Divining Women

Rating:
Summary: Uneven, Still Worthwhile
Review: The first thing I had to do with this book was create a genealogy chart. Then I went back and started reading it over again. That done, I was finally drawn in. The beginning, with the flashbacks of how dreadful Troop's mother was, struck me two ways. First, however evil she was, her character was simply too cardboard to support what her son became. Second, I loved the way that, in contrast, the household in Washington was developed. Mary's mother, two sets of grandparents, and their free-thinking circle, were delightful. I don't know how believable it was that a well-known nudist and his family would appear so often (or perhaps Nora made that up too!) in the newspapers, or dine so often in society or diplomatic circles. I think Washington may have been too "proper" then, as now.

Mary's fear of Troop turned out to be very well founded. Her concern for Maureen was every bit as well founded. Troop's character was a little less cardboard than that of his mother, but not much. We saw more of him, saw that in his business dealings he was more or less a success. At least enough so that he could build a large impressive house for his wife. One interesting clue is that the house was originally built with a bedroom for him and a bedroom for her. She had no say over the rest of the house, but was allowed to decorate hers as she saw fit. Apparently this was because theirs was an asexual relationship until he decided to allow her a child before forcing a hysterectomy on her. And I agree with other reviewers that this is an excellent example of a verbally abusive marriage. The verbal aggression stole all the things he professed to care about her when he married her. But indeed, he never cared about her, because he was not capable of caring. Notice I don't use the word love because that never entered into his calculations at all.

The fact that the primary action of the novel takes place in Maureen's room, until she has already, with Mary's help, decided to take back herself, is important. That room she has created to get away from him finally becomes just too claustrophobic. She has to break out, and knows that she will, after the baby frees her from her body.

I didn't give it more stars because I found some of the language jarring. It just didn't "feel" like 1918. I know there were feminists then, and sadists then, and women's friendships forged in the oddest of circumstances. But it is only the last that I really believed in in this story.

Rating:
Summary: Very Weak Book
Review: This is a pretty dismal book. The characters are one-dimensional and stereotypical, be they major or minor characters, and as a result, they are not interesting at all. In a book in which there is not much plot, the characters should be much more complex. The writing style in general is not bad, and does a decent job of evoking the tone of the early 20th century.