A review by radioisasoundsalvation
Private Life by Jane Smiley

3.0

Jane Smiley's latest is a slow, lyrical read if ever there was one. At no point are you made to feel any sort of passion for Margaret, who herself displays no real torrents of emotion at any point in the book. She is so tamed by her annoyingly eccentric, overly patronizing husband as well as the dominating women who have made up Margaret's circle (mother and mother in law) that even the interesting people around her fail to bring out any real colour (the Kimuras, Pete, Dora [who reminds me of that fabulous character in The Portrait of a Lady, Henrietta Stackpole]). It's a shame, too, because Smiley covers an interesting stage in California's history, and certainly played on historical events; however much they were paled. Indeed, the secondary characters were the heart of this novel.