Private Life (2010)

Book Info

Author

Jane Smiley

Genre

Historical Fiction

Rating

3.15 of 5 Votes: 4

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ISBN

1400040604 (ISBN13: 9781400040605)

Language

English

Publisher

Knopf

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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About book Private Life (2010)

Jane Smiley has a good story here--I like the setting and the characters--but she doesn't "take me away" any more with her work. I would like this to be less detached. Very hard to get emotional about this story an the characters. Plus she opens with a frame--showing us the present world of the story before heading to the past. This takes away the surprise of the piece. I already know something I wish I didn't. If she had started with the girl and her bicycle rides and then let everything unfold, I would have liked this much much more. I avoid stories about marriages like the plague. However, highly recommend this story of Margaret from Missouri who is married off and lives in San Francisco. She has a few friends, they are remarkable people. She sees the effects of significant events - 1906 San Fran earthquake, WW1, the Spanish flu epidemic, Pearl Harbour - and, sadly, comes to understand her marriage. I am in awe of Margaret's mother, Lavinia. Read this book.