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The Story of Avis
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's 1877 novel is set in a New England college town, and focuses on Avis Dobell, a professor's daughter. Avis is a talented painter, and bucks against the constraints placed on women in the 19th century. She wants to pursue a career as an artist and rejects marriage and motherhood, until she meets the charismatic young professor Philip Ostrander. Phelps's novel is a beautifully-written examination of the conflicts between marriage and career for women that is still relevant today. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)
10 pages, Audiobook
First published January 1, 1877
15 people are currently reading
254 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward
137 books22 followersElizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, born Mary Gray Phelps, was an American author.
She was born at Andover, Massachusetts. In most of her writings she used her mother's name "Elizabeth Stuart Phelps" as a pseudonym, both before and after her marriage in 1888 to Herbert Dickinson Ward, a journalist seventeen years younger. She also used the pseudonym Mary Adams. Her father Austin Phelps was pastor of the Pine Street Congregational Church until 1848, when he accepted a position as the Chair of Rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary and moved the family to Boston.
Ward wrote three Spiritualist novels, The Gates Ajar, Between the Gates and Beyond the Gates, and a novella about animal rights, Loveliness. While writing other popular stories, she was also a great advocate, by lecturing and otherwise, for social reform, temperance, and the emancipation of women. She was also involved in clothing reform for women, urging them to burn their corsets in 1874.
Ward's mother, Elizabeth (Wooster) Stuart Phelps, (August 13, 1815—November 30, 1852) wrote the Kitty Brown books under the pen name H. Trusta.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and her husband co-authored two Biblical romances in 1890 and 1891. Her autobiography, Chapters from a Life was published in 1896 after being serialized in McClure's. She also wrote a large number of essays for Harper's
Phelps continued to write short stories and novels into the twentieth century. One work, Trixy (1904), dealt with another cause she supported, anti-vivisection (a topic on which she also addressed the Massachusetts State Legislature). Her last work, Comrades (1911), was published posthumously. Phelps died January 28, 1911, in Newton Center, Massachusetts.
She was born at Andover, Massachusetts. In most of her writings she used her mother's name "Elizabeth Stuart Phelps" as a pseudonym, both before and after her marriage in 1888 to Herbert Dickinson Ward, a journalist seventeen years younger. She also used the pseudonym Mary Adams. Her father Austin Phelps was pastor of the Pine Street Congregational Church until 1848, when he accepted a position as the Chair of Rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary and moved the family to Boston.
Ward wrote three Spiritualist novels, The Gates Ajar, Between the Gates and Beyond the Gates, and a novella about animal rights, Loveliness. While writing other popular stories, she was also a great advocate, by lecturing and otherwise, for social reform, temperance, and the emancipation of women. She was also involved in clothing reform for women, urging them to burn their corsets in 1874.
Ward's mother, Elizabeth (Wooster) Stuart Phelps, (August 13, 1815—November 30, 1852) wrote the Kitty Brown books under the pen name H. Trusta.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and her husband co-authored two Biblical romances in 1890 and 1891. Her autobiography, Chapters from a Life was published in 1896 after being serialized in McClure's. She also wrote a large number of essays for Harper's
Phelps continued to write short stories and novels into the twentieth century. One work, Trixy (1904), dealt with another cause she supported, anti-vivisection (a topic on which she also addressed the Massachusetts State Legislature). Her last work, Comrades (1911), was published posthumously. Phelps died January 28, 1911, in Newton Center, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 3, 2008
Was thinking of this book last night (I've loaned it out and don't expect to get it back . . . these things haunt me at bedtime) and realized I had not catalogued it. This is a fantastic novel from the late C19 that chronicles how the lead character, Avis, compromises her artistic talent to succumb to the demands of domesticity. Similar to Chopin's The Awakening, it is a meditation on woman's role as wife and self, but it is a more extended treatment, more realistic than Chopin's. Phelps deals less with sexuality and more with just simple devotion and fate than Chopin does. Nevertheless, she writes just as beautifully, in that same romantic/symbolic style. This novel is still relevant today, and has one of the most moving endings . . . ever? Yeah, sure, ever.
May 19, 2009
This is the story of a woman who possesses the talent and the discipline to become a great artist, but who loses the opportunity when she finally agrees to marry. The novel is written in such a way that no one is really at fault, her "failure" is simply the way life is...women are, in many ways, prisoners of their biology. Phelps' writing style is beautiful; I love the way she uses paint colors in her descriptions of people and settings. I think any woman who has felt the tug of career and sacrificed it in the genetic shove to reproduce will connect with this story.
