Status
Call number
Genres
Publication
Description
Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML:PEN/Hemingway Award Winner: An "enthralling" novel of a woman trapped within a tragically dysfunctional family (Entertainment Weekly). From the New York Times�bestselling author of The Excellent Lombards and A Map of the World, this is "an extraordinary story of a family's disintegration [that] will be compared to Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres" (People). It follows Ruth Grey, a young woman in a tiny Illinois farm town, who has lost her father to World War II, and constantly faces her unhappy mother's wrath�when she isn't being ignored in favor of her math-prodigy brother. As Ruth navigates her lonely life, she strives to find happiness and pleasure where she can, but the world may conspire to defeat her. "A sly and wistful, if harrowing, human comedy . . . [An] original voice in fiction and one well worth listening to." �The Boston Sunday Globe "Unforgettably, beat by beat, Hamilton maps the best and worst of the human heart and all the mysterious, uncharted country in between." �Kirkus Reviews "Hamilton's story builds to a shocking crescendo. Her small-town characters are as appealingly offbeat and brushed with grace as any found in Alice Hoffman's or Anne Tyler's novels." �Glamour.… (more)
User reviews
The problem in that in her ordinariness there doesn’t seem to be anything new to be said about her. She settles quickly for whatever life hands her, whether it’s a job where her mom works or the first man who expresses and interest in her. Instead of trying to get out from under the thumb of her overbearing mother, she continues to live with her even after she’s married.
I have an incredibly hard time relating to and respecting people like Ruth. She has an awful life, one that she continually complains about, but she does nothing to improve it. I just want to shake her and yell, “You can do better!” She marries Ruby, a man who is basically still a child. He’s lazy and spoiled. He forces himself upon her on their first date, but she decides that’s okay and agrees that taking care of him is her new second job.
The two most interesting characters in my opinion are Ruth’s brother and her aunt, both of whom always remain on the periphery. Both are villainized in some ways, particularly her brother, for working to improve their lives. By the end of the book I just wanted to be finished with all of the horrible characters I’d met.
BOTTOM LINE: I couldn’t stand it. I kept waiting for it to get better or for some lesson to be learned, but it never happened. I stuck with it because it was a book for my book club and I always read those all the way though so I can discuss them.
Jane Hamilton writes beautifully, with phrases and images that are very powerful. I loved the style of this
I found there was far too much foreshadowing. We are told over and over that something horrible is going to happen...that looking back, the author realizes certain things. This was done to excess. After a while, I thought "this better be worth it." Not sure it was.
rating=4
2/19/98
Oprah's choice
This exquisite book confronts real-life issues of alienation and violence from which the author creates a stunning testament to the human capacity for mercy, compassion and love.
The author has a beautiful writing style. She paints a picture of a complicated mother-daughter relationship and a troubled marriage as seen through Ruth's eyes. She has created a character who put me in mind of Rohinton Mistry's two beggars in 'A Fine Balance' - no matter how life kicks you in the teeth, you accept and carry on because, well, what else is there to do?
Toward the end of the book, a family tragedy changes Ruth's life - perhaps for the better. But I never really got the feeling that she felt she needed to be saved.
I liked this book rather a lot. It's pretty slow moving, but every page can be savoured.