Mary – Janis Cooke Newman
Hey Literary Babes –
Apologies for the late follow up – Catherine can take heart that her role as leader will not be usurped by this book club newbie!
It was an absolute pleasure to host – thanks so much AMT, Sarah, Sam & Jenny C for coming out – to all the rest, we missed you muchly!
Mary by Janis Cooke Newman
Mary – the book – did not endear itself to the group by any stretch of the imagination, aside from a single thumbs up from Sam (without whom the discussion would have been decidedly flatter) we were all either lukewarm or downright vehement with vitriol for the book. One thing we all agreed on was that Mary was in dire need of a good edit – it was far too long. Personally, I resented having to spend so much time with these characters, especially the evil Robert, a one-note villain whose character development was zero to none.
That said, Mary, the character, was much better received. We all agreed it was an interesting and accurate portrayal of a woman ahead of her time in thought and behaviour. It was shocking how she was reviled for being outspoken in politics, for being passionate in her relationship, for being ‘spiritual’ in her beliefs and, well overzealous in her shopping. While many agreed her erratic behaviour was driven by the grief of losing so much (three beloved sons and her husband) and that she shouldn’t have been locked up by Robert, I was adamant that she WAS indeed crazy J
We discussed how, within the context of when she lived, one had to take into account that she would be seen as crazy, women of the time did NOT act out in such a manner and would have been labeled as such. (She also heard voices and was completely paranoid!) The shame exists in the marginalized role granted to women in the 1800s – Mary did not behave as ladies were supposed to behave, being locked up is actually not as shocking as originally perceived. Within the vein of this discussion Jenny C provided a poignant account of her grandmother – also a woman ahead of her time – who ended up being ostracized for her forward thinking and desire to rise above her allotted station in life. We owe her our gratitude for being a pioneer for future career women – each one of us in this group is an amazing example!
Please feel free to add in your thoughts and opinions – you are all aware I feel pretty strongly about this book and may not represent the group as neutrally as I should J
NEXT BOOK: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
It is decidedly shorter than Mary and the group expressed a desire to squeeze it in before our beloved Kitty takes off on her worldwide tour. She is away as follows:
August 13-23
September 13-18
September 23–December 23
I will open the discussion by proposing the first week of September, perhaps the 7th, 8th or 9th?
