Victorine - A Novel (by Catherine Texier)

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about a remarkable woman named Victorine. She was "ahead of her time" in her aspirations and actions and because of which, would fit in quite nicely with today's "modern" woman. The novel bounces back and forth between past and present. You learn of Victorine's life story through her memories as she sits on the beach reading an old diary that she had kept in the past. Her tale is one of love, heartbreak, joy and regret - of the one she married...and the one that "got away." I didn't fully absorb the fact that this novel was based on the author's own family....Victorine being her great-grandmother... until I read the "Notes on Victorine" included at the end of the novel. Somehow it slipped by me unnoticed that the author of the book (Cathering Texier) and the character, Victorine share the same surname. This novel was truly an exquisite blend of fact and fiction combined with nostalgia that led me to "feel" to some degree the emotions experienced by the heroine herself. However, I don't know that I would have been able to make the same choices as she.

Devining Women

I just finished reading Devining Women by Kaye Gibbons a few days ago. I wanted to take a couple of days to mentally digest what I had read and form a clear opinion before posting to this blog. However, those few days have now passed me by and I am still left with a cloudy impression. I'm somewhat undecided about how to respond to this selection. Technically speaking, the novel was very well-written in a style that was easy to follow. The storyline flowed smoothly with clear, precise transitions. The character descriptions were unique in the fact that the you get more of a sense of who each "person" IS in behavior and manner rather than the typical physical description...which allowed more freedom to "create" your own version of each character in your mind's eye. In other words...you can relish imagining the eccentric grandfather who practices nudism to resemble that little old man who sits in the same spot on the front pew of your church every Sunday - never speaking a word to anyone. And isn't funny how the cruel husband so closely resembles that jerk you dated once (thank God you didn't marry him). As for the story-line itself....it was interesting. As a woman...it made me angry...both for the heroine and at her for not standing up for herself and how dare her husband treat her that way. As a reader...I was glad for the change in Maureen's character...but somehow the end didn't quite satisfy me. My closing thought was ..."hmmm." I wanted something more. The romantic in me was looking for that "happily ever after" ending where Maureen left the jerk...remarried...had a houseful of beautiful children and lived happily ever after. The bitch in me wanted the husband to suffer.

A New Year, A New Book

Or two new books to be more precise. I have finished both The Photograph and All the Pretty Horses. The latter of which I think I mentioned follows the movie plot (or vice versa) so closely that if you have seen/read one, you have seen/read the other as well. So I am moving on. My next "modern" selection is going to be Devining Women by Kaye Gibbons. Here is the excerpt from the book jacket:

"Autumn, 1918: Rumors of peace are spreading across America, but spreading even faster are the first cases of Spanish influenza, whispering of the epidemic to come. Maureen Ross, well past a safe childbearing age, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Her husband, Troop -- cold and careless of her condition -- is an emotional cripple who has battered her spirit throughout their marriage. As Maureen's time grows near, she becomes convinced she will die in childbirth. Into this loveless menage comes Mary Oliver, Troop's niece. The sheltered daughter of a well-to-do, freethinking Washington family, Mary arrives to help Maureen in the last weeks of her confinement. Horrified by Troop's bullying, she soon discovers that her duty is to protect her aunt. As the influenza spreads and the death toll grows, Troop's pitiful behaviors worsen. Tormenting his wife, taunting her for her "low birth," hiding her mother's letters, Troop terrorizes the household. But when Mary fights back, he goes over the edge, and Maureen rallies with a stunning moment of spiritual renewal. In her darkest yet most redeeming novel, Kaye Gibbons scorches us with a firestorm of despair -- then resurrects love and hope from its very ashes."