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Raw Silk
Janet Burroway's critically acclaimed novel, which the New Yorker hailed as "enormously enjoyable" and Newsweek called "a novel of rare and lustrous quality," is the story of a woman whose unraveling marriage sends her on a personal odyssey halfway around the world to Japan
Virginia Marbalestier has come a long way from the California trailer park where she grew up. Now a designer at the textile firm where her husband is the number-two executive, as the mother of a young daughter and the mistress of an English Tudor manor, she has it all. But her husband, Oliver, is becoming increasingly elitist and controlling, resentful of her friendships, and rough in bed. The arrival of a new employee, a distressed young woman in whom Virginia finds the missing threads of her own identity, and the firm's possible merger with a Japanese competitor heighten the tensions between Virginia and Oliver, and impel Virginia to set off on a foreign adventure that will change her life forever.
Virginia Marbalestier has come a long way from the California trailer park where she grew up. Now a designer at the textile firm where her husband is the number-two executive, as the mother of a young daughter and the mistress of an English Tudor manor, she has it all. But her husband, Oliver, is becoming increasingly elitist and controlling, resentful of her friendships, and rough in bed. The arrival of a new employee, a distressed young woman in whom Virginia finds the missing threads of her own identity, and the firm's possible merger with a Japanese competitor heighten the tensions between Virginia and Oliver, and impel Virginia to set off on a foreign adventure that will change her life forever.
- GenresFiction
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
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93 people want to read
About the author
Janet Burroway
34 books79 followersJanet Burroway is the author of seven novels including The Buzzards, Raw Silk (runner up for the national Book award), Opening Nights, and Cutting Stone; a volume of poetry, Material Goods; a collection of essays, Embalming Mom; and two children's books, The Truck on the Track and The Giant Jam Sandwich. Her most recent plays, Medea With Child, Sweepstakes, Division of Property, and Parts of Speech, have received readings and productions in New York, London, San Francisco, Hollywood, and various regional theatres. Her Writing Fiction is the most widely used creative writing text in America, and a multi-genre textbook, Imaginative Writing, appeared in 2002. A B.A. from Barnard College and M.A. from Cambridge University, England, she was Yale School of Drama RCA-NBC Fellow 1960-61, and is Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Emerita at the Florida State University in Tallahassee.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 15, 2014
Raw Silk by Janet Burroway is a 2014 Open Road Integrated Media publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Virginia is an American married to Oliver living in England with their daughter, Jill. They both work in the textile industry, Oliver being the number two man. When Jill begins to have difficulty in school, Oliver insist she attend a boarding school. Virginia is not really into that idea, but Oliver is a man that usually gets his way, so now Virginia is at loose ends. She still has her job to occupy her, but she's lonely. Enter in a new employee that is young and insecure that needs a little maternal influence and Virgina feels drawn to her. Oliver is strenuously opposed to the friendship mainly because he feels embarrassed that his wife is spending time with such a lower class person when she should be trying to politic with the crowd Oliver must impress, especially since his boss also frowns on the friendship. Ginny will not be deterred however and as her friendship with Frances becomes more involved and Frances becomes more erratic, Oliver becomes angrier and begins forcing Ginny into rough sex.
As Frances lies in the hospital, Ginny's marriage to Oliver becomes even more strained. He is preoccupied with the merger of his company with a company in Japan. The community and the workers are all quite nervous and Oliver is almost impossible to be around. The only pleasure Ginny finds is when she can spend time with Jill.
When a design submitted wins the coveted Carnaby Award, it is presumed it was Ginny's. However, she had submitted it on behalf of Frances. But, with Frances in the mental state she is, Oliver has no qualms about seeing that Ginny takes the credit for the design.
This is how Ginny winds up in Japan. Her journey there will be an awakening for her and a wake up call for Oliver. But, is it too late for Oliver? Has Ginny realized that all she ever needed was right there within her own self and with her own talent?
This is an absorbing story as Ginny starts off with a traditional marriage and family life, then has her husband slowly begin to change. He becomes status conscious and a control freak, while Ginny struggles to keep a piece of herself that belongs to her. Oliver even interferes with the one relationship that has brought joy into Ginny's life, and that is Jill. But then she latches on to Frances and becomes a mother like figure to her, Oliver hates that too. Then when Ginny has finally had all she can take of him, she branches out on her own leaving Oliver in shear panic. I didn't feel sorry for him at all. I loved watching Ginny immerge out the prison that was her marriage and take charge of her life. Once she felt the exhilaration of independence and freedom, she knew she could never go back to her previous life. I suppose you could say this is a journey of self discovery and even triumph. I have no idea what genre this book falls in, but I have to say it most likely fits into the contemporary fiction or literary fiction category and maybe a little bit of women's fiction. This is a very unique drama that leaves the reader feeling at peace on Ginny's behalf.
The authors prose is just beautiful will have the reader eating from her hand from the first chapter to the last.
Overall this is an A+
Virginia is an American married to Oliver living in England with their daughter, Jill. They both work in the textile industry, Oliver being the number two man. When Jill begins to have difficulty in school, Oliver insist she attend a boarding school. Virginia is not really into that idea, but Oliver is a man that usually gets his way, so now Virginia is at loose ends. She still has her job to occupy her, but she's lonely. Enter in a new employee that is young and insecure that needs a little maternal influence and Virgina feels drawn to her. Oliver is strenuously opposed to the friendship mainly because he feels embarrassed that his wife is spending time with such a lower class person when she should be trying to politic with the crowd Oliver must impress, especially since his boss also frowns on the friendship. Ginny will not be deterred however and as her friendship with Frances becomes more involved and Frances becomes more erratic, Oliver becomes angrier and begins forcing Ginny into rough sex.
As Frances lies in the hospital, Ginny's marriage to Oliver becomes even more strained. He is preoccupied with the merger of his company with a company in Japan. The community and the workers are all quite nervous and Oliver is almost impossible to be around. The only pleasure Ginny finds is when she can spend time with Jill.
When a design submitted wins the coveted Carnaby Award, it is presumed it was Ginny's. However, she had submitted it on behalf of Frances. But, with Frances in the mental state she is, Oliver has no qualms about seeing that Ginny takes the credit for the design.
This is how Ginny winds up in Japan. Her journey there will be an awakening for her and a wake up call for Oliver. But, is it too late for Oliver? Has Ginny realized that all she ever needed was right there within her own self and with her own talent?
This is an absorbing story as Ginny starts off with a traditional marriage and family life, then has her husband slowly begin to change. He becomes status conscious and a control freak, while Ginny struggles to keep a piece of herself that belongs to her. Oliver even interferes with the one relationship that has brought joy into Ginny's life, and that is Jill. But then she latches on to Frances and becomes a mother like figure to her, Oliver hates that too. Then when Ginny has finally had all she can take of him, she branches out on her own leaving Oliver in shear panic. I didn't feel sorry for him at all. I loved watching Ginny immerge out the prison that was her marriage and take charge of her life. Once she felt the exhilaration of independence and freedom, she knew she could never go back to her previous life. I suppose you could say this is a journey of self discovery and even triumph. I have no idea what genre this book falls in, but I have to say it most likely fits into the contemporary fiction or literary fiction category and maybe a little bit of women's fiction. This is a very unique drama that leaves the reader feeling at peace on Ginny's behalf.
The authors prose is just beautiful will have the reader eating from her hand from the first chapter to the last.
Overall this is an A+
September 15, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this. It is so beautifully crafted that I found myself highlighting sentences and phrases out of sheer pleasure at Burroway's wordsmanship; she engages all the senses except, curiously, taste. And she does this funny thing with time-not just straightforward flashback, which is there, but also a kind of momentary drift into a brief daydream or memory.
The plot itself is not earthshaking or particularly original-a thirty-something American woman transplanted to England whose marriage is deteriorating and who questions her identity as a wife, mother, and artist. I found the growing pains of her company, East Anglia Textiles, really interesting; it helps to know something of the political and economic climate of post WWII, pre-Thatcher U. K.
The story of Frances, a young, severely mentally disturbed young woman the protagonist first deeply resents, then almost obsessively tries to help, is critical to the resolution of the novel.
The plot itself is not earthshaking or particularly original-a thirty-something American woman transplanted to England whose marriage is deteriorating and who questions her identity as a wife, mother, and artist. I found the growing pains of her company, East Anglia Textiles, really interesting; it helps to know something of the political and economic climate of post WWII, pre-Thatcher U. K.
The story of Frances, a young, severely mentally disturbed young woman the protagonist first deeply resents, then almost obsessively tries to help, is critical to the resolution of the novel.
March 8, 2014
This is the most beautifully written account of the marriage of Virginia and Oliver Marbalestier, their relationship to each other, to their daughter and their attitude to life. Virginia is American and becomes increasingly submissive to the increasingly bullying behaviour of her English husband, whose values are a long way from hers. They work for the same successful textile company, where he resents her alliance with the less important members of staff. He insists his daughter be "finished" and his wife behave suitably. He is a snob and she a Samaritan.
She befriends Frances, a very disturbed young woman with a prodigious talent for design, but no capacity to live in normal society. Oliver does not approve of the friendship and
little by little we see the deterioration of their marriage. Work takes Virginia off to Japan, away from the influence of Oliver and we see a happiness free of his tyranny.
