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A review by castlelass
Private Life by Jane Smiley
3.0
Historical fiction about the life of a woman, Margaret Mayfield Early. Born in the 1870’s in Missouri, she is very much a woman of her era. She quiet and submissive, and appears to be on her way to being, at 27, what was then called a spinster. She meets Andrew Early, an intellectual astronomer who espouses theories of the universe, marries, and accompanies him to an island off the coast of California. Her husband’s actions, at first, seem reasonable to her, but she eventually begins to question his mental stability.
This is a “slice of life” character-driven novel. It develops slowly. Smiley’s writing is evocative. I especially liked her description the bicycle ride of Margaret's youth and the experience of new motherhood. We meet several colorful characters, including Dora, a rare-for-the-time single woman with a job, Pete, the lovable rogue, Mr. Kimura, an artist, Naoko and Mrs. Kimura, midwives, and Len Scanlan, a sycophantic biographer that feeds Andrew’s ego. The historic panorama is almost a character unto itself, as we see the major events in both Missouri and the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 4th of July Parade, 1906 earthquake, the Preparedness Parade, and the internment of the Japanese in WWII, through Margaret’s perspective. One glaring omission was the lack of a radio in the home, which was a predominant method of obtaining news in the 1920’s through 1940’s, and surely Andrew would have had one due to his interest in science and inventions.
Options for women at the time were restricted, especially when a marriage was not working out. Divorce was limited to grounds of adultery, abandonment, or battery. Jobs for women were few. Unless a woman was from a wealthy family, like Dora, she needed to marry to be “provided for.” These days, couples can get to know each other much more deeply than back then when chaperones were required for an unmarried woman, and there was very little opportunity to be alone together without impacting the woman’s reputation. Margaret had no idea what she was getting into when she married Andrew. She did not have an idea of what constituted a “happy family,” as her own family had experienced a series of tragedies. Her lack of exposure to mature males in early life made it difficult for her to question her husband. It made me glad to be born in current times!
The audiobook was eloquently read by Kate Reading. She did a great job of the various male and female voices, and Russian and Japanese accents. I think listening to this book made it even more enjoyable than it would have been to read it.
Margaret’s journey to finding her voice and an ability to stand up to her husband is a major part of the storyline. The book’s first half was more eventful than the second, so if you like lots of action, this is not the book for you. Recommended to those who appreciate in-depth character studies and don’t mind slowly-developing storylines with lots of detailed descriptions.
This is a “slice of life” character-driven novel. It develops slowly. Smiley’s writing is evocative. I especially liked her description the bicycle ride of Margaret's youth and the experience of new motherhood. We meet several colorful characters, including Dora, a rare-for-the-time single woman with a job, Pete, the lovable rogue, Mr. Kimura, an artist, Naoko and Mrs. Kimura, midwives, and Len Scanlan, a sycophantic biographer that feeds Andrew’s ego. The historic panorama is almost a character unto itself, as we see the major events in both Missouri and the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 4th of July Parade, 1906 earthquake, the Preparedness Parade, and the internment of the Japanese in WWII, through Margaret’s perspective. One glaring omission was the lack of a radio in the home, which was a predominant method of obtaining news in the 1920’s through 1940’s, and surely Andrew would have had one due to his interest in science and inventions.
Options for women at the time were restricted, especially when a marriage was not working out. Divorce was limited to grounds of adultery, abandonment, or battery. Jobs for women were few. Unless a woman was from a wealthy family, like Dora, she needed to marry to be “provided for.” These days, couples can get to know each other much more deeply than back then when chaperones were required for an unmarried woman, and there was very little opportunity to be alone together without impacting the woman’s reputation. Margaret had no idea what she was getting into when she married Andrew. She did not have an idea of what constituted a “happy family,” as her own family had experienced a series of tragedies. Her lack of exposure to mature males in early life made it difficult for her to question her husband. It made me glad to be born in current times!
The audiobook was eloquently read by Kate Reading. She did a great job of the various male and female voices, and Russian and Japanese accents. I think listening to this book made it even more enjoyable than it would have been to read it.
Margaret’s journey to finding her voice and an ability to stand up to her husband is a major part of the storyline. The book’s first half was more eventful than the second, so if you like lots of action, this is not the book for you. Recommended to those who appreciate in-depth character studies and don’t mind slowly-developing storylines with lots of detailed descriptions.