The characters are brought to life quite vividly in McDermott's narrative about American women in Saigon. The husbands are there in Vietnam, engineers who go to work and leave their wives in a beautiful home, surrounded by servants, luxuries and throwing garden parties. The naive wives who turn their heads away from suffering and want.
And then you meet Charlene. A character I didn't like in the beginning but had a very different opinion of by the end. Charlene is one of the wives who followed their husbands to Vietnam but make no mistake, she isn't like the others.
The conversations between Charlene and Tricia were interesting. Tricia was pliable and willing to go along with Charlene's plans, joined her cabal, her political maneuvering to ultimately do good for the Vietnamese, the lepers, for anyone who needed something.
While Tricia wanted to blend in with the other wives, wanted to be a good wife and help her husband's corporate career, she was introduced to real life by Charlene.
The book starts with Tricia is telling her story to Charlene's daughter Rainey, some fifty years after they were in Vietnam. They had gotten in touch again through the sorting of old letters kept over the decades. But as the narrative went on it seemed like 1963 as the present.
I liked this part, I can relate:
"Long ago went thought the winnowing of things - clothes and books and papers, excess kitchen gadgets, knickknacks, so many souvenirs: the Saigon souvenirs, and the Paris souvenirs, London, Ireland, San Francisco -...." it was a collection given to Tricia by family and some she'd collected herself. One by one being disposed of.
Again, I felt like I was reading letters from a memoir.
This is my second book to read along with JoAnn at Gulfside Musing and it was a blast to compare notes as we read along. Great book for a book club discussion.
Linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
Winnowing of things! That's a new phrase to me and I like it! Wish I'd learned it while I was doing a not romantic, not poetic, plain, boring "decluttering".
ReplyDeleteWinnowing of things...Ooo!!! Is that one of those quotes or phrases I would jot down in a Commonplace Book if I was a keeper of a Commonplace Book?
ReplyDeleteJinjer, there were some great phrases in that book whiohc I kept turning over in my headl
DeleteI loved the language, Jinjer! It was like I was reading someone's diary and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Tina! This was such a good book and I know I'll be thinking about it for some time to come. Thanks for reading with me!
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, I am thinking of trying Charming Billy much later in the year. I'll see which of her books the library has. It's always a blast reading with you!
DeleteI'm so eager to read this one! I'll come back and read your review more closely once I'm finished. I'm hoping to start it soon!
ReplyDeleteLes, hope you like it. Have you read anything else by McDermott? I want to see if I can get more of her books. She'll go down there with Claire Lombardo and Jean Korelitz in my reading lists
DeleteThis sounds like a fantastic read. I'm happy to hear how much you enjoyed this book. It makes me want to go get it and read it right now.
ReplyDeleteBuddy reads are great fun. I feel like the other person is depending on me, and I read slower and more carefully.
Deb, I think you'd like it. It's fun to read with someone and an unstructured "book club" really works for me.
DeleteYeah I liked this novel and I'm glad you liked it too. It does feel like a memoir - I like how you pointed that out. She's a gifted writer and I'd like to read more of her other books too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan. I may try and find Charming Billy at the library.
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