Currently reading
Eleven
A Month in the Country
A Tale of the Dispossessed: A Novel
Mesabi Pioneers
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
Island of a Thousand Mirrors
The House of Hawthorne
I enjoyed this telling of the tale of the Hawthorne marriage, with its references to other famous American thinkers of the time, the culture of literature, and clear voice. It's a good story. But it's one that is a little too easy to summarize when you step away from it to get a good view of the whole thing. There's this woman who's a painter. Her mother wants her to pursue her art and not marry, because married women of the time raised babies and didn't paint. She falls in love and marries anyway and stops painting. And people point out to her that in fact, she did stop her art to raise babies, and she feels a little conflicted about that. But mostly not. And by the way, has she mentioned that she really really loves her husband?Okay, so the plot line is simple enough, but that part is historically accurate. It still a good, interesting read with some nuance and intriguing characters. I just don't know that it's as dramatic as the publisher's blurb claims it is.
I got a copy of this through the First to Read program.