I wish I had the author's talent with words to describe how very much I enjoyed this wonderful book.
December 10, 2014
I have mixed feelings about this book. In some respects, the language, dialogue, and character interactions showed the marks of an adept wordsmith. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that the story was being told by an older woman--much older than 35--due to several issues.
Virginia is a mother and textile designer who puts up with a controlling, overbearing, abusive husband. She bears this behavior with a certain level of nonchalance that feels disturbing. It's as if the writer isn't exactly saying it's wrong even while admitting that it is abusive. Like she's writing for a generation who are so accustomed to it that they see it as so much the status quo they really have no argument with it. "That's just the way things are." While the book is, admittedly, dated (in other use of language as well), the main character's acceptance of her treatment is unsettling.
I wanted more to happen in this book. I wanted this woman to step out of her fear, to come to a valuable revelation, to fix things inside herself. But maybe if art imitates life, we get what we ask for in this book.
Some of the most beautiful lines in the book include the following.
About the interior of a room:
About Aeroflot Airline hostesses:
Virginia is a mother and textile designer who puts up with a controlling, overbearing, abusive husband. She bears this behavior with a certain level of nonchalance that feels disturbing. It's as if the writer isn't exactly saying it's wrong even while admitting that it is abusive. Like she's writing for a generation who are so accustomed to it that they see it as so much the status quo they really have no argument with it. "That's just the way things are." While the book is, admittedly, dated (in other use of language as well), the main character's acceptance of her treatment is unsettling.
I wanted more to happen in this book. I wanted this woman to step out of her fear, to come to a valuable revelation, to fix things inside herself. But maybe if art imitates life, we get what we ask for in this book.
Some of the most beautiful lines in the book include the following.
About the interior of a room:
It was all there, gewgaw, whatnot, fretwork, antimacassar, tatting, needlepoint, macrame, applique, blown glass, bisque, pinchbeck, knickknack, gimcrack.
About Aeroflot Airline hostesses:
The two of them are thumping their heels down on the carpet, balancing cups against their turbulent bosoms, squaring their square gray shoulders at us one after the other, serving trays as if they were subpoenas.
April 8, 2014
**I was given a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
This is a story of a woman's journey, both literally and figuratively. Virginia is an odd mixture of opposites. She was born in a strict religious family, but she grew up in Southern California with liberal and artistic thoughts. She married an Englishman and lived happily with him for 11 years, raising their daughter and dabbling in her art. Eventually, after an argument about sending daughter off to boarding school at a young age, Virginia joins Oliver's company as a textile designer for clothing, finally using her art in a constructive and talented way. At the office she befriends a woman who apparently is suffering from clinical depression. Oliver is, again, unhappy with her and makes his displeasure known. Virginia eventually realizes that the marriage is fading while her career is growing. She ends up visiting Japan on her own, searching for answers as she finds herself facing the same demons that her coworker faced. I found Virginia to be frustrating since she overanalyzed everything, seemingly creating at least half of her own problems with her constant dissection of every thought and deed. The writing was well-done and very lyrical with an excellent vocabulary, but I'm not sure I would struggle through another depressing story by this author.
Quote re Frances: "I liked Frances better talking about her than talking to her." and "I believe that the right to be unhappy is, like the pursuit of happiness, an inalienable right. It does not need a sanction."
Very clever quote regarding her marriage, "The air can't be cleared now. We live in marital Los Angeles."
One of the few positive quotes included, "...he three necessities of happiness were something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."
This is a story of a woman's journey, both literally and figuratively. Virginia is an odd mixture of opposites. She was born in a strict religious family, but she grew up in Southern California with liberal and artistic thoughts. She married an Englishman and lived happily with him for 11 years, raising their daughter and dabbling in her art. Eventually, after an argument about sending daughter off to boarding school at a young age, Virginia joins Oliver's company as a textile designer for clothing, finally using her art in a constructive and talented way. At the office she befriends a woman who apparently is suffering from clinical depression. Oliver is, again, unhappy with her and makes his displeasure known. Virginia eventually realizes that the marriage is fading while her career is growing. She ends up visiting Japan on her own, searching for answers as she finds herself facing the same demons that her coworker faced. I found Virginia to be frustrating since she overanalyzed everything, seemingly creating at least half of her own problems with her constant dissection of every thought and deed. The writing was well-done and very lyrical with an excellent vocabulary, but I'm not sure I would struggle through another depressing story by this author.
Quote re Frances: "I liked Frances better talking about her than talking to her." and "I believe that the right to be unhappy is, like the pursuit of happiness, an inalienable right. It does not need a sanction."
Very clever quote regarding her marriage, "The air can't be cleared now. We live in marital Los Angeles."
One of the few positive quotes included, "...he three necessities of happiness were something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."
March 15, 2015
When Virginia married Oliver she didn't realise he was such a snob. She grew up in a trailer park and is a natural rebel, but rebelling against her upbringing meant heading for respectability in her eyes. Oliver became the manager of a textile firm in his native England and the pair are unexpectedly wealthy.
Rowing over where to send their fractious daughter to school - among other problems - sends them different directions and Virginia concentrates on her silk screen printing flower pictures. Bizarrely, I thought, she wants to show cross-sections of stems and diseased leaves, and the firm accepts these images as lovely for clothing fabric. I don't see it myself.
A gay designer makes a more welcoming friend and companion than Virginia's husband and the marriage grows colder, though I must say the lady did little to help herself. She plagiarises a design and this makes her a thief.
The final section of the book in set in Japan as Virginia goes over with Oliver to oversee a merger while eastern firms move in to the European textile market. I found this unconvincing, just a list of names of places that the lady visited and odd behaviours that she indulged in; there is a new love interest and I did think the two would not have looked twice at each other if they were in a western environment.
So mainly this tale follows the marriage and has fabric for a background. There's plenty to learn and some good writing, but as it is told in a mainly unemotional style I was reminded of We Need To Talk About Kevin; a life you can't really get into with possible repercussions for the child.
Rowing over where to send their fractious daughter to school - among other problems - sends them different directions and Virginia concentrates on her silk screen printing flower pictures. Bizarrely, I thought, she wants to show cross-sections of stems and diseased leaves, and the firm accepts these images as lovely for clothing fabric. I don't see it myself.
A gay designer makes a more welcoming friend and companion than Virginia's husband and the marriage grows colder, though I must say the lady did little to help herself. She plagiarises a design and this makes her a thief.
The final section of the book in set in Japan as Virginia goes over with Oliver to oversee a merger while eastern firms move in to the European textile market. I found this unconvincing, just a list of names of places that the lady visited and odd behaviours that she indulged in; there is a new love interest and I did think the two would not have looked twice at each other if they were in a western environment.
So mainly this tale follows the marriage and has fabric for a background. There's plenty to learn and some good writing, but as it is told in a mainly unemotional style I was reminded of We Need To Talk About Kevin; a life you can't really get into with possible repercussions for the child.
March 4, 2014
Lately I read mostly romance novels and this book is definitely not a romance; in fact it could be called an un-romance. Virginia Marbalestier, the protagonist is an American expat married to an English businessman, with a young daughter, a huge home and a comfortable career as a textile designer in the same firm her husband works at.
From the beginning we’re drawn into the conflict surrounding whether to send their daughter to a finishing school, which Oliver favors, leave her in the local school, where she is bullied and miserable or find an alternative which is never well defined. The daughter is sent to the finishing school, and the marriage starts to unravel, though it takes most of the book for the drama to play out.
Virginia’s work relationships are more satisfying to her; she feels heard by her co-workers – rather than ignored and coerced as she feels with her husband. The communication patterns in Virginia’s relationships with her family and coworkers of listening, aggression and passivity, truthfulness and avoidance are deftly drawn by the author and give the book an emotional resonance that is truly moving.
This is a story where I could not predict what was going to happen to the protagonist, definitely not like romance novels, but very satisfying to experience.
I received an ARC in exchange for a truthful review.
From the beginning we’re drawn into the conflict surrounding whether to send their daughter to a finishing school, which Oliver favors, leave her in the local school, where she is bullied and miserable or find an alternative which is never well defined. The daughter is sent to the finishing school, and the marriage starts to unravel, though it takes most of the book for the drama to play out.
Virginia’s work relationships are more satisfying to her; she feels heard by her co-workers – rather than ignored and coerced as she feels with her husband. The communication patterns in Virginia’s relationships with her family and coworkers of listening, aggression and passivity, truthfulness and avoidance are deftly drawn by the author and give the book an emotional resonance that is truly moving.
This is a story where I could not predict what was going to happen to the protagonist, definitely not like romance novels, but very satisfying to experience.
I received an ARC in exchange for a truthful review.
May 19, 2014
This is a reprint from 1986. A story of a marriage that starts to dissolve soon after their daughter is born. Virginia from Southern California and Oliver, from England marry and move to England. They were students and Virginia thought Oliver would be a scientist but he went to work for a textile company and eventually so did she as a designer of fabrics. Jill their daughter is sent to boarding school against Virginia's judgement. It seems all decisions are against Virginia's interests. I liked her and how she began standing up for herself. Oliver is a pain in the rear. This story was an ok read, I did enjoy the glimpse into the textile industry and the land of Japan.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews