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booksuperpower's review
3.0
The Bleeding Heart by Marilyn French is an Open Road Intergrated Media publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in conjunction with Retro Romance reading group in exchange for an honest review.
Dolores and Victor are two strangers on a train... Yes, that's how the book really starts out. They begin an affair that has a time frame attached to it. They will have a year together and then they will go about their lives as they had before the affair.
The relationship is the deepest one either of them have had in quite some time. Victor is married, but his marriage is one in name only. Dolores is divorced, but it's more complicated than that. Both of them have had affairs in the past, but none of them had much emotional depth. For Victor, Delores causes him to realize his failings in the past and examine his actions and the responsiblbity he is just now realizing he must own up to. For Delores, this is the first time she has dealt with the pain and disillusionment and heartache she has endured over the years since her marriage disolved. Delores is not the hearts and flowers type for sure. She is plagued by dark thoughts, nightmares, and fears.
As the story of their lives unfold we see the pain men have caused Delores and we understand why she feels the way she does. We learn that Victor was and may be still not such great guy. Through Delores he begins to view things from a woman's perpective, something he has never really contemplated too much in the past. As each one pours out their painful stories to the other it becomes clear that neither of them will ever be able to have the type of romantic relationship we thing of traditionally, either with each other or with someone else. They are two people who could really make a relationship work though if they were so inclined. But, while Victor would not mind things continuing, Delores is much more realistic and may decide this life isn't the one she really wants.
Written at a time when women were just beginning to step out the traditional roles created for them, this book examines the true nature of those roles. Men went about their lives after marriage much the same way they did before they married. They had jobs and hobbies and friends a life outside of the family. They came home and there was a hot meal on the table , the house clean, the children taken care of, the laundry done, and then they expected their wives to perform in the bedroom without giving a single thought as to what life might be like for them. Victor was no exception to that rule and while he may have won the battle of wills against his wife, the victory was a hallow and tragic one.
For Delores, her marriage was a nightmare. She was emotionally rung out from it and as bad as the marriage was, the divorce was worse. She also suffered other more horrible tragedies in her life as well and so her attitude about marriage and love are not healthy. Delores is not always mentally or emotionally healthy. Victor has opened up the pain she went through and her subconsious mind tries to deal with the pain and fear she has kept buried for so long.
While Victor and Delores had some good times, and the relationship helped Delores to heal, and opened Victor's eyes to some things, and the book was very absorbing and well written, it was also really depressing. There was so much heavy drama and most of if was so dark and heartbreaking with no clear path to future peace or contentment or even a little happiness. I began to wish the end would come and that's never a good sign. Usually, I hate it when a book has to end. While I understand what the author's intent was and admire the sentiment, it was just too oppressive to really be enjoyed. The ending did nothing to redeem that feeling. It was an interesting portrait of this period of transition in the lives of women the dawning of a more enlightened way of thinking for men. However, it was spread on too thick and became more of an essay on feminism, which was the part of the author's intent, but it just took over the whole story and I began to grow weary of it. I honestly can't decide on how I want to rate this one. I'm going to go with a C, a nice middle of the road rating although I didn't exactly enjoy the book I can't fault the writing or the author's well meaning attempt to showcase the misery men have put women through, often without really realizing it fully. So, lets go with the C grade or 3 stars.
Dolores and Victor are two strangers on a train... Yes, that's how the book really starts out. They begin an affair that has a time frame attached to it. They will have a year together and then they will go about their lives as they had before the affair.
The relationship is the deepest one either of them have had in quite some time. Victor is married, but his marriage is one in name only. Dolores is divorced, but it's more complicated than that. Both of them have had affairs in the past, but none of them had much emotional depth. For Victor, Delores causes him to realize his failings in the past and examine his actions and the responsiblbity he is just now realizing he must own up to. For Delores, this is the first time she has dealt with the pain and disillusionment and heartache she has endured over the years since her marriage disolved. Delores is not the hearts and flowers type for sure. She is plagued by dark thoughts, nightmares, and fears.
As the story of their lives unfold we see the pain men have caused Delores and we understand why she feels the way she does. We learn that Victor was and may be still not such great guy. Through Delores he begins to view things from a woman's perpective, something he has never really contemplated too much in the past. As each one pours out their painful stories to the other it becomes clear that neither of them will ever be able to have the type of romantic relationship we thing of traditionally, either with each other or with someone else. They are two people who could really make a relationship work though if they were so inclined. But, while Victor would not mind things continuing, Delores is much more realistic and may decide this life isn't the one she really wants.
Written at a time when women were just beginning to step out the traditional roles created for them, this book examines the true nature of those roles. Men went about their lives after marriage much the same way they did before they married. They had jobs and hobbies and friends a life outside of the family. They came home and there was a hot meal on the table , the house clean, the children taken care of, the laundry done, and then they expected their wives to perform in the bedroom without giving a single thought as to what life might be like for them. Victor was no exception to that rule and while he may have won the battle of wills against his wife, the victory was a hallow and tragic one.
For Delores, her marriage was a nightmare. She was emotionally rung out from it and as bad as the marriage was, the divorce was worse. She also suffered other more horrible tragedies in her life as well and so her attitude about marriage and love are not healthy. Delores is not always mentally or emotionally healthy. Victor has opened up the pain she went through and her subconsious mind tries to deal with the pain and fear she has kept buried for so long.
While Victor and Delores had some good times, and the relationship helped Delores to heal, and opened Victor's eyes to some things, and the book was very absorbing and well written, it was also really depressing. There was so much heavy drama and most of if was so dark and heartbreaking with no clear path to future peace or contentment or even a little happiness. I began to wish the end would come and that's never a good sign. Usually, I hate it when a book has to end. While I understand what the author's intent was and admire the sentiment, it was just too oppressive to really be enjoyed. The ending did nothing to redeem that feeling. It was an interesting portrait of this period of transition in the lives of women the dawning of a more enlightened way of thinking for men. However, it was spread on too thick and became more of an essay on feminism, which was the part of the author's intent, but it just took over the whole story and I began to grow weary of it. I honestly can't decide on how I want to rate this one. I'm going to go with a C, a nice middle of the road rating although I didn't exactly enjoy the book I can't fault the writing or the author's well meaning attempt to showcase the misery men have put women through, often without really realizing it fully. So, lets go with the C grade or 3 stars.
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