What do you think?
Rate this book
The Bubble Reputation
Cathie Pelletier has been called a "bitingly funny, highly original novelist" and in The Bubble Reputation her strong clear voice as a writer truly comes to the forefront. Full of powerful scenes and down-home wisdom, this novel is the story of Rosemary O'Neal and her northern Maine family, including her slightly daft mother, garrulous sister Miriam who wears only green, and gay Uncle Bishop, a 300-pound know-it-all whose current boyfriend has a penchant for ladies' shoes. Add to this confusion a former college roommate, Lizzie, who uses Rosemary's house to hide from her husband and rendezvous with her lover. Rosemary had lived for eight years with William in a big, rambling house in rural Maine. Then William commited suicide on a trip to London, leaving Rosemary with a lot of questions, anger, and no way to say good-bye. Seeking solace from her cat - which seems to better understand human nature than the Homo sapiens - Rosemary retreats from the world, only to be shocked out of her cocoon by an unsettling turn of events. Yet, despite the chaos created by family and friends, Rosemary slowly comes to realize that the anchor that holds them all together is still firmly in place, and that life is but a fleeting, poignant experience to be savored.
- GenresFiction
290 pages, Hardcover
First published April 13, 1993
8 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 23, 2009
I think of this book whenever the world is too much for me and I want to just get out my tent and .22.
December 26, 2024
tried really hard to be funny, failed
June 24, 2019
Wish I could remember how this ended up on my want-to-read list as this turned out to be not at all what I expected. Well written, but I never felt like it really jelled or maybe I just didn't connect with the characters. Rosemary, the main character, is supposed to be 33 but reads more like 53 most of the time in her view of the world & other people. Her uncle, her sister, her mother, her uncle's neighbor, her old college friend, etc all revolve around her in varying levels of craziness that at times are supposed to be funny but mostly were annoying & all of this is happening while she is grieving & sorting out her husband's suicide. Found myself reading this as quickly as possible to finish it & get it over with, rather than because I couldn't put it down
May 30, 2024
Been a long time since i read it but i remember it being a slow book but for good reasons. Tackles the grief Rosemary goes through when her lover takes his life. The shock and confused type of grief that she never really fully gets over feels real and emotional, no complaints about how the plot was handled i think it also really captured the messiness of her dysfunctional family and how it drove her nuts to live in that environment given what she's going through. Quote that lives in my head: "for what is eight years compared to the passage of time?" Rated it 3 because sometimes the author's sentences and imagery dragged (which could be an artistic choice banking on the overall slow pace of the book but still something i didn't quite prefer)
September 1, 2017
A re-read for me. Rosemary O'Neal, a 33-year-old teacher, falls apart when William, her partner of eight years, commits suicide during a trip abroad. While Rosemary tried to isolate herself, her family and friends -- including her neurotic sister, her gay overweight uncle, and her college roommate, who has her own problems -- all intrude. The family very much resembles Anne Tyler's dysfunctional, chaotic families. The writing is poetic, funny, with much use of repetition in this novel to signify thoughts and events going round and round in Rosemary's head. A wonderful record of a year of grieving.
January 1, 2026
One last book to finish the year off!
I really loved this book. I think voice is beautiful and elegant but not overwrought, and I think it depicts well how important and meaningful events in our lives can be, even when they are not so substantial viewed from the outside, especially in the magnifying glass of grief. The character dynamics are also all quite funny, even if they are ultimately somewhat static in the plot of the book: it is beautiful to have people you can rely on to be the same, sometimes, especially when you are suddenly different.
I really loved this book. I think voice is beautiful and elegant but not overwrought, and I think it depicts well how important and meaningful events in our lives can be, even when they are not so substantial viewed from the outside, especially in the magnifying glass of grief. The character dynamics are also all quite funny, even if they are ultimately somewhat static in the plot of the book: it is beautiful to have people you can rely on to be the same, sometimes, especially when you are suddenly different.
