An Elegant Woman: A Novel“A portrait of self-creation in the vein of F. Scott Fitzgerald”,” (The Wall Street Journal) An Elegant Woman is “a rich exploration of legacy and memory” (Entertainment Weekly) that follows four generations of women against the sweep of 20th century American history. Drawn from the author’s own family history, this powerful, moving multigenerational saga from National Book Award finalist Martha McPhee masterfully explores the stories we tell ourselves, and what we leave out. As Isadora, a novelist, and two of her sisters sift through the artifacts of their forebears’ lives, trying to decide what to salvage and what to toss, the story shifts to a winter day in 1910 at a train station in Ohio. Two girls wait in the winter cold with their mother—the mercurial Glenna Stewart—to depart for a new life in the West. As Glenna campaigns in Montana for women’s suffrage and teaches in one-room schoolhouses, Tommy takes care of her little sister, Katherine: trapping animals, begging, keeping house, cooking, while Katherine goes to school. When Katherine graduates, Tommy makes a decision that will change the course of both of their lives. Told “with an easy grace many historical novels lack” (Los Angeles Times), An Elegant Woman follows one woman over the course of the 20th century, taking us from a drought-stricken Montana farm to a yellow Victorian in Maine; from the halls of a psychiatric hospital in London to a wedding gown fitting at Bergdorf Goodman; from a house in small town Ohio to a family reunion at a sweltering New Jersey pig roast. Framed by Isadora’s efforts to retell her grandmother’s journey—and understand her own—the novel is “sharp, precise, and, yes, elegant” (The Boston Globe) in its gorgeous depiction of one hundred years in a family’s history. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - sprainedbrain - LibraryThingI love a good multi-generational saga, so I was very excited to get an ARC of this book and even more pleased when it turned out to be a brilliant one. I was immediately drawn in to this story: from ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - brangwinn - LibraryThingWhile going through her grandmother’s treasures novelist Isadora discovers the stories behind all these treasures is really myth. The reality of this upper-class family is entirely different. Looking ... Read full review
Contents
Section 13 | 267 |
Section 14 | 269 |
Section 15 | 296 |
Section 16 | 297 |
Section 17 | 329 |
Section 18 | 375 |
Section 19 | 404 |
Section 20 | 405 |
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Common terms and phrases
arrived asked Aunt baby beautiful believe beneath body Brown called carried Charles course dark daughter dead didn’t door dress everything eyes face fact father fear feel felt followed gave girls Glenna gone Grammy Grammy’s hair hand hard head heard held imagined inside Katherine keep kind knew leave letters light lives looked loved mind Montana mother moved Nancy never night nurse offered once Pete play pulled seemed she’d shoes side sister Slim smile Sometimes speaking standing stepped stood stopped stories street studied tell Thelma things thought Timothy told Tommy Tommy’s took town train trunk truth turned understand understood waiting wanted watched window Winter woman women York Zasu
Bibliographic information
| Title | An Elegant Woman: A Novel |
| Author | Martha McPhee |
| Publisher | Simon and Schuster, 2020 |
| ISBN | 1501179594, 9781501179594 |
| Length | 416 pages |
| Subjects | › › Fiction / Historical / General Fiction / Literary Fiction / Women |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |