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A review by lonestarwords
Margot by Wendell Steavenson
2.0
"...I wish I were born a man," she said simply.
"We all do," said her mother.
Margot
Wendell Steavenson
•
So. Much. Promise.
•
After a friend, whose book taste I shared, reviewed Margot the other day, I was incredibly intrigued by the plot and tracked down an audio copy so that I could decide for myself.
•
Margot's summary rang a lot of bells for me -- a coming of age novel that opens in 1950s NYC and migrated to college in Cambridge MA. Ding ding.
•
Margot is the privileged daughter of a wealthy NYC couple (Park Avenue, boarding school and summers on Oyster Bay). Her mother's every expectation is that Margot will marry well and Margot ends up, as many women of the time did, confined by the expectations of her generation.
•
There was LOTS of promise in the first half of this story and I was totally absorbed in her "poor little rich girl" drama. Margot is however, smart enough to find her way to Radcliffe College and wants to carve out another path for herself because of her passion for science. Her college years during the sexual revolution, while probably ringing very true, began to feel awkward and a bit forced and I started to struggle with the book there.
•
I will insert that I do not recommend this via audio - I think I might have stayed more connected had I read the physical copy and kept voices to my own imagination. The narrator starts out well but both her attempts at Margot's childhood voice and her portrayal of men (one of my pet peeves) were cringe worthy.
•
The book follows Margot through college, through sexual experimentation and success in her field - it should have all come together, right? Nope. The ending totally fell apart and and was so absolutely bonkers that it tainted my entire view of the book. I've said before that many people can write a book, but it's being able to END a book that really shows an author's skill.
"We all do," said her mother.
Margot
Wendell Steavenson
•
So. Much. Promise.
•
After a friend, whose book taste I shared, reviewed Margot the other day, I was incredibly intrigued by the plot and tracked down an audio copy so that I could decide for myself.
•
Margot's summary rang a lot of bells for me -- a coming of age novel that opens in 1950s NYC and migrated to college in Cambridge MA. Ding ding.
•
Margot is the privileged daughter of a wealthy NYC couple (Park Avenue, boarding school and summers on Oyster Bay). Her mother's every expectation is that Margot will marry well and Margot ends up, as many women of the time did, confined by the expectations of her generation.
•
There was LOTS of promise in the first half of this story and I was totally absorbed in her "poor little rich girl" drama. Margot is however, smart enough to find her way to Radcliffe College and wants to carve out another path for herself because of her passion for science. Her college years during the sexual revolution, while probably ringing very true, began to feel awkward and a bit forced and I started to struggle with the book there.
•
I will insert that I do not recommend this via audio - I think I might have stayed more connected had I read the physical copy and kept voices to my own imagination. The narrator starts out well but both her attempts at Margot's childhood voice and her portrayal of men (one of my pet peeves) were cringe worthy.
•
The book follows Margot through college, through sexual experimentation and success in her field - it should have all come together, right? Nope. The ending totally fell apart and and was so absolutely bonkers that it tainted my entire view of the book. I've said before that many people can write a book, but it's being able to END a book that really shows an author's skill.