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Margarettown
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From the New York Times Best-selling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry comes an enchanting story about love in its many forms, and a man's timeless journey into the unknowable territory of the woman he loves. From the moment they first sleep together-piled atop seven mattresses in her dorm room-N. is drawn into a rich and enchanted relationship with Margaret Towne, a woman who will introduce him to worlds he never knew existed. The debut of Gabrielle Zevin.
From the New York Times Best-selling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry comes an enchanting story about love in its many forms, and a man's timeless journey into the unknowable territory of the woman he loves. From the moment they first sleep together-piled atop seven mattresses in her dorm room-N. is drawn into a rich and enchanted relationship with Margaret Towne, a woman who will introduce him to worlds he never knew existed. The debut of Gabrielle Zevin.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2005
79 people are currently reading
4591 people want to read
About the author
Gabrielle Zevin
20 books19.2k followersGABRIELLE ZEVIN is a New York Times best-selling novelist whose books have been translated into forty languages.
Her tenth novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was published by Knopf in July of 2022 and was an instant New York Times Best Seller, a Sunday Times Best Seller, a USA Today Best Seller, a #1 National Indie Best Seller, and a selection of the Tonight Show’s Fallon Book Club. Maureen Corrigan of NPR’s Fresh Air called it, “a big beautifully written novel…that succeeds in being both serious art and immersive entertainment.” Following a twenty-five-bidder auction, the feature film rights to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow were acquired by Temple Hill and Paramount Studios.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry spent many months on the New York Times Best Seller List, reached #1 on the National Indie Best Seller List, was a USA Today Best Seller, and has been a best seller all around the world. A.J. Fikry was honored with the Southern California Independent Booksellers Award for Fiction, the Japan Booksellers’ Prize, and was long listed for the International Dublin Literary Award, among other honors. To date, the book has sold over five-million copies worldwide. It is now a feature film with a screenplay by Zevin. Young Jane Young won the Southern Book Prize and was one of the Washington Post’s Fifty Notable Works of Fiction.
She is the screenwriter of Conversations with Other Women (Helena Bonham Carter) for which she received an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best First Screenplay. She has occasionally written criticism for the New York Times Book Review and NPR’s All Things Considered, and she began her writing career, at age fourteen, as a music critic for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Zevin is a graduate of Harvard University. She lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: Apologies, but Gabrielle doesn't reply to messages on Goodreads.
Her tenth novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was published by Knopf in July of 2022 and was an instant New York Times Best Seller, a Sunday Times Best Seller, a USA Today Best Seller, a #1 National Indie Best Seller, and a selection of the Tonight Show’s Fallon Book Club. Maureen Corrigan of NPR’s Fresh Air called it, “a big beautifully written novel…that succeeds in being both serious art and immersive entertainment.” Following a twenty-five-bidder auction, the feature film rights to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow were acquired by Temple Hill and Paramount Studios.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry spent many months on the New York Times Best Seller List, reached #1 on the National Indie Best Seller List, was a USA Today Best Seller, and has been a best seller all around the world. A.J. Fikry was honored with the Southern California Independent Booksellers Award for Fiction, the Japan Booksellers’ Prize, and was long listed for the International Dublin Literary Award, among other honors. To date, the book has sold over five-million copies worldwide. It is now a feature film with a screenplay by Zevin. Young Jane Young won the Southern Book Prize and was one of the Washington Post’s Fifty Notable Works of Fiction.
She is the screenwriter of Conversations with Other Women (Helena Bonham Carter) for which she received an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best First Screenplay. She has occasionally written criticism for the New York Times Book Review and NPR’s All Things Considered, and she began her writing career, at age fourteen, as a music critic for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Zevin is a graduate of Harvard University. She lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: Apologies, but Gabrielle doesn't reply to messages on Goodreads.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 315 reviews
April 10, 2009
Ah... this book was perfect for me right now, it seemed. Just one part-Margarette Towne's daughter ends up being named Jane. And near the end, N. gives her advice; it seems as it is written to me. It says:
"I wish i could tell you to always follow your heart, but i think it is bad advice. You have a heart, yes, it is true, but also a brain and also a soul. I've come to believe that we love with our brains as much as our hearts. Real Love is not just instinct, but intent...... From year to year, you may not always be the same Jane. This is perfectly normal. A Jane is many Janes in a lifetime."
I love Gabrielle Zevin's writing not only because of the way it is written, but also because of the perspective it is written in.
"I wish i could tell you to always follow your heart, but i think it is bad advice. You have a heart, yes, it is true, but also a brain and also a soul. I've come to believe that we love with our brains as much as our hearts. Real Love is not just instinct, but intent...... From year to year, you may not always be the same Jane. This is perfectly normal. A Jane is many Janes in a lifetime."
I love Gabrielle Zevin's writing not only because of the way it is written, but also because of the perspective it is written in.
March 19, 2013
An unconventional tale of love, life and death. But specially of love.
You could say this is another story of an ordinary couple who fall in and out of love, as we all do sometime in life.
Or you could say this is a unique tale of an extraordinary woman, who is five different women at the same time, and who dies because she is eighty-seven or thirty-five.
A cursed woman or a blessed one, because she is loved, deeply and intensely loved by her husband, the narrator of the story.
His voice is steady and simple and you find yourself moved every now and then, without even realising it, by the truths about life he so humbly exposes, always from his original point of view.
You can die of cancer or of an intoxication caused by eating too many lemons, which were your only sustenance during a shipwreck in Thailand.
Or you can love a manic depressed woman or meet her at seven, seventeen, thirty or seventy-seven, all at the same time. And learn to love them all.
Aren't we all different women at once?
You can say this is an easy reading, I'd say it's a complicated one. There's a lot hidden in these simple lines, sometimes I felt like writing a whole paragraph down, as I found the message and the way it was told impossible to improve. No mushy topics. Only a touch of magic, so different from other stories.
Do not be misled by the cover or the summary plot. This is a love story, yes. But not a common one, or maybe a common one, but one told in an original and true voice, a voice that won't be easily forgotten.
Because life can be seen in shadows of greys.
Or it can be a kaleidoscope of bright colours.
It all depends on the kind of glass you choose to look through.
Some quotations:
"It has bee said that the lover is usually a thief, and indeed, it is difficult to love someone without robbing them of something."
"Some parts I have forgotten; some parts I have chosen to forget. The man who has no memory makes one out of paper."
"Why does anyone ever fall in love with anyone? Is it the dimple in a plump elbow? Is it a glint in the eye? When you fall in love with one woman, are you actually falling in love with a different woman entirely? "
"Children are generally miserable and cruel people. And for good reason. For one, they are very short, and for two, childhood is generally miserable time, but older people are always insisting children should be happier than they are."
"At the end of the road, when you're least expecting it, he (or possible she) will be there."
"I die, Jane. The world grows more gorgeous every day. I am only forty-six - that may seem old to you now, but a day will come (and sooner than you think) when forty-six seems very young indeed.
I am only forty-six and it would seem tragic, but for one thing.
In you, I found infinity; in you, I was reborn."
" In life, Jane reflected, the most interesting things tend to happen when you are on your way to do something else."
You could say this is another story of an ordinary couple who fall in and out of love, as we all do sometime in life.
Or you could say this is a unique tale of an extraordinary woman, who is five different women at the same time, and who dies because she is eighty-seven or thirty-five.
A cursed woman or a blessed one, because she is loved, deeply and intensely loved by her husband, the narrator of the story.
His voice is steady and simple and you find yourself moved every now and then, without even realising it, by the truths about life he so humbly exposes, always from his original point of view.
You can die of cancer or of an intoxication caused by eating too many lemons, which were your only sustenance during a shipwreck in Thailand.
Or you can love a manic depressed woman or meet her at seven, seventeen, thirty or seventy-seven, all at the same time. And learn to love them all.
Aren't we all different women at once?
You can say this is an easy reading, I'd say it's a complicated one. There's a lot hidden in these simple lines, sometimes I felt like writing a whole paragraph down, as I found the message and the way it was told impossible to improve. No mushy topics. Only a touch of magic, so different from other stories.
Do not be misled by the cover or the summary plot. This is a love story, yes. But not a common one, or maybe a common one, but one told in an original and true voice, a voice that won't be easily forgotten.
Because life can be seen in shadows of greys.
Or it can be a kaleidoscope of bright colours.
It all depends on the kind of glass you choose to look through.
Some quotations:
"It has bee said that the lover is usually a thief, and indeed, it is difficult to love someone without robbing them of something."
"Some parts I have forgotten; some parts I have chosen to forget. The man who has no memory makes one out of paper."
"Why does anyone ever fall in love with anyone? Is it the dimple in a plump elbow? Is it a glint in the eye? When you fall in love with one woman, are you actually falling in love with a different woman entirely? "
"Children are generally miserable and cruel people. And for good reason. For one, they are very short, and for two, childhood is generally miserable time, but older people are always insisting children should be happier than they are."
"At the end of the road, when you're least expecting it, he (or possible she) will be there."
"I die, Jane. The world grows more gorgeous every day. I am only forty-six - that may seem old to you now, but a day will come (and sooner than you think) when forty-six seems very young indeed.
I am only forty-six and it would seem tragic, but for one thing.
In you, I found infinity; in you, I was reborn."
" In life, Jane reflected, the most interesting things tend to happen when you are on your way to do something else."
May 20, 2022
Maggie Towne is a woman with many layers. Zevin's narrator, N., learns quickly that to love her means to love many women at once, and he does—almost all of them, anyway. There's Marge, the middle-aged, droopy-breasted cynic, of whom he's not so fond, and Greta, in her thirties and suffering emotionally, about whom he's only heard murmurs. But there is appeal in seven-year-old May and teenager Mia, and even in wise Old Margaret, a friendly septuagenarian. Strange as it may seem, N.'s beloved Maggie embodies all these women at once, and he must find a way to live with them all.
As the book progresses, we learn N.'s reason for writing it: he is dying, and he wants his daughter Jane to know the story of his life with her mother, the multi-faceted Maggie. Suddenly the odd devices and magical details make sense—this isn't so much a factual history as it is a way for Jane to make sense of her parents' lives. N. is telling Jane a version of their story in which love and joy can still exist. Facts aren't particularly important here. Sometimes story takes precedence over truth, or maybe it reveals a better one.
I adored this book. I loved the sections that strained credulity, I loved the tempestuous but passionate relationship, and I loved the charming little recurring motifs. I'd read along and there would be another extra-long twin mattress, and I'd smile, because who would ever have picked an extra-long twin mattress as a symbol of love? Zevin must be a very creative and very wacky person.
This is the best book you've never heard of. It's a story that couldn't be told any other way. Try it out—I promise you won't regret your trip to Margarettown.
As the book progresses, we learn N.'s reason for writing it: he is dying, and he wants his daughter Jane to know the story of his life with her mother, the multi-faceted Maggie. Suddenly the odd devices and magical details make sense—this isn't so much a factual history as it is a way for Jane to make sense of her parents' lives. N. is telling Jane a version of their story in which love and joy can still exist. Facts aren't particularly important here. Sometimes story takes precedence over truth, or maybe it reveals a better one.
I adored this book. I loved the sections that strained credulity, I loved the tempestuous but passionate relationship, and I loved the charming little recurring motifs. I'd read along and there would be another extra-long twin mattress, and I'd smile, because who would ever have picked an extra-long twin mattress as a symbol of love? Zevin must be a very creative and very wacky person.
This is the best book you've never heard of. It's a story that couldn't be told any other way. Try it out—I promise you won't regret your trip to Margarettown.
May 9, 2023
Margarettown es el nombre de la protagonista de esta novela corta. Se hace una minuciosa exploración de ella, desde una mirada imaginativa, creativa, caótica y llena de fantasía.
Al principio la historia es divertida, un tanto extraña, llena de peculiaridades pero logra interesar.
Maggie inunda cada pagina, con todas sus edades, manías estados de ánimo a través de su enamorado Timothy, quien al principio queda desbordado y encantado.
Pero después de varios años, se nota que la alegría es imposible de sostener por siempre, y a través de los ojos de él, vemos cómo la realidad transforma a Margaret, y nos damos cuenta de la dura enfermedad que padece, pero aún en los peores momentos el amor parece prevalecer e iluminar tanta oscuridad.
Si no llegas a sumergirte en el mundo presentado, te podrá parecer que batallas con la narración pero si logras el ritmo, se puede disfrutar.
🎬✔️La escena: Maggie se embaraza y son gemelos, hay varios capítulos de los gemelos hablando entre sí en la panza, los diálogos son enternecedores y simpáticos.
✔️🔝Pros: El personaje de Margaret esta muy bien construido, como pasa de una edad a otra, de un estado de ánimo a otro, el mood de la historia que empieza hasta arriba de efervescencia y va disminuyendo hasta languidecer.
❌‼️Contra: Falto medirse en ciertas escenas, son como muy reiterativas, y falto pulir la escritura pero al ser la primera novela de la escritora es lógico.
📚📝Cita: “En la monogamia, hay una especie de nobleza. Incluso la hay en el mismo intento de mantenerla. Ir a dormir y despertarte a la mañana siguiente con la misma persona por el resto de tu vida, quedarte aunque estés deseando irte, éstos son los verdaderos rituales del amor.”
Al principio la historia es divertida, un tanto extraña, llena de peculiaridades pero logra interesar.
Maggie inunda cada pagina, con todas sus edades, manías estados de ánimo a través de su enamorado Timothy, quien al principio queda desbordado y encantado.
Pero después de varios años, se nota que la alegría es imposible de sostener por siempre, y a través de los ojos de él, vemos cómo la realidad transforma a Margaret, y nos damos cuenta de la dura enfermedad que padece, pero aún en los peores momentos el amor parece prevalecer e iluminar tanta oscuridad.
Si no llegas a sumergirte en el mundo presentado, te podrá parecer que batallas con la narración pero si logras el ritmo, se puede disfrutar.
🎬✔️La escena: Maggie se embaraza y son gemelos, hay varios capítulos de los gemelos hablando entre sí en la panza, los diálogos son enternecedores y simpáticos.
✔️🔝Pros: El personaje de Margaret esta muy bien construido, como pasa de una edad a otra, de un estado de ánimo a otro, el mood de la historia que empieza hasta arriba de efervescencia y va disminuyendo hasta languidecer.
❌‼️Contra: Falto medirse en ciertas escenas, son como muy reiterativas, y falto pulir la escritura pero al ser la primera novela de la escritora es lógico.
📚📝Cita: “En la monogamia, hay una especie de nobleza. Incluso la hay en el mismo intento de mantenerla. Ir a dormir y despertarte a la mañana siguiente con la misma persona por el resto de tu vida, quedarte aunque estés deseando irte, éstos son los verdaderos rituales del amor.”
January 24, 2013
From the synopsis, I thought I was picking up a book that was going to be an artsy metaphor about how people change over time. That's probably what it wanted to be, but it wasn't.
It started out well enough, though I found that the characters spoke in a very unnatural, Fred Astaire movie sort of way, and the titular Margaret was some sort of manic pixie dream girl gone wrong from the getgo.
The book eventually drops the metaphor and goes the fairytale route: there are quite literally several different Margarets. I think the book tried to make a really quite decent point about how we develop different identities based on how other people choose to define us (every Margaret has a different nickname, each a common abbreviation of Margaret). Instead, the book hits you over the head with some kind of moral that "every women is many women," which sounds fine here in this review, but in the context of the bat%$@# insane and unlikeable Margaret, and the male narrator who presents her to us, it really comes off as misogynistic and gives the impression that all women are schizophrenic.
Margaret is a mess. There is nothing likeable about her. At times she behaves like a child, and at others seems to simply have no morals or common sense. Her actions throughout the book are largely inexplicable. Our narrator doesn't fair much better.
Beyond that, most of the problem with this book comes down to annoying habits, such as the narrator and other characters being referred to as N___ or L____. There is no reason for it whatsoever. It's just a gimmick. Then there's the basically pointless interlude towards the middle of the novel in which we meet Margaret's twin children while they are still in utero. The only purpose it serves is to be depressing, and establish uncomfortable romantic implications (the surviving twin goes on to grow up and have sex with a man bearing the same name as her dead brother, and it acknowledges this is why). Then, it utilizes a trope that is becoming epidemic in fiction: the Token Lesbian. Out of nowhere, N____'s older sister is gay, and in a relationship with his ex-fiancee, no less. It isn't part of her character development (of which there is none) whatsoever; it is just suddenly a plot point.
The book was enjoyable enough, but couldn't handle the themes it attempted to explore.
It started out well enough, though I found that the characters spoke in a very unnatural, Fred Astaire movie sort of way, and the titular Margaret was some sort of manic pixie dream girl gone wrong from the getgo.
The book eventually drops the metaphor and goes the fairytale route: there are quite literally several different Margarets. I think the book tried to make a really quite decent point about how we develop different identities based on how other people choose to define us (every Margaret has a different nickname, each a common abbreviation of Margaret). Instead, the book hits you over the head with some kind of moral that "every women is many women," which sounds fine here in this review, but in the context of the bat%$@# insane and unlikeable Margaret, and the male narrator who presents her to us, it really comes off as misogynistic and gives the impression that all women are schizophrenic.
Margaret is a mess. There is nothing likeable about her. At times she behaves like a child, and at others seems to simply have no morals or common sense. Her actions throughout the book are largely inexplicable. Our narrator doesn't fair much better.
Beyond that, most of the problem with this book comes down to annoying habits, such as the narrator and other characters being referred to as N___ or L____. There is no reason for it whatsoever. It's just a gimmick. Then there's the basically pointless interlude towards the middle of the novel in which we meet Margaret's twin children while they are still in utero. The only purpose it serves is to be depressing, and establish uncomfortable romantic implications (the surviving twin goes on to grow up and have sex with a man bearing the same name as her dead brother, and it acknowledges this is why). Then, it utilizes a trope that is becoming epidemic in fiction: the Token Lesbian. Out of nowhere, N____'s older sister is gay, and in a relationship with his ex-fiancee, no less. It isn't part of her character development (of which there is none) whatsoever; it is just suddenly a plot point.
The book was enjoyable enough, but couldn't handle the themes it attempted to explore.
January 20, 2019
Bel libro, soprattutto originale.
Non credo che abbia la bellezza di La misura della felicità, ma ha un suo perchè.
Mi è piaciuto sopratutto il concetto che ogni donna è una città e che all'interno di noi stesse racchiudiamo un numero infinito di noi, ognuna delle quali salta fuori nei più svariati momenti.
Beh, come non darle ragione.
In questo libro racconta una storia, una storia qualsiasi, una di quelle che potrebbe raccontare un padre a una figlia iniziando proprio con "c'era una volta..." e si sa che le storie, per quanto vere, contengono sempre un pizzico di fantasia (o esagerazione, se vogliamo dirla tutta) e questa non fa eccezione.
è il racconto di un padre alla figlia, un padre che vuole proteggere questa figlia e che desidera non arrecarle nessun dispiacere. Una storia, che come spesso accade, racchiude tante altre storie di personaggi più o meno secondari.
L'ho detto, è una storia particolare... e originale.
Non credo che abbia la bellezza di La misura della felicità, ma ha un suo perchè.
Mi è piaciuto sopratutto il concetto che ogni donna è una città e che all'interno di noi stesse racchiudiamo un numero infinito di noi, ognuna delle quali salta fuori nei più svariati momenti.
Beh, come non darle ragione.
In questo libro racconta una storia, una storia qualsiasi, una di quelle che potrebbe raccontare un padre a una figlia iniziando proprio con "c'era una volta..." e si sa che le storie, per quanto vere, contengono sempre un pizzico di fantasia (o esagerazione, se vogliamo dirla tutta) e questa non fa eccezione.
è il racconto di un padre alla figlia, un padre che vuole proteggere questa figlia e che desidera non arrecarle nessun dispiacere. Una storia, che come spesso accade, racchiude tante altre storie di personaggi più o meno secondari.
L'ho detto, è una storia particolare... e originale.
September 28, 2009
What a neat, bizarre little book this was. Margarettown is actually a letter from father to daughter, telling the tale of how he meets her mother, Margaret, and his life thereafter. I loved the blurred lines between fable and reality, where you wonder if the narrator is being imaginative, a little deluded, or just trying to compensate for the aspects of Margaret he couldn’t understand. There is a deep sadness and regret in his remembering and retelling, tinged with a sense of humor and hope that he wishes to pass to his daughter. I was torn between 3 and 4 stars, but I settled on 4 simply because Zevin’s writing is artistic and captivating.
October 9, 2012
Can I give this book five stars for every person whom has ever occupied "Christinetown"? If I could, I would. This book was so many things, and all of them were beautiful. It is a love story, it is a story of self-discovery, and it is a story of how we see others. Love, I have learned from this book and hope to learn from life, is not about loving just one person; it is about loving every person that one has been and every person they will become.
February 19, 2023
So I read TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW and was quite disappointed by it. It completely blew the premise with a terribly contrived "twist." Yet there was something about Gabrielle Zevin's writing -- the lively prose, perhaps quirkiness beaten out by vile commercial forces -- that demanded me to go to the beginning. And it turns out my instincts were right! This is a gloriously weird and wildly inventive debut novel! It applies the fairytale feel to that talk you inevitably have with the person you've decided to be with for life, whereby you describe your past dating history. But what if you dated a woman named Margaret? And what if you were in a town in which there were numerous versions of her? Aside from this being a very funny high concept riff on accepting the totality of your sweetheart, it also allows the narrator (who checks out for a few parts involving third-person banter) to reveal the possibility that he has been driven mad by these developments (he claims to be dying of an absurd disease), for love does indeed drive us to mad confessions! I also liked the little bracketed asides addressed to his current love. There are also some funny observations about having sex in a lover's childhood home, as well as much else that I dare not reveal. I'm glad that I stuck it out with Zevin, who I am now convinced is being held captive by vile money-counting publishing forces who are throttling THIS clearly exuberant and enjoyably surreal writer. Although I shall now have to read all the books in between the first and the last. This is very much in the spirit of Otessa Moshfegh and Helen Oyeyemi, both of whom have not been forced to "sell out" in the way that Zevin may have. (Or maybe she was trying to strike it rich by flexing to the video game nerds. Whatever the case, it's clear that she's A HELL OF A LOT SMARTER than her most recent book revealed.)
June 17, 2023
Maybe because I read her works chronologically backwards (starting with her most recent, and just now reading this one), it is clear that this is one of the first books Zevin wrote. There are definite glimpses of the kinds of insights into life and love that I found in later works, but in a more muddled way. The fantastical aspects of this compared to the more realistic, grounded later works made it a bit harder to get into. I see the exercise, the reason to explore the subject matter in the particular way she did -- and it is rather unique and refreshing for trying something different -- but overall, the frame and method of getting there gets in the way more than it helps, in my opinion. The characters are interesting, though slightly less fleshed out than I'm used to for Zevin...but that might be again due to the method of delivery for the text. I kind of wished I would have seen more of the Margarettown interactions, more play with the different versions of Margaret and the narrator father. That part felt rushed and there was much more that could have been done there, I think. Still, the prose here is really well done and the style is one I recognize from her other works -- easily accessible, quick and enticing, and holding so much within its ostensibly simple sentences. I basically read this in one sitting, urged on by the great pacing and intrigue to know what's next that I've realize Zevin is a master at. Not her best, but worth reading if you enjoyed her other works.
September 8, 2024
“The draw to the first love is never about the other person anyway, it is always about the self.”
Continuing my Gabrielle Zevin fan girl status - I could say that this novel is part allegorical fable, part domestic drama, part magic realism. Or I could say, Margarettown is ambitious, intelligent and thought provoking experimental metafiction. Or I could say that this novel spoke to the multiple different versions of ourselves that are constantly living within us.
We could describe this novel in many different ways, thus is the nature of storytelling. This is the premise of Zevin’s novel - that language can just as readily be manipulated to obfuscate facts, and that the truth really is just another subjective perspective, and all truths are just our own versions of reality.
“Love is usually finite but still worthwhile for as long as it lasts.”
Continuing my Gabrielle Zevin fan girl status - I could say that this novel is part allegorical fable, part domestic drama, part magic realism. Or I could say, Margarettown is ambitious, intelligent and thought provoking experimental metafiction. Or I could say that this novel spoke to the multiple different versions of ourselves that are constantly living within us.
We could describe this novel in many different ways, thus is the nature of storytelling. This is the premise of Zevin’s novel - that language can just as readily be manipulated to obfuscate facts, and that the truth really is just another subjective perspective, and all truths are just our own versions of reality.
“Love is usually finite but still worthwhile for as long as it lasts.”
October 22, 2020
Es una novela que no he disfrutado, ha llegado a un nivel de rareza que no llegaba a entender. Solo había leído Elsewhere de Zevin antes y, aunque era extraño, me gustó. He comprendido la idea de que intenta mostrar las diferentes caras que tiene una persona, que vamos cambiando a lo largo de nuestra de vida. Sin embargo, para contar eso, me ha cambiado tres veces de narrador, de estructura (al principio era el padre contando a su hija su vida, luego la madre contando como había conocido a...)... Para mí no ha sido ni reflexivo (tenía alguna cita interesante y ya), ni adictivo. Una pena
February 26, 2024
This book was such a beautiful testament to loving someone for a lifetime. A favorite quote: “She would choose Jake above all others, even the ones she hasn’t met yet. She suspected that he was the best one.” I loved the idea of meeting someone in all their versions so much.
September 3, 2025
Loved this and everything Gabrielle Zevin writes. Time to read Elsewhere for the 12th time
December 15, 2023
I had to listen to this on 1.8 speed to get through it. It wasn't worth it.
August 8, 2023
Definitely not my favorite book by Gabrielle Zevin, but I still love her regardless.
February 11, 2018
A slightly magical, quirky, insightful and sad story about various stages of life and love, Margarettown is a gem of originality. Our narrator, unreliable N. falls in love with Maggie, a self-proclaimed"cursed" woman, who then takes him home and introduces him to several versions of herself. The story then becomes more mundane, a marriage falling apart, slowly, but that also makes it more beautiful, more real, as the fairy tale love story is never really quite real, is it? The last part of the book is told from the perspective of their daughter, Jane, who grows up also being a unique and also any-woman type... I really enjoyed this book, though I do think the symbolism was a bit heavy handed at times, and the prose became repetitive throughout the book (likely on purpose, but was off putting because of the obvious emphasis). 4 stars- charming, but not perfect. Really enjoyed it.
May 23, 2014
I can't help but imagine this book as a Wes Anderson film. I mean come on, there's already a character with an eye patch! This was a fun, fast read that was surprisingly thought-provoking. I tabbed several pages because I identified so strongly with Zevin's prose.
"To go to sleep and wake up next to the same person for the rest of your life, to stay even when you long to go- these are the real rituals of love."
"To go to sleep and wake up next to the same person for the rest of your life, to stay even when you long to go- these are the real rituals of love."
February 5, 2017
L'ho comprato (per fortuna in offerta) perché mi era piaciuto il primo romanzo di questa autrice, ma come ogni tanto accade, un grande successo purtroppo a volte è seguito da un racconto banale.
La storia è strana, surreale, con diverse voci narranti; la Zevine probabilmente voleva scrivere qualcosa che avesse una morale, l'idea non era neanche malvagia, ma strutturata male.
Non è terribile ma lo consiglio solo se preso in offerta.
La storia è strana, surreale, con diverse voci narranti; la Zevine probabilmente voleva scrivere qualcosa che avesse una morale, l'idea non era neanche malvagia, ma strutturata male.
Non è terribile ma lo consiglio solo se preso in offerta.
January 20, 2023
It is a short and easy-to-read novel. The majority of the book is regular. Although it has a few touching episodes, it was not enough for me. The most relevant part is love concept.
I liked Margarettown metaphor.
I liked Margarettown metaphor.
November 15, 2024
This book is not my favorite by one of my favorite authors but I can appreciate that she is finding her voice and developing her craft. The book follows the tortuous relationship of Margaret (Old Margaret, Marge, Greta, Maggie, Mia and May) and her college boyfriend who she marries.
April 25, 2024
The guy who read the audiobook for this ruined it for me
July 8, 2019
Sono piuttosto delusa da questo libro di Gabrielle Zevin, che di solito mi piace molto. La storia ha un senso anche piuttosto profondo, in effetti, ma la narrazione è troppo frammentaria, a volte sconclusionata. Si tratta di una storia piuttosto pirandelliana, sulle mille donne che sono dentro ogni donna, su come gli altri le vedono ciascuno a modo suo, e su come un uomo innamorato debba amare di loro ogni suo aspetto, da quello infantile, a quello acido alla donna vecchia che ciascuna diventerà, e non solo la persona - spesso idealizzata - di cui si è innamorato.
Margaret è come una città, Margaretown (non a caso, la Zevin le assegna il cognome Towne), in cui convivono tutte le centomila donne che lei è, che è stata e che sarà, ciascuna con il suo nome distintivo (e qui la Zevin si sbizzarrisce a trovare i diminutivi e le traduzioni in tutte le lingue del nome Margaret).
Il romanzo parla anche delle coincidenze, che spesso portano due persone a innamorarsi, o che invece non le fa incontrare se non quando ormai è troppo tardi.
Margaret è come una città, Margaretown (non a caso, la Zevin le assegna il cognome Towne), in cui convivono tutte le centomila donne che lei è, che è stata e che sarà, ciascuna con il suo nome distintivo (e qui la Zevin si sbizzarrisce a trovare i diminutivi e le traduzioni in tutte le lingue del nome Margaret).
Il romanzo parla anche delle coincidenze, che spesso portano due persone a innamorarsi, o che invece non le fa incontrare se non quando ormai è troppo tardi.
November 21, 2018
Gabrielle Zevin è un'autrice che sa stupire, capace di comunicare messaggi inaspettati.
Quando ho iniziato a leggere "Frammenti di una storia d'amore" credevo che mi sarei trovata di fronte una semplice storia d'amore, appunto.
Invece le cose non sono andate così. L'autrice porta avanti un vero e proprio viaggio di conoscenza dei personaggi, esplorando ogni loro aspetto e sfumatura. Mi è piaciuta tantissimo la rappresentazione dei vari aspetti di una persona fatta dalla Zevin.
Questa è una vera e propria lettera di affetto scritta ad una figlia per non farle dimenticare mai quanto nella vita le scelte siano importanti, decisive ed inevitabili.
È stata una lettura davvero significativa.
Quando ho iniziato a leggere "Frammenti di una storia d'amore" credevo che mi sarei trovata di fronte una semplice storia d'amore, appunto.
Invece le cose non sono andate così. L'autrice porta avanti un vero e proprio viaggio di conoscenza dei personaggi, esplorando ogni loro aspetto e sfumatura. Mi è piaciuta tantissimo la rappresentazione dei vari aspetti di una persona fatta dalla Zevin.
Questa è una vera e propria lettera di affetto scritta ad una figlia per non farle dimenticare mai quanto nella vita le scelte siano importanti, decisive ed inevitabili.
È stata una lettura davvero significativa.
June 4, 2023
This was a novel novel. I don’t know any other way to describe it. I feel better for having read it, and I admire the author’s approach. I didn’t love the characters, but I think it’s because if we all examine ourselves honestly, none of us would actually love our own characters as much as we like persons. I think that’sa lot of what this book was about.
November 29, 2024
I really loved Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by this author, so I've decided to explore her broader catalog. Unfortunately, this one didn't do it for me. There were a couple gems and flashes of greatness reminiscent of her later novels, but I'm surprised this one even got published, because I barely understood what was happening. I can appreciate what the author was trying to do in exploring the different selves that inhabit each of us over our lifetimes, but the plot was too disjointed, and the characters not sufficiently developed to make this premise work. 2 stars.
September 1, 2024
This book feels like a Taylor Swift song or an adult John Greene book. It’s jam packed with little hidden messages and mysteries that are unpacked within the story. I feel as though I could read it multiple times and still miss hidden meanings. The fact that I also read this within 10 hours it’s wild.
November 14, 2019
I loved this book so much.
♥️
♥️
May 7, 2024
Could have been so much more… Though if this book was a movie I would definitely watch it!
February 8, 2025
Quirky but wise. Very different from Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I want to read more by this author.
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