What do you think?
Rate this book
CORA.
Hardcover
About the author
Ruth Suckow
35 books7 followersRuth Suckow (August 6, 1892 – January 23, 1960) was an American author.
Suckow is sometimes recalled as a "regionalist," but she did not consider herself such a writer. She said that she wrote about "people, situations, and their meaning." Her fiction was often set in Iowa, but was not parochial in outlook. Today her writing has value for readers who enjoy good storytelling as well as for social historians looking for details about life in the early 20th century, particularly in the small towns of Iowa.
Suckow's childhood home has been preserved at Calliope Village in Hawarden, Iowa.
(from Wikipedia)
Suckow is sometimes recalled as a "regionalist," but she did not consider herself such a writer. She said that she wrote about "people, situations, and their meaning." Her fiction was often set in Iowa, but was not parochial in outlook. Today her writing has value for readers who enjoy good storytelling as well as for social historians looking for details about life in the early 20th century, particularly in the small towns of Iowa.
Suckow's childhood home has been preserved at Calliope Village in Hawarden, Iowa.
(from Wikipedia)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 9, 2018
What I love best about books is that you can open them up, flip a few pages, and discover exactly what year they were created. With books, you can hold history right in your hands. Regardless of its contents, I can't help but appreciate that element. I came across this book in a "free books" box in my library. That's where books go when they're too worn to keep in circulation, but didn't sell in the yearly book sale. The title caught my attention because, well...that's my name, and you just don't see it very often. I was very excited when I saw that it was written in 1929, so I snagged it up. It sat on my book shelf for several years before I finally decided to read it.
I wanted a little insight as to its contents, but there was no summary. Just a pictureless title. Nothing in the back. No prologue. A search online brought up absolutely nothing. Only a star rating by a couple of readers on Goodreads, but no summary or review. So, I feel obligated to write one.
Ruth Suckow's writing reeled me in immediately. She wrote it in 1929, and that's the era in which the novel takes place (although it starts with Cora as a child, which would have put it in the late 1800's, early 1900's.) I believe it was quite a modern, progressive book at the time. I found Ms. Suckow's style of writing very easy to read. I found myself quickly immersed in the time and surroundings of which she wrote.
This book starts with Cora as a child of German immigrants in the mid-west United States. The family is happy living in a small town, but is forced, for financial reasons, to move to the city. We learn early in the story that Cora is a feminist. But in such a way that the more I read, the less I liked her character. She felt undue coldness towards her father; not because he was abusive or unloving. Quite the opposite. He was a very loving, optimistic, caring man. She resented him because he didn't make enough money to provide amply for his family, so Cora's mother had to labor very hard to assist him. As soon as Cora was old enough, she started working as well to help provide for the family. She did so begrudgingly. She worked hard and diligently at her secretary job, but she did not enjoy it. She was anti-marriage, and only seemed to date men that she could use or whom she found amusing. She looked down upon other women that married or started families.
She finally decides to take a lone vacation and meets her Mr. Wonderful. They marry after knowing each other for only one week (so the feminist turns out to be a hypocrite). This marriage goes south quickly and Cora ends up a single mother, and moves back home with her mother and aunt. She does not feel love towards her child and is cold and distant with her. Her aunt and mother basically raise the child for her.
While this book did not appeal to me since I am not a feminist, it seems that this book would be ground breaking to those who are. I'm surprised I've never heard of it. I'm surprised it's not used in colleges as a study of early feminism. There is even a lesbian couple referenced in the third portion of the book. I didn't even realize that was a thing in 1929. Certainly, it wasn't spoken of? While I ended up disliking the character, I really have to recommend this book as it is a rare glimpse into a part of our history.
I wanted a little insight as to its contents, but there was no summary. Just a pictureless title. Nothing in the back. No prologue. A search online brought up absolutely nothing. Only a star rating by a couple of readers on Goodreads, but no summary or review. So, I feel obligated to write one.
Ruth Suckow's writing reeled me in immediately. She wrote it in 1929, and that's the era in which the novel takes place (although it starts with Cora as a child, which would have put it in the late 1800's, early 1900's.) I believe it was quite a modern, progressive book at the time. I found Ms. Suckow's style of writing very easy to read. I found myself quickly immersed in the time and surroundings of which she wrote.
This book starts with Cora as a child of German immigrants in the mid-west United States. The family is happy living in a small town, but is forced, for financial reasons, to move to the city. We learn early in the story that Cora is a feminist. But in such a way that the more I read, the less I liked her character. She felt undue coldness towards her father; not because he was abusive or unloving. Quite the opposite. He was a very loving, optimistic, caring man. She resented him because he didn't make enough money to provide amply for his family, so Cora's mother had to labor very hard to assist him. As soon as Cora was old enough, she started working as well to help provide for the family. She did so begrudgingly. She worked hard and diligently at her secretary job, but she did not enjoy it. She was anti-marriage, and only seemed to date men that she could use or whom she found amusing. She looked down upon other women that married or started families.
She finally decides to take a lone vacation and meets her Mr. Wonderful. They marry after knowing each other for only one week (so the feminist turns out to be a hypocrite). This marriage goes south quickly and Cora ends up a single mother, and moves back home with her mother and aunt. She does not feel love towards her child and is cold and distant with her. Her aunt and mother basically raise the child for her.
While this book did not appeal to me since I am not a feminist, it seems that this book would be ground breaking to those who are. I'm surprised I've never heard of it. I'm surprised it's not used in colleges as a study of early feminism. There is even a lesbian couple referenced in the third portion of the book. I didn't even realize that was a thing in 1929. Certainly, it wasn't spoken of? While I ended up disliking the character, I really have to recommend this book as it is a rare glimpse into a part of our history.
Displaying 1 of 1 review