Reviews - The Pumpkin Eater

124 reviews for:

The Pumpkin Eater

Penelope Mortimer

3.69 AVERAGE

clarestirz's review against another edition

3.75

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ninatytyeanna's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Absolutely gorgeous prose, affecting as fuck, I was barely able to put it down. Such an underrated feminist classic.

clare_richh's review against another edition

4.25

dark funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

tailwhip's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

pina's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Brilliantly written book

casskrug's review against another edition

3.75

the pumpkin eater is a midcentury account of a woman’s emotional collapse and grappling with marriage, motherhood, and mental illness. our unnamed narrator had been married multiple times, has many children, and is pregnant with another child that her husband doesn’t want - he is having an affair that has a majorly negative effect on the narrator’s mental health. it is heavily based on penelope mortimer’s own life and as the introduction says, it seems like it was a very cathartic writing experience.

this was a quick read that was interesting because it feels ahead of its time - it feels like a blueprint for more contemporary books dealing with the same themes. the narrator’s breakdown is juxtaposed against the image of perfection that the family’s wealth projects in public. it also tackles women’s autonomy and abortion, which i don’t think was talked about so plainly and openly at the time this was written. it was very dialogue heavy but the conversations were done well - witty and ironic.

scruffbucketragamuffin's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

b_austridge's review against another edition

3.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

krobart's review against another edition

3.0

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2023/10/19/review-2253-1962-club-the-pumpkin-eater/

lucy_junor's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I picked this book up because I liked the cover art and didn’t except to love it as much as I did.
Funny, witty, heartbreaking, and very much ahead of its time.
I also think this is a book I’d like to come back to and appreciate more with older eyes.

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