Net of Jewels

by Ellen Gilchrist

Home for the summer in Alabama, Rhoda Manning seems blessed: her daddy is very rich, she is newly slim, and all of her friends adore her. But the passionate, independent Rhoda begins to realize that life is more complex than her comfortable, secure existence would suggest. As Rhoda strains against the confinements of home and family, she becomes reckless, flinging herself on a rebellious course toward destruction.

In this novel filled with warmth and humor, Ellen Gilchrist's abundant storytelling gifts are lavished once again on the irrepressible and headstrong Rhoda Manning.

Genres: Fiction, Southern, Literature, Literary Fiction, Novels, Short Stories

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

A writer of poems, short stories, novels, and nonfiction commentaries, Ellen Gilchrist is a diverse writer whom critics have praised repeatedly for her subtle perceptions, unique characters, and sure command of the writer’s voice, as well as her innovative plotlines set in her native Mississippi.

As Sabine Durrant commented in the London Times, her writing “swings between the familiar and the shocking, the everyday and the traumatic.... She writes about ordinary happenings in out of the way places, of meetings between recognizable characters from her other fiction and strangers, above all of domestic routine disrupted by violence.” The world of her fiction is awry; the surprise ending, although characteristic of her works, can still shock the reader. “It is disorienting stuff,” noted Durrant, “but controlled always by Gilchrist’s wry tone and gentle insight.”

She earned her B.A. from Millsaps College in 1967, and later did postgraduate study at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

She has worked as an author and journalist, as a contributing editor for the Vieux Carre Courier from 1976-1979, and as a commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition from 1984-1985. Her NPR commentaries have been published in her book Falling Through Space.

She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Net of Jewels felt very autobiographical. It unspooled naturally and organically, as if someone were simply relating the story of their life from ages 18 to 24. It seems to be a mix of autobiography and fabrication; I see from Gilchrist's obit that she had '"four marriages, three caesarean sections, an abortion, 24 years of psychotherapy and lots of lovely men," as well as a struggle with alcoholism' (NYT).

As the novel opens in 1955 we meet Rhoda Manning, a freshman at Vanderbilt, telling her story in first person. Rhoda wants to be a writer. She's had columns published in a newspaper; she adores poetry, reads classic novels, is a talented swimmer. Her southern family is wealthy enough that she never has to worry about money. Every problem that can be fixed with money, is fixed by her father. He doesn't like Vanderbilt and persuades her to leave, even though she's happy there, and transfer to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Her parents have just moved to Alabama and want her close. Rhoda quickly begins dating a Georgia college boy named Malcolm, they start having sex, they elope when she's 20, she drops out of school, and very quickly they have two young boys. Rhoda begins drinking heavily.

Before she met Malcolm, she drunk drove, was speeding on a wet road, and killed the young man in the car with her. The man's parents immediately forgave her (she had been drinking at their dinner table) and this tragedy is never mentioned again in the novel. Rhoda keeps on driving drunk.

Her mother is feminine and perfect and wants Rhoda to be the same, making her take diet pills. Girls like her new friend May Garth Sheffield stick out like sore thumbs:

She was at least six feet tall. Back then that was the social equivalent of having terminal cancer. Back then girls were supposed to look like children. Not everywhere, of course, but certainly in the culture of the Deep South. Perhaps this was because southern men were so mother-ridden they had to believe they were kissing little girls to get excited. A woman as large as their mothers might suck them back into the womb, control them body and soul, make them keep on hating themselves forever. Fortunately for the human race the system was imperfect. There were very few mothers who could control their sons' minds after the testosterone kicked in and very few women who could make their bodies smaller and keep them that way, so breeding kept getting done and and babies kept getting born and the species rolled on to better days.

