A Short History of Women: A Novel
, by Kate Walbert is a story that follows five generations of women, each struggling to find balance in their lives.It is a subject that has been written about numerous times. The story started out well and drew me in, especially for Dorothy Trevor, who was a suffragette in the early part of World War I England. She starved herself to death for her cause, leaving her young children behind.
One thing I did not like was how the story jumped back and forth over a period of 109 years. I found myself having to often flip back and forth to the family tree chart to understand what was going on.
The writing is beautiful and very thought provoking. As I read the book I kept thinking about how in some ways women have come a long way over the last 100+ years, but yet in other ways nothing much has changed.
This is the type of book, that I think would be appreciated even more, by it being read a second time. It's not a terribly long book, but it does give the reader a lot to think about. Well done overall (boring cover).
Thanks to Simon and Schuster for sending this one my way.
RATING - 4/5 - COMPLETED - 6/26/09
Where From - My stacks (review S&S)
I love reading women's history, especially when you get a glimpse into the day to day life of the women.
ReplyDeleteFive generations is an awful lot to cover in one book - I can see why it would get confusing.
ReplyDeleteSounds very interesting and thought provoking. I agree with you though...the cover is boring and it certainly doesn't make me want to pick it up to read!!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of this, I wonder how I'd do with the jumping around in time.
ReplyDeleteI brought a copy of this home today, and I'm looking forward to reading it. I get confused when time jumps around in books, too.
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