June 14, 2023
Cathie Pelletier is a favorite author of mine. I found this to be an honest portrayal of grief and confusion following a partner's suicide. Because I live in Maine, I may be partial to Cathie Pelletier's characters who are familiar and well-developed. And despite a serious subject matter, Ms. Pelletier never fails to inject humor into her profound understanding of the vagaries of life and the human response.
May 14, 2022
Wow, this was so good! I picked it up in a bookstore while on vacation in Maine because I like to find a book set in the state I am visiting. Less than 300 reviews, but definitely should have more! An interesting look into grief with so much mention of nature. Would like to read more from this author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2023
I’m a Mainer. I loved it.
I would recommend this book to my fellow Mainers. I’m not so sure about others. We are a weird bunch, for sure. Ms. Pelletier’s characterization is excellent. I feel like I know some of these people. I will seek out this author again now that I know what she is capable of.
I would recommend this book to my fellow Mainers. I’m not so sure about others. We are a weird bunch, for sure. Ms. Pelletier’s characterization is excellent. I feel like I know some of these people. I will seek out this author again now that I know what she is capable of.
January 22, 2019
The writing was good but something just seemed to be missing, especially at the end. I had a hard time caring what happened to most of the characters and there didn't seem to be a resolution to the story. An OK read.
May 27, 2024
I loved the LOL humor amidst the stages of grief in this book. I really appreciate Cathie Pelletiers beautiful way with words. This was my first introduction to this author and I can't wait to read more of her work.
January 27, 2019
A little gem. Quirky characters.
April 28, 2019
Funny and quickly witty. Not a big climax. Small life lessons. Relatable. Loved the characters.
July 2, 2024
Loved this book!!!
April 7, 2017
Reading this from the perspective of someone who lost a parent as a child, I understand grief. But I did not understand the type of grief and healing that comes when someone you love dies of suicide. Cathie Pelletier, however, shows the reader what that is and she does so beautifully.
Rosemary O'Neal had been with William for 8 years. She, a school teacher, he, an artist. William travels often and on this particular trip to London, Rosemary sort of notices his insitance to touch her and hold her before he leaves. William does not return from this trip. Rosemary's family (an uncle, sister, and brother) all descend on her home, in hopes of coaxing her out of her grief. It isn't until her college friend, Lizzie, comes to visit, that Rosemary is plunged headfirst into the land of the living, and she realizes that "life is all sugar."
I really appreciated the flow and movement of this novel. Rosemary has many flashbacks of "William-isms"-times when she remembers something that William had said in the past. I think her being able to still see William while she was grieving was essential to the story: if nothing else, it let us know Rosemary was still sane. Her family is the most dysfunctional fucntioning family I have ever encountered. I think that it was especially telling that none of them wanted her to be alone while she was sifting through her many emotions: anger, sadness, anger again. I think for me, the most telling part of the novel was her decision to sleep out in her yard, while her home was overrun by family and friends. She learned so much about herself out there, and I think that was where she was finally able to let go of some of her grief, and helped her find herself again.
A very powerfully written book. Descriptive when needed, but not too slow. Poignant and lyrical. Would read again.
Rosemary O'Neal had been with William for 8 years. She, a school teacher, he, an artist. William travels often and on this particular trip to London, Rosemary sort of notices his insitance to touch her and hold her before he leaves. William does not return from this trip. Rosemary's family (an uncle, sister, and brother) all descend on her home, in hopes of coaxing her out of her grief. It isn't until her college friend, Lizzie, comes to visit, that Rosemary is plunged headfirst into the land of the living, and she realizes that "life is all sugar."
I really appreciated the flow and movement of this novel. Rosemary has many flashbacks of "William-isms"-times when she remembers something that William had said in the past. I think her being able to still see William while she was grieving was essential to the story: if nothing else, it let us know Rosemary was still sane. Her family is the most dysfunctional fucntioning family I have ever encountered. I think that it was especially telling that none of them wanted her to be alone while she was sifting through her many emotions: anger, sadness, anger again. I think for me, the most telling part of the novel was her decision to sleep out in her yard, while her home was overrun by family and friends. She learned so much about herself out there, and I think that was where she was finally able to let go of some of her grief, and helped her find herself again.