Race is treated realistically. A new friend, Charles, takes Rhoda to a Ku Klux Klan gathering (and associated cockfight), not because they're sympathetic to the Klan, but because they can't resist some white supremacy tourism. The girls at Rhoda's sorority warn her against May Garth, whose father is "a nigger lover" because he supported Brown v. Board of Education. Rhoda's father opines that in the new era of civil rights "now the niggers will be all over us. They'll take us over. They'll mongrelize the races." Malcolm is racist too, complaining about the doctor when their son has encephalitis, that "if that goddamn Jew sends me another bill I'll stuff it in his mouth."

This is a "coming of age" novel but Rhoda never seems to arrive at maturity. We get a very occasional flash forward where she tells us a few things about her life thirty years in the future, but not much. Did she ever have a career? No idea. Instead it's an endless catalogue of her rash actions, affairs, friends and socializing, drinking. Rhoda meets some upstanding people involved in the civil rights movement and she admires them and wants this kind of life for herself, but she only dips her toe in and out of it (not "hurls herself into the civil rights movement," as one Goodreads description put it). She never actually does anything in the movement except contemplate having an affair with an attorney who is trying to help a black defendant.

At one point Rhoda thinks she might be pregnant for a third time. She can't be sure if the fetus is the result of her husband, or a wealthy, married newspaper owner she's sleeping with, and either way she doesn't want another baby - she loves her two little sons but is utterly bored by them, handing off much of their care to nannies or her mother. She asks her obstetrician to give her the name of a reputable abortionist, and tells him she'll sleep with him if he does, knowing he's attracted to her. She sleeps with the obstetrician and he gives her the name of a doctor in Houston. She tells her father that Malcolm got her pregnant on purpose so she wouldn't leave him and that she'll kill herself if she has to have another baby. Her father agrees to help her and they go to Houston and she gets the abortion.

I think we're supposed to find Rhoda sympathetic because she reads Durrell, Hemingway, and the Oresteia and adores bookstores and thinking, intelligent people. In the preface she tells us, "I was cathected by a narcissist...my daddy is a vain and beautiful man who thinks of his children as extensions of his personality...You have to know that to understand this story, which is about my setting forth to break the bonds he tied me with. It took a very long time and almost destroyed a lot of innocent people along the way. In the end I got free, so it sort of has a happy ending." We don't really see the happy ending, though, and we certainly don't see an arc in which Rhoda takes responsibility for anything, matures, and is redeemed somehow.

[Jericha]

A difficult book to rate for me. There's a great deal to love about Net of Jewels; I really enjoyed the writing and Rhoda's voice, and especially appreciated the conveyance on the South without the usual recourse to "you-all"s and so on; I don't think "drawl" appears once in the novel, thank God. Gilchrist manages to gives a portrait of Southern tropes and stereotypes (the gentlemanly, iron-willed father, the faded, helpless mother, the run-around bad-girl daughter) from within, as people seen by one another as opposed to by outsiders looking in.

But if you're looking for a story about a girl galvanized by an encounter with the Klan into involvement with the civil rights movements, you have come to the entirely wrong place. Instead, Net of Jewels is actually mostly about apathy - how ignorance leads us to shrug off the experiences of people unlike ourselves and how fear, self-doubt, and shame keep us shrugging even after we have brushed up against another reality. This isn't a book about someone seeing the truth and leaving her life behind; this is a book about someone seeing the truth and being afraid she's not a good enough person to leave her life behind. Rhoda admires the activists she meets for their personal power, their sureness, their inner resonance, not the work they do; her brush with the Klan leaves her spooked and sure she's touched real evil, but far from making her want to fight them, she mostly wants to hide.

In fact, for me, the book is really about something that's rarely written about: the people who, rather than seeing the light and standing up for justice, are frightened and ashamed and confused and don't know what to do, and let injustice carry on because their own lives have an inertia they feel helpless to fight against. Which, for my money, is hugely important to talk about. Rhoda is a spoiled, selfish, vain young woman by any account, but she'd also have a hard time being anything else after the way she's been raised; she's got a fierce mind she'd like to use but doesn't really know how, and her own self-obsession has been rigorously cultivated by her father to keep her from breaking free.

My basic uncertainty about the book is that I don't think Gilchrist gives enough of an insight into later-life Rhoda for us to really know, in the end, what to make of the Rhoda who occupies most of the book. There are a number of hints dropped about things that happen to her later on that are never explored, and who exactly she is as someone reflecting on her youth isn't clear enough for me to feel like I can fully grasp the story being told -- which I found very unsatisfying and somewhat weakly done.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ellen Gilchrist not least of all because she makes you fall in love with and care about even deeply flawed and seemingly hopeless basket cases like Rhoda Manning, star of many of her short stories and this full-length novel. Rhoda is a spoiled brat, an alcoholic, self-obsessed in the extreme, and yet she is a force of nature imbued with indomitable joie de vivre, and in the end you root for her, shake your head at her gaffes, but hope that she turns out OK in the end. Along the way Gilchrist portrays life in 1950s Alabama with a practiced and uncompromising hand. At first I was going to dub this Gilchrist's "SEC Novel" because Vanderbilt and the University of Alabama figure so prominently in the first part, but she throws in Georgia Tech and Emory references for good measure and eventually Rhoda abandons college for a tempestuous marriage, children, a chance encounter with the KKK and a friendships with some leaders in the civil rights movement. From start to finish it is told from the point of view of the older, hopefully wiser Rhoda, and it is entertaining and insightful in the extreme, including some of Gilchrist's most memorably languid and evocative prose. Highly recommended.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this at 22 and at 39, and what a difference. At 22, I identified strongly with Rhoda--her desires, her passions, her frustrations. At 39, I found Rhoda to be completely repugnant and self-centered, which is how I am sure Ellen Gilchrist intends her to be perceived. Kudos to Gilchrist for committing fully to the idea that the protagonist does not have to be likeable, or redeemed, or learn a single lesson. She stuck with Rhoda for the whole book, and didn't try to bring in any false-seeming character development or sunbeam from the sky epiphanies. Lots to think about in this novel, and an admirable, bold move by the author.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is mainly a character driven story told in the first person by Rhoda. Most of the action takes place during Rhoda's late teens and early twenties in the deep south during the 1950's and early 60's. Rhoda is one of those narrators who gives readers insight to the more distant future by saying things like, "this never happened," or "much later I . . . ". Sometimes I like that stylistic device; it's like the author herself is providing spoiler alerts of her own choosing. If this were a book club book, I guess it would be something to discuss. Rhoda is a conflicted young woman, growing up in a time and place that don't lend themselves to her desires and strengths. She's smart, curious, open-minded in many respects, but she lacks direction and self control. Her father is a powerful wealthy man and a racist. Her mother just wants status and nice things, and they both expect Rhoda to fall in line by being a pretty, well-dressed, slim southern lady. The book reads like a soap opera in a way. It's interesting, but I did not develop any emotional bond to Rhoda, or any of the other characters either. The ending raised more questions than answers.

[Barbara Kidzus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this novel on a trip to Half Price Books. I thought I had read everything by Ellen Gilchrist, but I was happy to be wrong (I have read and re-read most everything else written by her.) The main character, Rhoda Manning, is someone Gilchrist returns to again and again in both short stories and novels. In this book, set in the late 1950s, Rhoda is finishing her first year at Vanderbilt when she learns she will be leaving for Alabama, not Illinois, for summer break in her wealthy parents' new home. At the core of this book is inner conflict and Gilchrist does a great job of capturing the thinking process of a college-age woman. She struggles between enjoying her wealth and feeling ashamed of it, between falling in love with sex and falling away from love, between embracing the social conventions of the South and wanting desperately to be her own person. If you read this book and enjoy it, you should explore other works by Ellen Gilchrist

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading this for the 4th or 5th time. The troubled protagonist, Rhoda, is a character who resonates with me. Her feelings and emotions become more real as you get to know her, and that can be painful at times because she is one fucked-up girl. Luckily I wasn't as spoiled and my family wasn't as insane, and it was the 80's instead of the '50s. Therefore I didn't turn out as wicked as poor Miss Rhoda, but it easily could've happened. And so when I read about her life and her circumstances, her machinations make sense to me. But good God, the pain she inflicts on people! It's unbearable, really. But I cannot look away, because she loves just as hard.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting insight on Southern life, particularly of a white young female living in 1960s Alabama. You will probably end up hating the protagonist but you will also have a deeper understanding of the White south before the Civil Rights Movement, which is valuable in itself. Gilchrist is a great story teller, so if nothing else, you will enjoy this book as a quick, uncomplicated read.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am typing on my Royal portable typewriter I have had since I was thirteen. I learned how to type in three days. Did I ever tell you that? I am a very smart girl. Did you ever realize that? What do I know? Nothing. "Once a fear pierced him, in that he mistook the shadow of his equipage for blackbirds."

[Myrn54 · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I loved Gilcrhist's writing, and there are many delicious paragraphs that launch one into a quantum view of the universe, the main character's persistent flaws drove me crazy. Thus a 3 star instead of a 4

[Gina Whitlock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like this book too much but I didn't have any other books to read at the time, so I stuck with this one. Rhoda is selfish, spoiled, arrogant, irresponsible, angry, and bored. Most of the actions she takes are because of boredom.

[Lorlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Southern girl who doesn’t know what she wants, set in the 50s which made it interesting

[Cam Rhinehardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing writing and a great message, made me think a lot. Ending was super abrupt and I didn’t love how it ended so 4 stars!

[Honey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was ok. I've certainly read much better about the south in this era. I was not a fan of the writing. Also, I found it odd that being this book was set in AL, nobody had a southern dialect. A few "fixing"s were thrown in (although the correct pronunciation is "fixin"). I was born and raised in TN & AL so there are particulars you look for in a book set in this region and time period. I fully expected someone with a dialect or at least some southern expressions. And there were so many repeated thoughts said in one sentence. For example: "I am going to buy a dress. I want to buy a dress. I'm going now to buy a dress" said Rhoda. There are many many examples of this. Just. So. Odd. The story itself is pretty good. it did keep me engaged though the writing frustrated me. And I did not care for anyone in the book by the time I finished. Oh, and the ending was.......ugh. It's worth reading but I probably won't read another book by this author.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought I had read this years ago, but as I started reading it again, I realized I hadn't. I know Rhoda well from Gilchrist's other books, though. And man, I had forgotten how tough she is to take. But it's a tribute to Gilchrist that however ridiculous and flat-out hateful Rhoda is, I still couldn't put the book down.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kept waiting for the main character to wake up....didn't feel as though this book lived up to the expectations. Great characterization of a troubled girl and family, but wallowing, wallowing, wallowing.

[Kelley Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rhoda Manning is an emotionally immature, insecure and grandiose southern belle. What's not to love? Gilchrist is one of the greats for her ability to deliver whole characters - and Rhoda is a favorite.

[Christopher Dionesotes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rhoda. God love her. She gets around. And does just what she wants to do. This is not the first novel I've read in which Rhoda is the main character. The story is a good one telling about this portion of Rhoda's life. The theme in the title, however, is weak. It's an OK read.

[L.e. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first Ellen Gilchrist book I read - i love her- i hear my mom's voice when I read her words

[Keri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story from Ellen Gilchrist. Perfect for summertime or on a plane trip.

[Shannon Farho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Ellen Gilchrist book. Excellent read...very dysfunctional and her books often include characters from other books. One big sloppy Southern family.

[Jaimy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite E. Gilchrist books.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read through the Arkansas section of the library and found Ellen Gilchrist. Love the chracters and images.

[Laurie Sandell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite books.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book hit me at the right time. Good read!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just re-read this book by one of my favorite authors. I love the character of Rhoda.

[Janell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellen Gilchrist is my favorite female author. I want to crawl into her books and experience the life of her characters, even when it is tragic.

[Lisa]

Net of Jewels by Ellen Gilchrist (1993)

[DiannaLaurent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wait. This was fiction? I know all these people.

[Carmaleeta Newchurch · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book which was a study on character traits.