February 4, 2014
Such a pleasure to read, I enjoyed every page. But I'm used to 19th century writing and don't find it tiresome.
January 15, 2008
This book is by a little-known bestselling American woman author in the nineteenth century. It is about a woman who feels she has to sacrifice her art (she is a painter) for marriage and children. Her husband ultimately is not financially stable and she ends up facing difficulties. This is similar to the author's own life. I wrote my longest graduate term paper and the image of the Sphinx that the main character paints in this book. I must have gone to the Library of Congress in search for primary documents at least ten times for this paper.
When this novel was written, Americans had quite a fascination with ancient Egypt as the painting in this novel reflects.
When this novel was written, Americans had quite a fascination with ancient Egypt as the painting in this novel reflects.
Read
June 19, 2019I began listening to the Story of Avis with the expectation that I would probably have to stop at some point (florid 19th century novels can be a bit touch and go for me). I found, however, that the story exerted a surprising hold on my imagination, and I ended up plowing through it during a slow vacation in rural Tennessee.
It's a tale as old as time - a talented young woman forsakes (at first temporarily and then, inevitably, permanently) a promising career for the sake of marriage and a man. Stuart Phelps does a harrowingly good job of describing the oh-so-quotidian, oh-so-exhausting ways in which this talented young woman goes from happy bride to ground-down spouse and mother. It is certainly ahead of its time, and, for this reason, I think it is worth the read, but don't expect poor Avis to triumph in the end, unless you considering quietly plowing life for the sake of your only living child (woof) to be triumphing.
It's a tale as old as time - a talented young woman forsakes (at first temporarily and then, inevitably, permanently) a promising career for the sake of marriage and a man. Stuart Phelps does a harrowingly good job of describing the oh-so-quotidian, oh-so-exhausting ways in which this talented young woman goes from happy bride to ground-down spouse and mother. It is certainly ahead of its time, and, for this reason, I think it is worth the read, but don't expect poor Avis to triumph in the end, unless you considering quietly plowing life for the sake of your only living child (woof) to be triumphing.
January 23, 2021
4,5 csillag
Továbbra is LibriVox és Elizabeth Klett. <3 Mint közben kiderült, ez egy amerikai könyv, de mivel az évszázad stimmel (19. század), egy percig sem bántam – habár az elsődleges célom angolszász klasszikusokat olvasni. A wikipedia tanúsága szerint Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (bár ez egy írói álnév, de az most mindegy) egy a kora szellemiségét jóval megelőző, feminista nő volt, aki mindig aktívan kiállt nézetei mellett. Így például égetett fűzőket, majd később az állatvédelem terén is kampányba kezdett. Emellett viszonylag termékeny író is volt.
A könyvnyitó nagy gondolatmenetnél leginkább csak pislogtam. Tudom én, hogy a temperamentumoknak az idő során rengetegféle csoportosítása alakult ki ugyanennyi rendezőelv mentén. De a fémekhez való hasonlításról még nem hallottam. Hát ezen is túlestem most már. Hihetetlen, mennyi fantázia van az emberi fajban. Ezek után egy kicsit okoskodós könyvre számítottam, de szerencsére nem lett igazam.
Szeretném leszögezni, hogy ez egy majdnem tökéletes könyv volt számomra (a vége nem ért fel szerintem az előzményekhez, az volt az egyetlen pici hibája). Röviden azt tudnám mondani, hogy az életről szólt, annak minden szép, keserű, könnyű, nehéz, soha meg nem álló folyásáról. Eleinte azt vártam, hogy egyfajta liberális Jane Austen-könyvet kapok, ahol nagyobb hangsúlyt kap a nő önálló boldogulása. És valami ilyesmi is volt az első harmada. Csak aztán volt még a maradék kétharmad. Phelps kifejezetten jól ír, néha a kor tudományos elméleteit is megismerjük, de leginkább szinte látható hasonlatokkal ragadja meg a környezetét, érzéseket, mindent a világban.
A főszereplőnk természetesen Avis (ez egy lánynév), akinek anyja korán meghalt, apja egyetemi professzor. Azonban hiába a tanultság, lánya önállóságra való törekvését nem igazán támogatja, nevetségesnek tűnik a szemében, hogy egy nő művész legyen. Mert Avis született művészlélek, ráadásul abból a fajtából, aki nagyon tudatos, racionális is. És szerencsére talpraesett és kitartó is. Nem egy sztereotíp nő. Olyannyira, hogy férjhez sem akar menni, és gyereket sem akar. Blaszfémia. Egyik részről mondhatjuk, hogy az a fene nagy amerikai individualizmus már ekkor mennyire látszik. Másik részről akkor még az optimumon innen volt a társadalom ezt a kérdéskört tekintve (mostanra meg talán az optimumon túl, de ez végtelenül szubjektív.) Phelps nagy bravúrja ez a karakter, aki természetesen fejlődik a történet folyamán, változik, kompromisszumokat köt, szenved. Megjelenik Mindez 1877(!)-ben. Már egészen úgy érzem, mintha barátnőm lenne ez a nő, ennyire élőre van megírva a karaktere és a jelenetek is. Jelentem, újabb kedvencet avattam a Cousin Phyllis után, noha egészen más ragadott meg a két könyvben.
Ui.:Nagy bánatom viszont, hogy ez a könyv nincs magyarul. Nem magam miatt, de így hogy ajánljam másoknak?
October 11, 2025
“When the passion of our lives has long since wasted into pathos, and hope has shrivelled to fit the cell of care, we lean with increasing ardor on the hearts of those whom purpose and poetry were permitted to be one.”
I genuinely thought this book had one of the strongest premises I’d come across in a while — a woman artist in the late 19th century facing the tension between love, art, and societal expectation. The feminist setup is compelling, and I went in ready to sympathize with Avis and her resistance to marriage and the domestic sphere. Unfortunately, while the idea of the book remains strong, the experience of reading it was… frustratingly inaccessible.
The prose is ornate to the point of exhaustion. There are undeniably beautiful lines — I underlined quite a few — but I realized later that most of them weren’t profound so much as excessively descriptive. It often feels as though Elizabeth Stuart Phelps chooses twenty words where five would suffice, turning what could have been sharp emotional moments into meandering reflections that lose their impact. The language is weighed down by abstraction, to the point where the plot and emotion suffocate under the prose.
Then there’s Avis herself. At first, I admired her — her refusal to simply accept marriage, her desire to pursue art — but as the story progressed, she became more of an idea than a person. Her characterization felt flat, her choices more symbolic than lived-in. And when the husband (Ostender) entered the picture, my engagement waned completely. Their relationship never felt earned — more an experiment than a romance — and as he began to treat her poorly, I understood we were going down the realism route. But even then, realism doesn’t have to feel this draining. I found myself reading on not out of attachment but obligation, waiting for a payoff that never emotionally landed.
By the end, I didn’t even feel angry — just hollow. The conclusion should have devastated me or at least left me in reflective silence, but instead, it felt like the inevitable end to a story that had already overstayed its welcome. The tragedy was muted by the lack of character depth and the exhaustion of wading through dense language.
What frustrates me most is that the themes — female artistry, marriage as entrapment, the moral and social cost of ambition — deserve a sharper, more accessible execution. But here, they’re buried under linguistic weight and characters who never fully come alive. I wanted to root for Avis, to feel something for her struggle, but I ended up feeling disconnected from her and, eventually, from the story itself.
In hindsight, this book feels like a contradiction: intellectually admirable but emotionally distant. It’s the kind of novel you respect for what it tries to do rather than for what it achieves.
I genuinely thought this book had one of the strongest premises I’d come across in a while — a woman artist in the late 19th century facing the tension between love, art, and societal expectation. The feminist setup is compelling, and I went in ready to sympathize with Avis and her resistance to marriage and the domestic sphere. Unfortunately, while the idea of the book remains strong, the experience of reading it was… frustratingly inaccessible.
The prose is ornate to the point of exhaustion. There are undeniably beautiful lines — I underlined quite a few — but I realized later that most of them weren’t profound so much as excessively descriptive. It often feels as though Elizabeth Stuart Phelps chooses twenty words where five would suffice, turning what could have been sharp emotional moments into meandering reflections that lose their impact. The language is weighed down by abstraction, to the point where the plot and emotion suffocate under the prose.
Then there’s Avis herself. At first, I admired her — her refusal to simply accept marriage, her desire to pursue art — but as the story progressed, she became more of an idea than a person. Her characterization felt flat, her choices more symbolic than lived-in. And when the husband (Ostender) entered the picture, my engagement waned completely. Their relationship never felt earned — more an experiment than a romance — and as he began to treat her poorly, I understood we were going down the realism route. But even then, realism doesn’t have to feel this draining. I found myself reading on not out of attachment but obligation, waiting for a payoff that never emotionally landed.
By the end, I didn’t even feel angry — just hollow. The conclusion should have devastated me or at least left me in reflective silence, but instead, it felt like the inevitable end to a story that had already overstayed its welcome. The tragedy was muted by the lack of character depth and the exhaustion of wading through dense language.
What frustrates me most is that the themes — female artistry, marriage as entrapment, the moral and social cost of ambition — deserve a sharper, more accessible execution. But here, they’re buried under linguistic weight and characters who never fully come alive. I wanted to root for Avis, to feel something for her struggle, but I ended up feeling disconnected from her and, eventually, from the story itself.
In hindsight, this book feels like a contradiction: intellectually admirable but emotionally distant. It’s the kind of novel you respect for what it tries to do rather than for what it achieves.
June 20, 2024
wow. this was an odd read. at first i was not pleased--the heaviness of its authors' morals and religiosity were a bit... intrusive. i mean, i have read and loved Trollope and Austen and the Brontes and Calderón de la Barca and Benito Pérez Galdós and Greene and Chesterton and many other "religious" writers, so the presence of religiosity or belief is not something that puts me off even though i am an atheist. but in this case, God was intrusive, Avis's religiosity felt "dated", or dated the story in ways that true classics aren't. why? i cannot explain...
i knew that this book was going to contain some elements of sexism that would bother me--sexism from women who are trying to advocate for women's rights is always so much more painful than sexism from men--but they bothered me more than i thought they would, since i went into it forewarned. but no, it wasn't that... it was the immensity of romantic love, the absoluteness of romantic love, this overrated, overriding emotion. ugh, i can take it only in small doses. and not in two books in a row. i had already been dealt a dose of "death from a broken heart" in the next-to-last book i'd read, and i just wasn't ready for more of this crap, i mean, this theme. here, it's the man who is pining, waning, wasting, because of his great love... seriously, people, overrated!
but then, after a few chapters, i saw... i felt... my very insides saw and felt. no book that i have ever read has seen, has expressed, has explained, the conundrum of marriage and what it does to a woman who is not made for marriage. marriage as it is lived in sexist, patriarchal societies (all i know, some less, some worse). marriage that places in a relationship of emotional interdependence and vulnerability and intimacy two people that occupy very different positions of social power and very different spaces vis-a-vis each other. even today. even today in "western" societies where individual freedom and the acknowledgement of women as theoretically equal to men in worth, is supposedly hegemonic. perhaps it is, but marriage is still something old. something that burdens women and unburdens men.
and elizabeth stuart phelps does a splendid job of showing how and why this is so painful and so sad and so complicated, and how it isn't that men are evil exploiters and women blind idiots, no... she shows two people who fall in love and are in love, and who mean to do well by each other and be true companions, fail, fail miserably... marriage in a sexist society is too strong for them, they cannot take on the whole world. they cannot alter the way their natures have been shaped.
and so, despite my initial displeasure and dislike, i ended up absolutely mesmerized and fascinated by the capacity of this woman to express and explain something that sits within so many married womens' hearts like a wounded bird that she must protect, keep hidden from the light. elizabeth stuart phelps. virginia woolf. two absolutely different writers, but the only ones who have been able to capture that feeling, that pain, that sensation.
whoa.
i knew that this book was going to contain some elements of sexism that would bother me--sexism from women who are trying to advocate for women's rights is always so much more painful than sexism from men--but they bothered me more than i thought they would, since i went into it forewarned. but no, it wasn't that... it was the immensity of romantic love, the absoluteness of romantic love, this overrated, overriding emotion. ugh, i can take it only in small doses. and not in two books in a row. i had already been dealt a dose of "death from a broken heart" in the next-to-last book i'd read, and i just wasn't ready for more of this crap, i mean, this theme. here, it's the man who is pining, waning, wasting, because of his great love... seriously, people, overrated!
but then, after a few chapters, i saw... i felt... my very insides saw and felt. no book that i have ever read has seen, has expressed, has explained, the conundrum of marriage and what it does to a woman who is not made for marriage. marriage as it is lived in sexist, patriarchal societies (all i know, some less, some worse). marriage that places in a relationship of emotional interdependence and vulnerability and intimacy two people that occupy very different positions of social power and very different spaces vis-a-vis each other. even today. even today in "western" societies where individual freedom and the acknowledgement of women as theoretically equal to men in worth, is supposedly hegemonic. perhaps it is, but marriage is still something old. something that burdens women and unburdens men.
and elizabeth stuart phelps does a splendid job of showing how and why this is so painful and so sad and so complicated, and how it isn't that men are evil exploiters and women blind idiots, no... she shows two people who fall in love and are in love, and who mean to do well by each other and be true companions, fail, fail miserably... marriage in a sexist society is too strong for them, they cannot take on the whole world. they cannot alter the way their natures have been shaped.
and so, despite my initial displeasure and dislike, i ended up absolutely mesmerized and fascinated by the capacity of this woman to express and explain something that sits within so many married womens' hearts like a wounded bird that she must protect, keep hidden from the light. elizabeth stuart phelps. virginia woolf. two absolutely different writers, but the only ones who have been able to capture that feeling, that pain, that sensation.
whoa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2018
I will admit that I decided to read this book because my mother’s first name was Avis. We believe that she was named after the main character. I seem to remember that her father read it and liked the name. My sister read the book when she was in college and I decided that it was time that I read it.
I thought the book most dry at the beginning and I wondered if I was going to be able to finish it. However, about the halfway point it got better and I began to appreciate the writing style of the author. Since it was written over 100 years ago, the language can be difficult and it takes a while to get used to it.
I would recommend this to anyone who needs a reminder of how women struggled to have any sort of career, while managing a household with small children. It is also a good reminder of the morals that were prevalent at the time. Being branded with a indiscretion was enough to be ostracized from church, community, and family. The way the characters are affected is a reminded of a bygone set of social standards.
I thought the book most dry at the beginning and I wondered if I was going to be able to finish it. However, about the halfway point it got better and I began to appreciate the writing style of the author. Since it was written over 100 years ago, the language can be difficult and it takes a while to get used to it.
I would recommend this to anyone who needs a reminder of how women struggled to have any sort of career, while managing a household with small children. It is also a good reminder of the morals that were prevalent at the time. Being branded with a indiscretion was enough to be ostracized from church, community, and family. The way the characters are affected is a reminded of a bygone set of social standards.
December 22, 2021
It has taken me ages to finish this book. The style is way too complex, with a paragraph-long sentences and using too many passives. The topic is nice and quite revolutionary for its time, but it did not leave me wanting to read more. I got lost sometimes to the point where I did not know where the characters were. I was expecting a lot more from this book...
January 8, 2023
This novel does include some interesting quotes and observations, but overall is rather quirky and abstract. I understand the tradeoffs many women face attempting to juggle family and career. Perhaps as a single male, I'm missing some nuance or perspective in the story?
June 10, 2023
For what it’s worth, Phelps’s portrayal of Avis’s hesitation and beliefs surrounding marriage and what it would do to her passions and autonomy were bold for the time and so very real. Even though she does marry and have kids and eventually admit her paintings are better for all those things, the exploration of her feelings beforehand to the contrary were refreshing to see expressed.
Also, the scene where Phillip comes home but doesn’t know Van has died and Avis is feigning calm in her responses to delay the inevitable—a masterclass in tension.
Also, the scene where Phillip comes home but doesn’t know Van has died and Avis is feigning calm in her responses to delay the inevitable—a masterclass in tension.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2020
This book has a little too much extras in it. It can be quite confusing at times. I felt melancholy after it was done.
May 24, 2023
I greatly enjoyed the beautiful writing, story, and characters. I thank Librivox narrator Elizabeth Klett for lifting up this book. Her reading of it is a treat.
February 26, 2019
“Success, for a woman, means absolute surrender in whatever direction, whether she paints a picture or loves a man. There is no division of labor possible in her economy. To the attainment of whatever end worth living for, a symmetrical sacrifice of her nature is compulsory upon her.”
I love this book so much. It’s about the fate of most talented women, and it still applies today. The heroine knows at the outset of the novel that she does not want to get married. Guy promises her that he won’t make her give up her dreams. She acquiesces and marries him. Guess what happens.
I think it’s a damn shame that only feminists and English majors even know about this novel. Meanwhile Henry James rips it off and Portrait of a Lady is super famous. Story of Avis is a far more realistic depiction of a woman’s POV. IMO, Story of Avis was simply too controversial and it offended male sensibilities. I hope this novel gets re-discovered, it’s lovely.
I love this book so much. It’s about the fate of most talented women, and it still applies today. The heroine knows at the outset of the novel that she does not want to get married. Guy promises her that he won’t make her give up her dreams. She acquiesces and marries him. Guess what happens.
I think it’s a damn shame that only feminists and English majors even know about this novel. Meanwhile Henry James rips it off and Portrait of a Lady is super famous. Story of Avis is a far more realistic depiction of a woman’s POV. IMO, Story of Avis was simply too controversial and it offended male sensibilities. I hope this novel gets re-discovered, it’s lovely.
November 4, 2010
I'm on the fence about this book. The beginning of the book was fairly boring and really dense with subject matter, symbols and hidden meanings. The book did get better as it went on and got more interesting especially when Avis started to fall in love. But it was hard to ignore the fact that this book was annoying. It's just one of those books where the girl gives up her dreams that is so promising to be with a man who doesn't truely apprciate her or lives up to his potential. It became fairly predictable towards the end especially with Van and Phillip dying. I also saw the opportunity that her husband would 'cheat' on her, while he didn't seem to do it physically it was mentally and emotionally and was sickening that neither the offender or the girl really cared what they were doing. I got more into the book in the middle but once Avis and Phillip got back together the book took another turn for the worse and got really slow and boring and I almost thought about not finishing it because I didn't care. I did like the ending however when her daughter was starting to show she was going to become her mother but better and would be because Avis said she wouldn't let her make the same mistakes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2009
This book is uncharacteristic of 19th century women's fiction, in that it reads more like the fiction men were writing of the time. Which is probably why I liked it better than all of the other books I've been required to read for my 19th/20th century women's literature class.
Avis tries so hard to become an artist, but gives up and hopes for the dream to come true for her own daughter, rather than herself. A twist on the "I live vicariously through my children" that is generally played out in today's society.
Despite the beautiful imagery, (at times) overbearing allegory, and sentimental dialogue present in 1870s America, you probably don't want to read this book.
Avis tries so hard to become an artist, but gives up and hopes for the dream to come true for her own daughter, rather than herself. A twist on the "I live vicariously through my children" that is generally played out in today's society.
Despite the beautiful imagery, (at times) overbearing allegory, and sentimental dialogue present in 1870s America, you probably don't want to read this book.
September 12, 2011
Careful with feminine narrations, this books is littered with rambling sets of them.
That said, I love how the author carefully unfolded "romantic love" vs. "serving Love" paradox. This quote, for example, gave the conflict its passive acknowledgment to the quiet sacrifices that one must give daily, whether male or female, in order to achieve meaningful results.
That said, I love how the author carefully unfolded "romantic love" vs. "serving Love" paradox. This quote, for example, gave the conflict its passive acknowledgment to the quiet sacrifices that one must give daily, whether male or female, in order to achieve meaningful results.
July 10, 2008
Yes, fascinating as to subject and content. Phelps in many ways was well ahead of her times. The book is stylistically dated, but not so much as to impede enjoyment of the work (the mantra of "show, don't tell" was not so ingrained during this era.)
Heartbreaking, though, in its way. Even the possible redemption via the gumptious daughter is a bit saddening. But realistic and believable.
Heartbreaking, though, in its way. Even the possible redemption via the gumptious daughter is a bit saddening. But realistic and believable.
April 28, 2008
"and whatever it would be to me--this life that other women seem to be so--happy in; this feeling that other women--have--to offer the man they--
She broke off abruptly; her voice had fallen into an awestruck whisper."
She broke off abruptly; her voice had fallen into an awestruck whisper."
August 15, 2009
19th-C awesomeness. I actually dug this story after a rocky start. The investigation of masculinity and femininity in this book is great.
November 7, 2010
Very detailed, dense, difficult to get through at some points but well worth the read. Phelps is very imaginative with her words.
February 17, 2014
Fun, cheesy, overdone. I like its slow pace and patient observation. Plus, Avis gets drunk and has a vision.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews