What do you think?
Rate this book
The Poets' Wives
From award-winning writer David Park, an absorbing account of the lives of the women most important to three poets: William Blake, Osip Mandlestam and an imagined contemporary Irish poet.
Three women, each destined to play the role of a poet’s wife: Catherine Blake, the wife of William Blake – a poet, painter and engraver who struggles for recognition in a society that dismisses him as a madman; Nadezhda Mandelstam, wife of Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, whose poetry costs him his life under Stalin’s terror; and the wife of a fictional contemporary Irish poet, who looks back on her marriage during the days after her husband’s death as she seeks to fulfil his final wish.
Set across continents and centuries, and in very different circumstances, these three women confront the contradictions between art and life, contemplate their emotional and physical sacrifices for another’s creativity, and struggle with infidelities that involve not only the flesh, but ultimately poetry itself. They find themselves custodians of their husbands’ work, work that has been woven with love’s intimacies and which has shaped their own lives in the most unexpected of ways.
Three women, each destined to play the role of a poet’s wife: Catherine Blake, the wife of William Blake – a poet, painter and engraver who struggles for recognition in a society that dismisses him as a madman; Nadezhda Mandelstam, wife of Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, whose poetry costs him his life under Stalin’s terror; and the wife of a fictional contemporary Irish poet, who looks back on her marriage during the days after her husband’s death as she seeks to fulfil his final wish.
Set across continents and centuries, and in very different circumstances, these three women confront the contradictions between art and life, contemplate their emotional and physical sacrifices for another’s creativity, and struggle with infidelities that involve not only the flesh, but ultimately poetry itself. They find themselves custodians of their husbands’ work, work that has been woven with love’s intimacies and which has shaped their own lives in the most unexpected of ways.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 27, 2014
9 people are currently reading
321 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 49 reviews
March 9, 2014
The first part is narrated by the wife of William Blake. Many thought Blake was a mad man and her job was to support him and cajole him out of his maudlin moods. To go along when he was manic, and to color his prints for his various poems and projects. This section was written in a very surreal type of narration, first person and Was not my favorite. What was interesting is that her whole world was William, when he was not present she felt she was incomplete.
The second section is the Russian poet Osip, who was imprisoned during Stalin's dictatorship, for not conforming and writing what he actually felt. This was also first person but I felt it gave a pretty good glimpse of what it was like for some during this time period. Again her job was to support her husband and at times she actually felt like his mother.
The third section, though fictional, was the most interesting, set in Ireland. It was interesting to see the diff3rent roles the wives played, though in all many things were overlooked in the name of "genius."
I loved looking up the poems as they were mentioned, but also think that th3 first p3rson narrative did this book no favors. The third section probable has the most depth but my favorite was the second.
The second section is the Russian poet Osip, who was imprisoned during Stalin's dictatorship, for not conforming and writing what he actually felt. This was also first person but I felt it gave a pretty good glimpse of what it was like for some during this time period. Again her job was to support her husband and at times she actually felt like his mother.
The third section, though fictional, was the most interesting, set in Ireland. It was interesting to see the diff3rent roles the wives played, though in all many things were overlooked in the name of "genius."
I loved looking up the poems as they were mentioned, but also think that th3 first p3rson narrative did this book no favors. The third section probable has the most depth but my favorite was the second.
February 27, 2015
I’m a big fan of books about history’s “famous wives,” but this one fell a bit flat for me. It’s in three parts: a first-person section by Catherine Blake, widow of William; a third-person, time-shifting section about Nadezhda, wife of disgraced Russian poet Osip Mandelstam; and a contemporary third-person section about Lydia, the widow of a fictional Irish poet. Two questions sprang to mind right away: 1) Why not maintain the same narrative style throughout? & 2) Was it really necessary to invent the third poet? Were there really not enough contemporary poets to choose from?!
The ostensible links between the three stories are thematic: the man versus the myth; the hero with the feet of clay (all three, it seems, had dalliances with younger women); and madness and public misunderstanding as threats to the poetic legacy. The poems live on, but often only through the widow’s memory. Each woman, for better or worse, envisions herself as the custodian of her husband’s precious words.
All the same, these are too much like separate stories. The third part, especially, could stand alone as a novella. Ironically, given that it was the one fictional storyline, it felt to me like the most successful one. Here are some representative quotes from each section, a few additional comments, and recommended further reading if the subject matter appeals:
Catherine:
Nadezhda:
Lydia:
I had never heard of the author, even though he has eight previous works of fiction to his name. Although he writes well, I’m not particularly tempted to seek out the rest of his work. Based on this experience, I would expect his talents to be better suited to short stories, which I suppose means I should read Oranges from Spain. In any case, it was interesting to see that Belfast chose The Poets’ Wives as their One City One Book read in 2014.
I was delighted to win a copy in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
The ostensible links between the three stories are thematic: the man versus the myth; the hero with the feet of clay (all three, it seems, had dalliances with younger women); and madness and public misunderstanding as threats to the poetic legacy. The poems live on, but often only through the widow’s memory. Each woman, for better or worse, envisions herself as the custodian of her husband’s precious words.
All the same, these are too much like separate stories. The third part, especially, could stand alone as a novella. Ironically, given that it was the one fictional storyline, it felt to me like the most successful one. Here are some representative quotes from each section, a few additional comments, and recommended further reading if the subject matter appeals:
Catherine:
• William = “A man of dreams and visions who as a boy saw a tree full of angels...a man who is not of this world but who walks in Heaven’s highways.”
• I first noticed the author’s run-on sentences and tendency to start sentences with “And” in this section but put it down to Catherine’s shaky literacy; unfortunately, the style persists into the next two parts.
• Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier is about the Blakes.
Nadezhda:
• “So now there is only the coarseness of a blanket in a tiny bed in a tiny room in a remote provincial town to protect her from the loneliness of the night that she thinks of as starless and over-arching.”
• “She looks at the little bunch of bluebells and things of all the unmarked graves, a whole generation swallowed up by the tundra.”
• Ironically, this section is based on Mrs. Mandelstam’s journals but translated into a third-person account. Perhaps Park felt a first-person narrative would be a pale imitation of Nadezhda’s own voice.
• For an evocation of Soviet-era Russia, I recommend Snow in May by Kseniya Melnik.
Lydia:
• “On the kitchen table a loaf of bread was white-furred and blue-measled.”
• “she knew enough to know that little in words was ever simply itself and that everything was loaded with some reverberating meaning.”
• The story is set in a remote coastal cottage in Ireland, where Lydia is expecting her daughters – London career girls – to join her to scatter their father’s ashes. Yet the loss of Don, who by all accounts was vain and spiky, affects her much less than her son’s death by misadventure on a Moroccan mountain some years ago.
• The setting and the writing are reminiscent of a number of other Irish authors. If you like this sort of thing, you might try The Gathering by Anne Enright, The Sea by John Banville, or Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín.
I had never heard of the author, even though he has eight previous works of fiction to his name. Although he writes well, I’m not particularly tempted to seek out the rest of his work. Based on this experience, I would expect his talents to be better suited to short stories, which I suppose means I should read Oranges from Spain. In any case, it was interesting to see that Belfast chose The Poets’ Wives as their One City One Book read in 2014.
I was delighted to win a copy in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
March 12, 2014
Being an admirer of Park's previous work, and having been at the official launch of this novel, I was slightly disappointed with my reaction to this novel.
There is no doubt, as critics have commented, that Park writes poetically, but to be honest, I found a lot of the writing hard work in the way I sometimes find Banville to be hard work, having to read beautifully crafted sentences a number of times to make sense of them, and losing track of long paragraphs. Similarly I found it a lot more difficult to relate to the subject matter of the novel than I have his previous work. All in all, perhaps this novel was just a little too highbrow for me!
The Arts Council in NI have chosen the book as their 'One City One Book' title of 2014-I'll be interested to see how this goes down with the general reading public in the city.
There is no doubt, as critics have commented, that Park writes poetically, but to be honest, I found a lot of the writing hard work in the way I sometimes find Banville to be hard work, having to read beautifully crafted sentences a number of times to make sense of them, and losing track of long paragraphs. Similarly I found it a lot more difficult to relate to the subject matter of the novel than I have his previous work. All in all, perhaps this novel was just a little too highbrow for me!
The Arts Council in NI have chosen the book as their 'One City One Book' title of 2014-I'll be interested to see how this goes down with the general reading public in the city.
March 27, 2014
I received an advance review copy of this novel as part of the Goodreads Giveaway. This was very exciting because I would have wanted to read it anyway, biographical fiction has been on the ascendant over the past number of years, as has the notion of the helpmate, the powerful woman, silent in the shadow of the great man. These women have been too long unsung, their husbands may bask in glory but their wives' memories are crumbled to dust. In The Poets' Wives, David Park imagines for them a voice, lends them an experience and yet I could not help wonder at the idea that once again, these women's voices had been superseded by a man.
All three of the poets' wives featured muse on what they have sacrificed to support their husbands, the infidelities endured, the hardships faced. The first narrative is in the voice of William Blake's unknown wife Catherine, the second from the perspective of Nadezhda Mandelstam, wife to Russian poet Osip and lastly the modern Lydia, recent widow to a fictional Irish poet Don. Park himself is an Irishman so despite his assurances in the afterword, it was tempting to imagine that the final section represented some part of his own experience or at least observations. This was particularly strange in the case of Nadezhda, who found her voice in her own account of her struggles, Hope Against Hope. Still, I felt that Park sincerely wished to honour the role of women in the creation of art and the power of literature and love. Each story stands as an independent novella, each woman having different but related experiences as spouse to someone whose eyes were locked on something separate to them.
All three women outlive their husbands, each responsible for their husbands' legacies. Nadezhda Mandelstam's husband died in a Soviet work camp after having been arrested for writing anti-Stalin poetry, for years she literally guarded his poetry in her own memory. Catherine Blake battled to guard her husband during his mental illnesses and then Lydia deals with the practical consequences of her husband's death. Yet all the while that they support their partners, they are each left feeling alone and lacking - shrunken and ignored by the world. They have been wooed with words, but words alone have not been enough to sustain them.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspo...
All three of the poets' wives featured muse on what they have sacrificed to support their husbands, the infidelities endured, the hardships faced. The first narrative is in the voice of William Blake's unknown wife Catherine, the second from the perspective of Nadezhda Mandelstam, wife to Russian poet Osip and lastly the modern Lydia, recent widow to a fictional Irish poet Don. Park himself is an Irishman so despite his assurances in the afterword, it was tempting to imagine that the final section represented some part of his own experience or at least observations. This was particularly strange in the case of Nadezhda, who found her voice in her own account of her struggles, Hope Against Hope. Still, I felt that Park sincerely wished to honour the role of women in the creation of art and the power of literature and love. Each story stands as an independent novella, each woman having different but related experiences as spouse to someone whose eyes were locked on something separate to them.
All three women outlive their husbands, each responsible for their husbands' legacies. Nadezhda Mandelstam's husband died in a Soviet work camp after having been arrested for writing anti-Stalin poetry, for years she literally guarded his poetry in her own memory. Catherine Blake battled to guard her husband during his mental illnesses and then Lydia deals with the practical consequences of her husband's death. Yet all the while that they support their partners, they are each left feeling alone and lacking - shrunken and ignored by the world. They have been wooed with words, but words alone have not been enough to sustain them.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspo...
March 4, 2014
This novel follows the lives of three poet's wives. The first is Catherine Blake, wife of William Blake, as she struggles to support a husband whose eccentric ways had many people thinking he was mad. His love for all of God's creatures opens the door to a young woman who threatens to destroy the life he and Catherine share. Then we meet Nadezhda Mandelstam, who under Stalin rule loses her husband, Russian Osip Mandelstam because of his poetry. Despite her husband's past philandering she holds dear his work, at great risk, altering her course in life. Her story leaves the reader with a heavy heart with her fear of trusting anyone, only able to imagine living in a country where speech isn't free, where words, spoken or written can cost you your life. The final story is a fictional couple, the wife of an Irish poet looks back over the life she shared with her husband and why she made the choice to stay. She must decide what to do with his legacy, whether or not to publish work that leaves his infidelities fresh in writing, as in her heart. The Poets' Wives asks the question, is art worthy of personal sacrifice? The stories are like walking on glass, and it dispels any romantic myths about serving as muse or wife to great artists. Strong women indeed. This novel left me with a sad heart, but it was wonderfully imaginative.
September 11, 2016
Ovo djelo čine tri priče, dvije temeljene na stvarnim likovima i događajima te jedna fikcionalna. Iako su pisane pomalo drugačijim stilovima, sve ih veže Parkova očita vještina i ljepota izražavanja. Catherine, Nadežda i Lydia žene su iz različitih vremena i situacija no veže ih njihova uloga sigurnog utočišta nepostojanom pjesničkom duhu njihovih muževa. Posebno je zanimljivo čitati o Catherine i Nadeždi, stvarnim ženama čiji je značaj izuzetno velik jer je njihova bezuvjetna podrška omogućila da William Blake i Osip Mandeljštam postanu imena koja se danas znaju i cijene. Nešto je slabija treća, fikcionalna, priča, smještena u sadašnjost i uglavnom fokusirana na obiteljske odnose i probleme. Dojma sam da pomalo iskače i više nalikuje nekoj prosječnoj, više puta viđenoj drami. Ipak, sveukupno je riječ o djelu itekako vrijednom pažnje te uglavnom jednako zanimljivom i stilski i tematski, što je, dojma sam, danas nažalost rijetkost.
July 7, 2023
This one had been ignored for the longest time and took me far too long to get through. The overall premise is good-three women married to three poets throughout history (two real, one fictional)- but this book just did not deliver. Sentences that rambled on for paragraphs, time jumps that were confusing to keep track of, and three separate stories that didn't connect despite hoping for a satisfying ending. There was some parts that were intriguing, but not enough for me to read more by David Park. The final story tackled issues of regret and grief which would have worked as a fantastic novel if fleshed out more. Although, I think Hamnet is more worth your time than suffering through this.
July 13, 2017
Ocjena 3 zvjezdice je prosjek: Prva priča (Catherine Blake)bi dobila 5 zvjezdica - oduševila me, osvojila, pogodila..., predivna priča i predivni likovi. Druga priča bi dobila 3 zvjezdice - dosadna priča i dosadni likovi, ali fascinantna predanost Nadežde M. da PAMTI Osipova djela u strašnom teroru sovjetske politike. Treća priča bi dobila 1 zvjezdicu - nezanimljiva, (pa i nelogična) priča i nezanimljivi likovi. 5+3+1 = 9, 9 : 3 = 3.
April 10, 2019
4.5 stars!
This was a beautiful, lyrical book to read. Three fascinating stories portraying the fortitude of and sacrifices made by the poets' wives portrayed. Furthermore the stories are all set in interesting times. While two are based on true stories, the third one is fictional. It is interesting that each poet is depicted as being self absorbed and / or self centered...putting their art and their own opinions above wives and family.
This was a beautiful, lyrical book to read. Three fascinating stories portraying the fortitude of and sacrifices made by the poets' wives portrayed. Furthermore the stories are all set in interesting times. While two are based on true stories, the third one is fictional. It is interesting that each poet is depicted as being self absorbed and / or self centered...putting their art and their own opinions above wives and family.
December 11, 2022
Disappointed in this book which was really three separate stories in one book. Unfortunately didnt finish it although I managed to get to the three story. It lost my interest completely. The way the stories were written was confusing going backward and forward in time.
I did learn the first two poets were actual poets and they had written their own life history but other than that found it a confusing read.
I did learn the first two poets were actual poets and they had written their own life history but other than that found it a confusing read.
February 15, 2019
I read the first two parts of this three-part book. I especially enjoyed part II, which vividly evoked life in Stalin's Soviet Union. As befits a book that is centred on poets, the quality of the writing is lyrical, in places almost poetic. I attended a launch event for the book, at which David Park did a reading. It was mesmerising.
January 29, 2021
Loved the first story,wasn't a big fan of the other two,I would have rated 2 stars but I really liked and was pleasantly surprised of the use of bluebells in this book as they're my favorite flowers, I can totally understand the representation in each story:everlasting love,humility and constancy.
I'm planning on rereading this one in the future to underline some stuff
I'm planning on rereading this one in the future to underline some stuff
May 23, 2017
Ashes in the Sunlight
A novel, or three hundred-page stories? "Lydia," the closing section, could be published alone as a novella about a poet's widow in the 48 hours before scattering his ashes on the sea, and it would be superb. But not so magnificent as the context David Park achieves by prefacing this story about the wife of a fictional poet by two historical novellas about real ones: Catherine, the wife of William Blake, and Nadezhda, the widow of Osip Mandelstam. Either of these, especially the second, would be fine on its own; together, they make a masterpiece whose power the reader discovers with slowly dawning wonder. The texture of Park's writing can be dense—the thoughts of the three women are seldom broken by dialogue—but he has the lyrical gift of a poet himself, and that is ultimately what shines.
Catherine opens with William Blake visiting his wife in her London room, advising her which of his prints and paintings to sell for money to live on. He is, of course, a ghost, who will make several more appearances before the end. In between, she will remember how he wooed her with words of wonder, taught her to read and write, and to color his engravings. She will remember the intensity of his visions that made others call him mad, his social conscience, and the impetuosity that more than once got him arrested. She will recall some of his stranger beliefs: in nudism, for instance, or (until she objected) in polygamy. [Infidelity is a common thread in all three stories.] Above all, she longs to join him in the other world:
It is here that the comparison with the two earlier novellas becomes so powerful. Like Blake and Mandelstam, Lydia's husband was not faithful in his marriage; like the other wives, she puts poetry first, but she finds it harder to forgive. Catherine Blake saw herself as "the shadow of delight"; Nadia Mandelstam as the preserver of truth in a world where truth can kill; but Lydia recognizes that Don was not an artist of exceptional vision, and that the world they both inhabit is a humdrum one. She feels grief, yes, but it is less for her husband than for their son Rory, killed in a climbing accident:
A novel, or three hundred-page stories? "Lydia," the closing section, could be published alone as a novella about a poet's widow in the 48 hours before scattering his ashes on the sea, and it would be superb. But not so magnificent as the context David Park achieves by prefacing this story about the wife of a fictional poet by two historical novellas about real ones: Catherine, the wife of William Blake, and Nadezhda, the widow of Osip Mandelstam. Either of these, especially the second, would be fine on its own; together, they make a masterpiece whose power the reader discovers with slowly dawning wonder. The texture of Park's writing can be dense—the thoughts of the three women are seldom broken by dialogue—but he has the lyrical gift of a poet himself, and that is ultimately what shines.
Catherine opens with William Blake visiting his wife in her London room, advising her which of his prints and paintings to sell for money to live on. He is, of course, a ghost, who will make several more appearances before the end. In between, she will remember how he wooed her with words of wonder, taught her to read and write, and to color his engravings. She will remember the intensity of his visions that made others call him mad, his social conscience, and the impetuosity that more than once got him arrested. She will recall some of his stranger beliefs: in nudism, for instance, or (until she objected) in polygamy. [Infidelity is a common thread in all three stories.] Above all, she longs to join him in the other world:
I shall see the visions that were denied to my mortal eyes, my head and heart freed for ever from their earthly limits, and I shall be as the woman clothed with sun, no longer "the shadow of delight".Nadezhda, at 114 pages, is the longest of the three novellas, and the one most deeply rooted in history. Osip Mandelstam was renowned as one of Russia's greatest poets, but he was betrayed for reading a poem about Stalin to a group of supposedly like-minded friends, and spent the last years of his life either in prison or in exile, finally dying in a distant gulag. Nadia (for short) outlived him by over forty years, surviving on temporary teaching jobs in places where they would not know her background. Although her husband betrayed her with other women, he was also the source of her greatest happiness, and she took on the burden of preserving his poetry as a sacred trust. Not daring to keep manuscripts, she memorized his entire oeuvre, keeping it alive by repeating it to herself each day for decades. Park's story is both a chilling account of life in Stalinist Russia and a tribute to a remarkable woman, looking forward to the time when his words can once more be spoken aloud:
Some day the cage doors will be thrown open, bluebells planted on the grave she will never see. Her lips begin to move. A voice for the dead, the words engraved eternally on the hidden chambers of her heart.Lydia, the only totally fictional story of the three, is paradoxically the one that seemed most real. Part of the reason is personal; the setting is similar to my childhood home, a small house by the sea in Northern Ireland, and even closer to where we sometimes spent family holidays; I could show you on a map. It was the summer cottage where Lydia used to come with her poet husband Don, and where he would often come alone to write. Now Don is dead, the funeral some months past, and Lydia, following the last instructions in his will, had come here this last time to scatter his ashes. Tomorrow, she will be joined by their two daughters, unmarried career women from London, but for now she is alone, going through Don's books and papers. And her own memories.
It is here that the comparison with the two earlier novellas becomes so powerful. Like Blake and Mandelstam, Lydia's husband was not faithful in his marriage; like the other wives, she puts poetry first, but she finds it harder to forgive. Catherine Blake saw herself as "the shadow of delight"; Nadia Mandelstam as the preserver of truth in a world where truth can kill; but Lydia recognizes that Don was not an artist of exceptional vision, and that the world they both inhabit is a humdrum one. She feels grief, yes, but it is less for her husband than for their son Rory, killed in a climbing accident:
She could never forgive Don for Rory because he alone had been allowed to reclaim her son. Reclaimed him in the eight sonnets he had written about their lost child with this supposed heartbreak preserved forever in the eyes of the world. And so even in grief he had made her subservient.Yet, when her daughters come over to join her, and they walk that northern beach and talk, she begins to put her life into perspective, and to emerge from the fringes of an artist's shadow. And on the last page, when she kneels on the end of that stone pier to scatter her husband's ashes into the sunlight, the moment becomes a requiem, not just for him, but for all her losses.
June 6, 2020
Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I think on previous attempts the first story with Blake was a bit heavy going and I struggled to get into it.
June 12, 2021
David Park is an Irish writer in the lyrical tradition. In this novel which is really three linked novellas he examines the impact of art on the lives of those who live with poets.
February 23, 2022
I gave up on this book. I just found it hard work and couldn't summon any enthusiasm for it. Sad because I have enjoyed other DavidParks books.
June 28, 2024
I loved this for its poetic writing. Beautiful but tragic, melancholy.
April 11, 2014
http://guninactone.wordpress.com/2014...
This was my first David Park book, and I was drawn to the idea of the story of the women behind the poets William Blake, Osip Mandelstam and the fictional Don. I am afraid that I liked the idea of this book more than the book itself. There were passages in each wife’s story that were beautiful and eloquent about love, marriage and sacrifice; but these were not enough to pull the whole book together for me. The three sections just broke from Catherine, to Nadezhda, to Lydia, and I needed something to connect them. I understand they were all wives of poets-but the lack of a connection of some kind was too harsh for me.
I liked the overlying question of the book, which to me was how much do you have to sacrifice for art? These women sacrificed comfort, relationships, and independence to their husbands and to the calling of Poetry. I don’t know that I’d have been willing to make some of those choices. Nadezhda’s story was just heartbreaking and made me want to read more about both her story and her husband’s. This part of the book was my favorite, despite how sad it was.
I thought the choice to use a fictional character with the lives of these two real women was interesting. It seemed like Park wanted the reader to feel as much sympathy for Lydia as for the real women and I just could not do that. I think I would have liked Lydia fine had the book been about her and her family's’ story entirely. But I just couldn’t feel as much for someone who chose to stay with a philandering husband (poet or not) compared to a victim of Stalin.
Because really, some of the passages were very moving. All of the other reviews I’ve read so far have been positive, so maybe this was just my disconnect-read it and tell me what you think!
2.5 stars.
I received this advanced copy from NetGalley and Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first David Park book, and I was drawn to the idea of the story of the women behind the poets William Blake, Osip Mandelstam and the fictional Don. I am afraid that I liked the idea of this book more than the book itself. There were passages in each wife’s story that were beautiful and eloquent about love, marriage and sacrifice; but these were not enough to pull the whole book together for me. The three sections just broke from Catherine, to Nadezhda, to Lydia, and I needed something to connect them. I understand they were all wives of poets-but the lack of a connection of some kind was too harsh for me.
I liked the overlying question of the book, which to me was how much do you have to sacrifice for art? These women sacrificed comfort, relationships, and independence to their husbands and to the calling of Poetry. I don’t know that I’d have been willing to make some of those choices. Nadezhda’s story was just heartbreaking and made me want to read more about both her story and her husband’s. This part of the book was my favorite, despite how sad it was.
I thought the choice to use a fictional character with the lives of these two real women was interesting. It seemed like Park wanted the reader to feel as much sympathy for Lydia as for the real women and I just could not do that. I think I would have liked Lydia fine had the book been about her and her family's’ story entirely. But I just couldn’t feel as much for someone who chose to stay with a philandering husband (poet or not) compared to a victim of Stalin.
Because really, some of the passages were very moving. All of the other reviews I’ve read so far have been positive, so maybe this was just my disconnect-read it and tell me what you think!
2.5 stars.
I received this advanced copy from NetGalley and Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review.
August 28, 2014
Although billed as a novel about poets' wives, the book is in three distinct parts. The first part tells the story of William Blake's wife, Catherine; the second part that of Russian poet Osip Mandelstam's wife, Nadezhda; the third part that of fictional Irish poet Don and his wife Lydia. Blake was commonly regarded as a madman; Mandelstam was a victim of the Stalinist regime as he chose to write 'derogatory' poetry about Stalin; Don was not a greatly successful poet. The common theme shows the wives coming to terms with their husbands' deaths, each having to come to terms with the idea that they were not the most important thing in their respective husbands' lives (in all cases, their poetry and other women featured prominently), trying to preserve the integrity of their husbands' work and trying to cope with life alone. The most disturbing section was that of Nadezhda, feeling she has to keep constantly on the move around Russia to avoid her own arrest after her husband died in a gulag in 1938 and keeping her husbands' legacy intact by memorising all his works. The least satisfying for me was the first section featuring Blake's wife, Catherine, but even here the writing is lyrical and true to historical records, albeit with some interpretation by the author of her frame of mind. I have read all of David Park's works and enjoyed every one - he has a wonderful writing style, descriptive without being flowery, incisively examining the characters' thoughts and emotions as they assess their married lives and struggle to cope after their widowing. A lovely man (met him at a Derbyshire Readers' Day) and a wonderful author. Looking forward to more! Nearly 5 stars - 9.5/10.
April 10, 2014
Some books are read for their stories, whereas some are savoured for their vivid imagery. David's Park's The Poets' Wives belongs to latter category.
The gist:
The poets in question are William Blake, Osip Mandelstam, a Russian revolutionary poet and an unknown Irish poet. These are three separate stories told from their wives' point of view.
Blake's reputation as a madman yet a genius in the eyes of his wife as he breathed life into words and turned them into poetry is very effective although a bit abstract. Park makes a great connection between Blake and his poetry by inserting lines at appropriate intervals.
The second account is that of Nadehzha Mandelstam and the how his rebellious poetry cost him his life and turned hers into becoming a fugitive.
The third is that of an unknown contemporary Irish poet, how his poetic sensibilities restrained him from reaching out to his wife and children. Each account is different for the era and society separates the poets but they are bound by the common thread of fighting a society conspiring to tame them.
What works:
The language is beautiful and the moving images
What doesn't:
Although there is a bit of background, often the stream of consciousness approach gets a bit taxing for the reader
The voices though poignant fall short of involving the reader, leaving her wanting for a more comprehensive account
The writing style is brilliant and the descriptions are evocative.
However it is a taxing read and requires perseverance to enjoy it.
The gist:
The poets in question are William Blake, Osip Mandelstam, a Russian revolutionary poet and an unknown Irish poet. These are three separate stories told from their wives' point of view.
Blake's reputation as a madman yet a genius in the eyes of his wife as he breathed life into words and turned them into poetry is very effective although a bit abstract. Park makes a great connection between Blake and his poetry by inserting lines at appropriate intervals.
The second account is that of Nadehzha Mandelstam and the how his rebellious poetry cost him his life and turned hers into becoming a fugitive.
The third is that of an unknown contemporary Irish poet, how his poetic sensibilities restrained him from reaching out to his wife and children. Each account is different for the era and society separates the poets but they are bound by the common thread of fighting a society conspiring to tame them.
What works:
The language is beautiful and the moving images
What doesn't:
Although there is a bit of background, often the stream of consciousness approach gets a bit taxing for the reader
The voices though poignant fall short of involving the reader, leaving her wanting for a more comprehensive account
The writing style is brilliant and the descriptions are evocative.
However it is a taxing read and requires perseverance to enjoy it.
September 3, 2014
Run on sentences and interminable paragraphs blunted my enjoyment of this book. It didn't help that the women in question weren't fully realized beyond being martyrs for their husband's art. There was a notable exception in Nadezhda Mandelstam, but I did feel that her remarkable life was made, if not unremarkable, certainly snooze inducing in the telling. Her story had the most potential, squandered or not. Of the other two, Catherine Blake at least shows moments of fire. It's also easy to empathize with her, and to understand why she was enamored of her husband's art.
The imagined Lydia, on the other hand, is a complete waste of space. That she would be put on the same level as two real women, one of whom faced Stalin's persecution and the other faced societal pity for who her husband was, makes me sad. Her claim to elevated status is that she stayed with her husband and remained subservient to his will despite him sleeping with a number of women and insulting her by writing love poems for his lovers. It's not the same thing. I also couldn't understand why she stayed and a throwaway line about the power of words is not going to suffice, without having shown in Don even basic human decency. This was a complete failure of a storyline, and the book would have been better without it.
Park can write very beautiful sentences, no doubt, but in this particular book at least, they weren't very well put together. 2 stars.
I received a copy of this book for review, via NetGalley.
The imagined Lydia, on the other hand, is a complete waste of space. That she would be put on the same level as two real women, one of whom faced Stalin's persecution and the other faced societal pity for who her husband was, makes me sad. Her claim to elevated status is that she stayed with her husband and remained subservient to his will despite him sleeping with a number of women and insulting her by writing love poems for his lovers. It's not the same thing. I also couldn't understand why she stayed and a throwaway line about the power of words is not going to suffice, without having shown in Don even basic human decency. This was a complete failure of a storyline, and the book would have been better without it.
Park can write very beautiful sentences, no doubt, but in this particular book at least, they weren't very well put together. 2 stars.
I received a copy of this book for review, via NetGalley.
October 27, 2014
The Poets' Wives: A Novel was actually a book I listened to by mistake. Someone on Goodreads recommended The Poet's Wife, as a book I might enjoy. I didn't look carefully enough and chose the wrong book when browsing Audible.com. It turned out to be a very serendipitous mistake. After listening to the Audible version of The Poets’ Wives: A Novel, I have to disagree with the other reviews that I’ve read. I really enjoyed it. I found it to be an interesting and entertaining audio book.
Each of the three sections was a distinct story about the marriage of a poet, as told through the voice of his wife. Two were actual poets’ wives: Catherine Blake, wife of William Blake and Nadezhda Mandelstam, wife of Osip Mandelstam. The third story involved the wife of a fictional poet in modern times. When picking the story, I was very aware that the stories would be about the lives and relationships of the characters, particularly the wives, and was not expecting a lot of poetry.
The three stories were similar in style: first person narration told through flashbacks into the past. Perhaps that’s why I liked it so much. All of the three women were older, looking back through their lives. Their personalities and experiences were all different, as were their partners’. Perhaps having a narrator give life to their individual voices made the story more appealing and coherent. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version and would definitely recommend it. For me, it was very good listen. Now onto finding The Poet’s Wife, which I do intend to read.
Each of the three sections was a distinct story about the marriage of a poet, as told through the voice of his wife. Two were actual poets’ wives: Catherine Blake, wife of William Blake and Nadezhda Mandelstam, wife of Osip Mandelstam. The third story involved the wife of a fictional poet in modern times. When picking the story, I was very aware that the stories would be about the lives and relationships of the characters, particularly the wives, and was not expecting a lot of poetry.
The three stories were similar in style: first person narration told through flashbacks into the past. Perhaps that’s why I liked it so much. All of the three women were older, looking back through their lives. Their personalities and experiences were all different, as were their partners’. Perhaps having a narrator give life to their individual voices made the story more appealing and coherent. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version and would definitely recommend it. For me, it was very good listen. Now onto finding The Poet’s Wife, which I do intend to read.
March 9, 2014
This novel follows the lives of three poet's wives. The first is Catherine Blake, wife of William Blake, as she struggles to support a husband whose eccentric ways had many people thinking he was mad. His love for all of God's creatures opens the door to a young woman who threatens to destroy the life he and Catherine share. Then we meet Nadezhda Mandelstam, who under Stalin rule loses her husband, Russian Osip Mandelstam because of his poetry. Despite her husband's past philandering she holds dear his work, at great risk, altering her course in life. Her story leaves the reader with a heavy heart with her fear of trusting anyone, only able to imagine living in a country where speech isn't free, where words, spoken or written can cost you your life. The final story is a fictional couple, the wife of an Irish poet looks back over the life she shared with her husband and why she made the choice to stay. She must decide what to do with his legacy, whether or not to publish work that leaves his infidelities fresh in writing, as in her heart. The Poets' Wives asks the question, is art worthy of personal sacrifice? The stories are like walking on glass, and it dispels any romantic myths about serving as muse or wife to great artists. Strong women indeed. This novel left me with a sad heart, but it was wonderfully imaginative.
January 2, 2015
The stories of three poets wives supporting their husbands through mental illness, imprisonment, exhale and adultery.
Full of pain, love and loyalty.
Story 1 - my favourite of the three - was beautiful and breathtaking. I literally held my breath during parts of my reading. The love present between this husband and wife is enviable. The writing beautiful.
Story 2 - A tad more sporadic with jumbled dates but beautifully written nether the less. A story of love and loyalty against all odds.
Story 3 - much more modern than the other two stories, yet another story of loyalty and love only this time seeming one sided.
I very much enjoyed this book and read it much slower than I normally would so that I would not miss anything. 4 1/2 star rating.
I enjoyed this book for free by winning it through goodreads Firstreads
Full of pain, love and loyalty.
Story 1 - my favourite of the three - was beautiful and breathtaking. I literally held my breath during parts of my reading. The love present between this husband and wife is enviable. The writing beautiful.
Story 2 - A tad more sporadic with jumbled dates but beautifully written nether the less. A story of love and loyalty against all odds.
Story 3 - much more modern than the other two stories, yet another story of loyalty and love only this time seeming one sided.
I very much enjoyed this book and read it much slower than I normally would so that I would not miss anything. 4 1/2 star rating.
I enjoyed this book for free by winning it through goodreads Firstreads
August 8, 2015
David Park's dense book focuses first in a vignette on Kate, William Blake's wife, and secondly on dissident poet Osip Mandelstam's partner, Nadezjda Mandelstam. Strangely, then, the third vignette is purely fiction: Lydia, the wife of Don, and her relationship to him and his writing within the confines of their relationship and that of their family as two daughters contribute to the conversation. Few selections and lines from the poetry of the writers is included, and each of the three selections could stand alone as a short story, although Mandelstam's is more accurately a novella. There are few if any ties to hold the volume together as a novel. This isn't exactly a book to romp through as death has already taken the poets in both the first and last selections, and dark tones dominate all three. For me, Catherine Blake offered the most interesting narrative.
May 15, 2016
An interesting attempt to look at women who spent their lives in the shadow of their husbands, for better or worse. The stories of the three women are narrated from their own points of view, dividing the book in three distinct parts.
I couldn't understand the choice of Nadezda Mandelstam, as she published her own excellent chronicles of her life and marriage to Osip Mandelstam, but I nevertheless found her portion of the book very moving.
The part I found least well-written was the last one, about the wife of a contemporary but unnamed/imaginary Irish poet. It read to me more like a weak attempt to replicate Mrs. Dalloway.
All in all, a good read and a worthy attempt, by a man, to give a voice to women who for one reason or another could not find a voice of their own, or it was swallowed up by their husbands'.
I couldn't understand the choice of Nadezda Mandelstam, as she published her own excellent chronicles of her life and marriage to Osip Mandelstam, but I nevertheless found her portion of the book very moving.
The part I found least well-written was the last one, about the wife of a contemporary but unnamed/imaginary Irish poet. It read to me more like a weak attempt to replicate Mrs. Dalloway.
All in all, a good read and a worthy attempt, by a man, to give a voice to women who for one reason or another could not find a voice of their own, or it was swallowed up by their husbands'.
April 15, 2014
I was fortunate to receive a copy of ‘The Poets’ Wives’ via Goodreads-First Reads. My thanks to Goodreads, Bloomsbury
Publishing and the Author.
This book is a beautiful work of art; not to be devoured but digested slowly.
Over three centuries the reader enters the lives of three remarkable wives of poets’, observing their strength and determination in the face of adversity to ensure that their love/relationship and their husbands’ lifelong work endures.
The prose is poetic, gentle, tender, emotional and heartfelt. The reader cannot fail to be affected by the experience, possibly at times being reduced to tears.
David Park’s writing is perceptive, deeply moving and intimate. He has a remarkable understanding of the female psyche.
Publishing and the Author.
This book is a beautiful work of art; not to be devoured but digested slowly.
Over three centuries the reader enters the lives of three remarkable wives of poets’, observing their strength and determination in the face of adversity to ensure that their love/relationship and their husbands’ lifelong work endures.
The prose is poetic, gentle, tender, emotional and heartfelt. The reader cannot fail to be affected by the experience, possibly at times being reduced to tears.
David Park’s writing is perceptive, deeply moving and intimate. He has a remarkable understanding of the female psyche.
September 29, 2014
I feel uneasy about this 1* review because I never managed to finish this book. I gave up. So call this a 1* review of the first 230 repetitive pages. I did not like the characters, the three woman were not fully formed. I wanted to know more about them but found I was reading pages and pages of their lamenting/ anger and their husbands. I found myself skimming pages to find a change in pace or something interesting happening in the story. I really wanted to like this book as it is written by a local author and some of the pages are set in my favourite place in the world, Donegal. But I didn't. Sorry.
April 28, 2014
I really enjoyed Park's idea of creating a fictional narrative for these historical figures, and I enjoyed his creation. This book definitely made me think, and had me asking questions about society for these women, as well as the intricacies of society today.
I admit, it was a little slow-paced for me, but hopefully this won't throw too many readers off, as it really is worth reading.
I received this book as part of the Goodreads Firstreads programme, and I am grateful to the publisher, author and to Goodreads.
I admit, it was a little slow-paced for me, but hopefully this won't throw too many readers off, as it really is worth reading.
I received this book as part of the Goodreads Firstreads programme, and I am grateful to the publisher, author and to Goodreads.
March 4, 2015
I got sent this book as a give away and I was half expecting it to be dry and to read the first few pages and stop. However, the first part was written in such an interesting way that it made you carry on reading.
There are different parts for different wives and there are references to different poems throughout the book which was a nice touch.
For me this book wasn't one of those that you can't put down because it took me a fair while to read it which is very rare, yet the story is compelling and provides a good insight into the lives of the poets' wives.
There are different parts for different wives and there are references to different poems throughout the book which was a nice touch.
For me this book wasn't one of those that you can't put down because it took me a fair while to read it which is very rare, yet the story is compelling and provides a good insight into the lives of the poets' wives.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews