbreaking tenderness of "The Glass Menagerie," "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" is vintage Williams just the same. Williams once said that he was interested in characters who "were frightened of life. . .who were desperate to reach out to another person." Karen Stone, a lonely, fragile woman who is desperate to "stop the drift" following the death of her husband and her own fading youth and beauty, is such a character. It will never be considered one of his masterpieces, but it will touch your heart in a way that only Williams can.