A very powerfully written book. Descriptive when needed, but not too slow. Poignant and lyrical. Would read again.
September 21, 2025
Enter the lopsided world of Rosemary O'Neal in northern Maine - the real northern Maine - up in the Allagash, outside Fort Kent.
A teacher on leave due to her husband's suicide and the ensuing grief, the novel covers about a year in Rosie's life and that of her extended family, living and dead and dying. It's full of humor as her quirky family (Miriam of serial marriages always in green, Uncle Bishop in his huge gay body, her mother living in a nether world and her father long dead) and their neighbors in Bixby navigate their lives and crash into one another.
What I loved about this 1993 book is its humanity: its recognition that the stars will wheel through the heavens despite what happens on earth. And the seasons whirl through, the birds and cats need feeding, the family gatherings fraught with conflict will happen, and sometimes you'll be descended upon by big unknowns in terms of people and events. You may have to set up a tent outside to escape from the people and deal with them and events beyond your ken.
Shit happens and you have to deal with it. You can't make other people's shit just disappear and heal them. You have to deal with your own shit and live the best you can.
She opens with Shakespeare. "Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel/Seeking the bubble reputation,/Even in the cannon's mouth." Think about those bubbles even if you don't know who's doing the blowing.
A teacher on leave due to her husband's suicide and the ensuing grief, the novel covers about a year in Rosie's life and that of her extended family, living and dead and dying. It's full of humor as her quirky family (Miriam of serial marriages always in green, Uncle Bishop in his huge gay body, her mother living in a nether world and her father long dead) and their neighbors in Bixby navigate their lives and crash into one another.
What I loved about this 1993 book is its humanity: its recognition that the stars will wheel through the heavens despite what happens on earth. And the seasons whirl through, the birds and cats need feeding, the family gatherings fraught with conflict will happen, and sometimes you'll be descended upon by big unknowns in terms of people and events. You may have to set up a tent outside to escape from the people and deal with them and events beyond your ken.
Shit happens and you have to deal with it. You can't make other people's shit just disappear and heal them. You have to deal with your own shit and live the best you can.
She opens with Shakespeare. "Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel/Seeking the bubble reputation,/Even in the cannon's mouth." Think about those bubbles even if you don't know who's doing the blowing.
February 14, 2011
Rosemary's husband committed suicide while on a trip to Europe. Back home in the small town of Bixby, Maine, she mourns him through a year of even more tragedies. Mostly she interacts with her family and one college friend, most of whom are eccentric enough (the interaction between the bombastic gay uncle, the multiple divorcee alcoholic sister, and the mentally regressed mother is great) to provide the reader with lots of amusement. Halfway through the book you realize that Rosemary has some of her family's basic insanity although she hides it well.
The quirky characters are really the prime appeal of this book because not a lot happens to be honest, it is mostly an "inward journey" kind of book. I liked it but I would have liked to see more happen. I will probably pick up more of this author, eventually, to see if the books get better. The prose in this book is fun to read which I think means it must be "literary."
The quirky characters are really the prime appeal of this book because not a lot happens to be honest, it is mostly an "inward journey" kind of book. I liked it but I would have liked to see more happen. I will probably pick up more of this author, eventually, to see if the books get better. The prose in this book is fun to read which I think means it must be "literary."
October 18, 2020
Fourth Time...
I've read this book at least four times. With so many books out there, it is rare for me to read any book more than once. The first time was when it came out originally. Over the years, I forgot many things, and I swear the book ended differently the first time I read it. Now, I've lost both my parents and I think more about what happens when those I love are gone. And yet, this book holds up and appears fresh, I guess because I feel like the characters are old friends that I visit now and then. They are, at once, very human. I come back to this one, as it evokes every every emotion. In the same chapter, I laugh, I cry, I'm happy, angry or sad. Life is like that. The language Pellitier uses is so beautiful, too. Sometimes I just study how she turns a phrase. But it's the characters that I love, even the ones who aren't so likeable. As I get older, I see them differently, even as they never age. I wonder how I will experience it next time...
I've read this book at least four times. With so many books out there, it is rare for me to read any book more than once. The first time was when it came out originally. Over the years, I forgot many things, and I swear the book ended differently the first time I read it. Now, I've lost both my parents and I think more about what happens when those I love are gone. And yet, this book holds up and appears fresh, I guess because I feel like the characters are old friends that I visit now and then. They are, at once, very human. I come back to this one, as it evokes every every emotion. In the same chapter, I laugh, I cry, I'm happy, angry or sad. Life is like that. The language Pellitier uses is so beautiful, too. Sometimes I just study how she turns a phrase. But it's the characters that I love, even the ones who aren't so likeable. As I get older, I see them differently, even as they never age. I wonder how I will experience it next time...
January 26, 2008
The characters in this book were excellent and I related to most of them. Who doesn't have the abrasive and self-centered family member that they want to slap? Or one that is crazy? Or one that needs to be babied? I enjoyed the first 75% of the book very much as Rosemary tried to cope with the suicide of her lover and the deeper memories of losing her father as a child amidst the demands of her eccentric family and best friend. Despite this somber and generally melancholy tone, there are some truly hilarious passages in this book. The story's crisis point, though, is the death of her cat -- and while I can understand using such an event in such a story, it's a difficult one for me, personally, to take. I enjoyed the book a lot, but the jury is out on whether I'll read it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 17, 2020
A somewhat enjoyable, quick read populated by interesting characters; god forbid my family is ever like that. I bought this novel to deliberately read outside my usual genre, so the rating reflects only my personal feelings rather than how it sits in the scheme of things.
Hugely positive is the lack of clean endings, an avoidance of cliched solutions and explanations, which added to a few nice twists helped me navigate the novel.
If drama and personal relationship novels are your thing, I think it will not disappoint.
Hugely positive is the lack of clean endings, an avoidance of cliched solutions and explanations, which added to a few nice twists helped me navigate the novel.
If drama and personal relationship novels are your thing, I think it will not disappoint.
July 9, 2014
I agree that reading about the quirky interactions with the main character's family was often comedic, the book itself left me wanting. I didn't form a strong relation with any of them, and kept waiting for the climax. I realize now it was more a book about life (kind of like the television show "Seinfeld" used to be), and the things that happen while we are waiting for something to happen. I finished the book mostly just because I don't like abandoning books, but likely won't read it again.
March 7, 2014
This book was depressing from start to finish. I didn't find one funny thing in it. It was so focused on morbidity - I don't normally read like to read books that are so bleak unless they're REALLY good. Which this wasn't. I wish I hadn't wasted my time.
September 23, 2014
Just like others said, a "inner journey" book about a woman's year coping with the death of her boyfriend of 8 years. Sad, and intriguing, I felt like it was too slow paced for me. It did have very beautiful descriptions.
July 14, 2009
perfect that I'm reading a hilarious book about a dysfunctional family while I was visiting my own family
October 14, 2009
Disappointing! I have liked all of Pelletier's other books.
November 18, 2012
Gave a full star for the first chapter. Should you see it on the shelf in your library, read the beginning and stop there; it's a beautiful and moving depiction of grief, if a bit wordy.
May 17, 2013
It has been many years since I read this book, but I am rediscovering Cathie Pelletier and remember how much I loved this book. Quirky before quirky was popular. Give it a try.
May 31, 2013
Great characters, witty, quirky, irreverent, laugh out loud. Love all of her books
July 23, 2013
Some interesting topics and elements - but overall disjointed and sometimes off topic.
February 20, 2014
Qwirky, weird book that made me laugh. About the idiosyncrasies of families and relationships. Didn't quite get the whole ending
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews