Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
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
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While this is not my favorite Betty Smith novel, I did enjoy Maggie-Now. As with Smith's other novels, this is the story of a family in Brooklyn. It actually starts in Ireland with the carefree Patrick Moore and his young girlfriend, Maggie Rose Shawn. Threatened by Maggie Rose's American policeman brother, Patrick leaves town for America. After an inauspicious beginning, the hapless Pat ends up marrying his boss's daughter, Mary. Maggie-Now is their daughter. Maggie-Now does not have an easy life. But she makes the best of it, including her atypical marriage to Claude Bassett.
The story meandered at times, but one can't help like and root for Maggie-Now as she navigates her small life. All the characters are so well-formed.
"I recall that he said a young man wanting to change the world is a reformer; a middle-aged man who would do the same is a meddler. But when an old man tries it, he's an eccentric and a fool." (368)
The story meandered at times, but one can't help like and root for Maggie-Now as she navigates her small life. All the characters are so well-formed.
"I recall that he said a young man wanting to change the world is a reformer; a middle-aged man who would do the same is a meddler. But when an old man tries it, he's an eccentric and a fool." (368)
fast-paced
I found this to be the saddest of all Betty’s books. Maggie is delightful.
Not as engaging as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but still a delightful story.
I really wanted to give this book 5 stars but it was a bit long winded at times and I felt like it ended abruptly. I also felt that several of the characters needed more development.
I love, love, loved the ordinariness of the lives in this book.
This was a slower paced book but I did enjoy it. It was somewhat depressing at times but still a good read.
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maggie-now is an interesting book that takes the readers to the late 19th century. The details are interesting to read, the characters were quite distinct, and the accuracy of the historical facts and information- this was published in the 1950s you see- was very interesting to read about. I love Betty Smith’s writing style, but she uses a lot of “show don’t tell” language rather than a mix of both which was something that stood out to me. It took me a really long time to read this story and it was quite interesting but I don’t think I would read it again. In my read through, I learned a lot about the time period and the beliefs that those people carried, the ways of life for a catholic, and sometimes other religious, families, and the ways that people regarded the different genders during this time. It was an interesting read and I feel like I absorbed some wisdom from it overall, but I didn’t like Claude at all and felt really bad for Maggie-now for a large portion of the book. Also, Smith didn’t start writing about Maggie-now until almost fifty pages into the book. While the backstory was interesting there wasn’t a clear, concise reason for it to me as half of the characters in the backstory were dead during the telling of Maggie-now’s life and the lives of those around her. The final thing that I have to say about it is that I am interested by this book in that it didn’t have a specific, high-intensity plot like present-day books like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings and I really rather enjoyed that. The plot was literally just the story of an ordinary girl’s life from Brooklyn in the 19th century.