Through the Ivory Gate

by Rita Dove

A debut novel by the 1987 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, about an artist on a journey of self-discovery—navigating a family secret, racism, and the conflict between marriage and career.

“Skillfully evokes the mood of a decade when social change seemed not only possible but imminent.” — Washington Post Book World

When a woman returns to her Midwestern hometown as an artist-in-residence to teach puppetry to schoolchildren, her homecoming also means grappling with artistic ambition, memories of rejected love, and shocking truths about her family.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Poetry, Race, African American, Literary Fiction, Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Rita Dove, former U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, and musician, lives in Charlottesville, where she is Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia.

Reviews

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some lovely language and wisdom here, but "Through the Ivory Gate" needed to be longer and further developed in order for it to be a substantial novel. As is, some of the characters' motives and relationships don't always make sense. However, I do have two favorite quotes (probably because I hate the desert heat of Arizona as much as protagonist, Virginia, does):

"But Virginia did not care for salty rivers. She did not care for warm weather. She did not want to eat grapefruit right from the tree, or cuddle up to a saguaro cactus, or experience an Indian powwow. We must have done something wrong, she thought, and now we're being banished" (Dove, 20).

"Virginia hated not having a basement in Arizona--no basement and no attic. 'Who needs them?' her father said. 'No tornadoes, no floods and no earthquakes. We don't need to dig in for protection.' But to Virginia it had seemed that because they did not dig in, they had made no mark on the earth; they merely lived on its crust. Cellars were for memory, attics for dreaming. How could anyone live without memories and dreams" (Dove, 219).

[Mistinguette Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

What I learned from this book: why great poets are not good novelists.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final novella (although this wasn't a novella) for 2020 season - held amidst a pandemic, but it worked out in the end gathering in Sarah's front yard. One of the few social activities I ended up doing all summer, and it was enjoyable to see friends in a near normal setting.

All that unrelated to the book - we had a good discussion, as always. I thought the story was a little TOO all over the place where I wasn't really sure in the end why some pieces were told, but then again I also had a bit of a hard time getting into the book, so maybe I would have found those pieces (her memories of brother) a little more relevant had I been more engaged. I think it was more the current times, not so much an issue with the author's writing. I just had other books on my mind.

[Angela Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book where you can get caught up in the imagery rather than the plot. If you need a book that is chronological, this isn't the book for you, but this mildly stream of conscious doesn't bother me. This is a searching for love story, but it's not a modern romance novel. She explores many levels of love throughout her life that leads up to the current relationship with the parent of one of the students whom she teaching about puppetry. The puppet show created by the students is also a love story. All of this shows how our lives are filled with this deep longing to be loved.

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up a few years ago at the recommendation of someone I really admired after they explained how weird it was. It was very weird- even though I read about half of it and then put it down for two years I constantly thought about it for how signifying it was of the time and the elements that intrigued me as research interests. Of course, Rita dove is an obvious lover of language and I enjoyed how weird and very beautiful it was, I will for sure read it again mostly because I feel like there is so much for me to understand

[Lesley Potts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-reading after twenty six years. At the time *I* was a Puppet Lady, and it was very neat to read about someone engaged in my unusual job. Although, this novel isn’t just about teaching puppet making workshops. There’s reflections on race, Bach, Arizona, sexuality, families, and dating to name a few. This time around I enjoyed reading it but not as much as I remember enjoying reading it the first time. Times have changed, I guess.

[Noland Blain · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was beautiful! Dove is so clever in her diction, a caravan of art history, drama theory, psychology, and music. There's an entire world in this book full of minute details, and the narrator shows you the depth of the landscape while still keeping a brisk pace down the trail.

[Kat Daley · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an okay book, but there was something missing from it. It needed more feeling, but it did have a lot of insightful messages. I probably wouldn't recommended it to anyone unless you don't rely on predictable endings. Rita Dove was able to give us great description of the life Virginia King as though we were living as her.

[Cricket Muse · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline of a woman teaching puppetry to elementary school children had captivating potential. Had potential. The plot, unfortunately, became a tangle of half-formed subplots which distracted from the original plot. The ending had no true resolve. Some lovely imagery and insights about how race can define families and individuals.

[Danna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This good read is recommended for people who enjoy novels written by poets. The open ended resolve of the protagonist, Virginia King, may not be for readers who rely on predictable endings. However, the narrative flows brilliantly from the mind of the National Poet Laureate.

[Tab · Rating 4 out of 5]

(B/B+)