Rebellion

by Molly Patterson

A luminous cross-generational story that recalls the works of Jane Smiley and Isabel Allende, this sweeping debut novel tells the stories of four women who dare to challenge the boundaries of their circumscribed lives

It’s 1958, and Hazel’s peaceful world has been upended by the tragic death of her husband. It’s harvest time and with two small children and a farm to manage on her own, this young mother is determined to keep her land and family intact. As she grows closer to the neighboring Hughes family, she realizes the tradeoff for some freedoms is more precious than she expected.

In 1890, we see Hazel’s young mother, Louisa, recently married and relocated to Illinois to what will become her family’s farm. Life in the country is dictated by seasons, so too is Louisa ruled by her “weathers” of good and bad spells. What keeps her grounded is corresponding with her sister, Addie, a Christian missionary in China. The same adventurous spirit that brought Addie to China with her new husband now compels her to leave again. However, with the Boxer Rebellion underway, and violence erupting between Chinese and their unwelcome Christian intruders, Addie’s life takes a mysterious and haunting turn strongly felt by her sister, Louisa, back home.

At the end of the twentieth century, Juanlan returns to her parents’ home in Heng’an after college. With her father falling ill, a new highway being built, and her sister-in-law soon to give birth, Juanlan feels frozen in place, though everyone and everything seems to be rapidly changing. In the search for an outlet for the live wire, a little burning blue coil she feels buried inside, she starts up a love affair with a high-ranking government official.

From rural Illinois to the far reaches of China, these four women are interconnected by actions, consequence, and spirit, each brilliantly displaying the fleeting intensity of youth, the obligation of family, and the dramatic consequence of charting their own destiny. A vibrant story of compassion and discovery set against a century of complicated relations between China and America, Rebellion celebrates those who fight against expectation in pursuit of their own thrilling fate and introduces a rising literary star.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, China, Adult Fiction, Adult, Historical, Book Club

560 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2017

About the author

Molly Patterson is the author of the novel Rebellion, which will be published by Harper (HarperCollins) August 8, 2017. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The Iowa Review, the Chicago Tribune's Printers Row, and other magazines. She was the 2012-2013 Writer-in-Residence at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., and is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time rating this book. There are so many things that I liked about it - exceptional writing in many places, characters who I care about in spite of their flaws and lives that drew me in. I also learned interesting things about China during the Boxer Rebellion and in a more modern day changing China in the late 1990's. It is comprised of alternating narratives of four women in multiple time frames. The novel begins in 1999 with 84 year old Hazel who has to leave her farmhouse for an assisted living facility. Then we are taken back in time to the early 1890's to her mother Louisa, who at 16 marries and leaves her home in Ohio for farm life in Illinois. Louisa's sister Addie has gone to China with her husband as missionaries around the same time in the years before the Boxer Rebellion. The fourth narrative is that of a young Chinese woman, Juanlan, a recent university graduate who returns home to help her family run their hotel when her father has a stroke. I found it difficult to rate because it almost felt like I was reading four separate novels at the same time. Three of the characters are connected because they are family but the connection to Juanlan, who lives in China where Addie served a missionary was a thin connection at best, although a character from Hazel's story does appear here . The other issue I had is that this was just way too long at 560 pages. But in spite of these reservations, I continued because there was something about each of these women that made me want to know their fate .


Four women living on their own terms making choices for themselves sometimes not within acceptable norms and each rebelling in their own way to their own circumstances. Whether or not I agreed with the choices they make, I couldn't help but admire each of them in some way. There wasn't enough of a connection between the stories in my view. There are some common things that I can point to - each of them make decisions, about leaving home or staying home, returning home . Addie in a letter to her sister, Louisa, "I take comfort, Louisa, from imagining you snug in your farmhouse now, out there under the great open Illinois skies. You will stay there forever- or I hope you do anyway. I understand that after a certain point, staying is the bravest and virtuous act, whereas leaving is the cowardly one and selfish." I don't necessarily agree or disagree with this . It seemed to me that these women were at the same time brave and cowardly. Another thing that was common to three of the narratives was the illicit love affairs that they engaged in - two of them with married men and one of them with a woman.

So while there were some commonalities, the links between narratives felt disjointed. I very seldom reread books and won't read this one again but if I did, I would read the narratives of each of the characters consecutively to see if I felt any differently. So there were pros and cons for me, but I would read another book by Patterson.


I received an advanced copy of this book from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.

[Melissa Crytzer Fry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the kind of book I absolutely needed right now: gorgeous, literary prose; deep dives of emotional depth for all of the characters; thematically rich storytelling.

Let’s start with the writing. Patterson is an incredibly gifted writer who is able to transform the most mundane tasks and thoughts of everyday living into writing that is unputdownable. There is a lot of detail in this 560-page book, which some might find unnecessary: In the middle of a scene, we learn, for instance, that a character fixes herself an egg; we learn of the conversations of nurses who are less-than-peripheral characters in an elevator during a particular scene; we see characters washing dishes; we get play-by-play descriptions of every interaction. Too much? Typically I might say yes… but, to me, that is one of the greatest strengths of this book. It’s in these seemingly ‘unimportant’ details that such authenticity is created. We are able to populate the story with ourselves, because we are there -- observers in the rooms, fields, streets. We are observers in the minds of four incredible women.

And the characters. From the first sentence, I was captivated by the voice of Hazel, a no-nonsense kind of woman nearing the end of life. The rest of this voluminous book, we go back in time and learn more about her. But, we also have the added delight of getting into the heads and complicated hearts of three other women: Hazel’s mother, Louisa; Louisa’s sister, Addie; and a young Chinese woman named Juanlan.

If you are looking for a multi-period novel that is threaded neatly together among all of its characters, this book is not that. The characters are connected to one another by the thinnest strand of silk - either distantly familial or geographically; it is their life struggles and experiences that tie these characters and their stories one to the other: that in different eras, women fight the same battles over obligation to family, the same battles and reservations about charting their own destinies. And that those who rebel from mainstream expectations will likely experience difficulty, but may be justly rewarded in the end.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, I confess that I might not have fully understood the character, Juanlan. Her transformation and act of rebellion left me slightly puzzled, and I had hoped that there would be just a bit more connection between her and one of the other characters. Still, I savored learning about her and was fully engaged in her story and the relationships surrounding her.

Many thanks to Goodreads First Reads program and the publisher. I wish I had read sooner, as I look forward to future books by the talented Molly Patterson.

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautifully written ... one gorgeous phrase after another

[switterbug (Betsey) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A distance of time and place, spanning 100 years between the late 1890s to the late 1990s, from the rural American heartland to rural China, REBELLION explores themes of personal rebellion and women with similar passions beyond their circumscribed roles. Molly Patterson brings to life women who rebel against societal and family expectations to follow love and personal desires beyond their circumscribed roles. Although the Boxer Rebellion in China is a central event in the story that ties several characters together East and West, it is a different kind of rebellion that Patterson taps. She mines the rebellions of the heart and of woman during the eras that preceded modern feminism.

Louisa leaves her comfortable Illinois trappings in order to follow her new husband to a rural farm to toil in hardship and raise her children on the farmstead. She accepts subservience to her husband and rarely questions this life. However, her sister, Addie, who follows her husband to rural China to practice missionary work, breaks through her oppression in surprising ways when she meets a fiery, independent missionary. Juanlan, a recent college graduate in 1999 China, sacrifices her independence to help manage her parents’ struggling hotel in a rural China town. Hazel, a young farm widow in Illinois in the 1950s, is Louisa’s daughter. Raising her children alone on the prairie, she battles against the bank to keep her farm. As Hazel grows closer to her neighbors, George and Lydie, she enters into a reckless season that defies her upbringing.

Juanlan feels “a live wire inside her, a little burning blue coil,” which applies to Addie and Hazel, also. Even Edith, Hazel’s sister, who doesn’t get enough stage time, itches to break out of the box she was raised in. Unfortunately, she was offstage most of the book, although I thought her story had more meat and sizzle than Juanlan’s, whose story fizzled and felt more jejune and frustrating to me as a reader after the first half of her narrative.

This is a densely populated and lengthy novel that takes its time pulling the related threads together, and the theme of rebellion, which crosses time and geography, is the standout trope. Patterson is a fine writer who establishes the setting and period with such clarity that I was immediately invested in her story. Her female characters were intricately portrayed, including a surprise turn of the century feminist named Poppy, whose charisma was threatening to the status quo. The men, lacking much definition, were mainly furniture in these cruel surroundings, locales whose manifestations by the author are intimately felt as I turned the pages.

There is copious stark beauty in these pages, with dialogue and character to match. My biggest issue was it could have used some condensing; it would not have reduced impact or character, as Patterson’s style is so thoughtful that there was no peril of reductionism—(leave that to authors like Kristin Hannah and that ilk). Patterson is a classy writer who shapes and contours her women so that they could easily walk off the pages. But I did get weary at the minutia and, had it been more compressed, would have added some of the missing tension. I speculate, though, that her next novel will be brilliant.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four women in four eras are at the center of this book. A Christian missionary, Addie, in China in the years leading up to the Boxer Rebellion; Louisa, Addie’s sister who left a middle class family to homestead in the middle of nowhere; Hazel, Louisa’s granddaughter who is suddenly left a widow with a farm to run; and Juanlan, a young Chinese woman who as just graduated college but has to return home to help care for her father. Each of these women steps outside the life that is expected of them, and of course has to live with the consequences of those quiet rebellions.

The book moves at a pretty slow pace. The minutia of daily life is related- when the rebellions are quiet, one has to look at the ordinary to see it contrast with the extraordinary. The descriptions are brilliant; they bring the scenes to life. But… pretty slow. It rather reminds me of a novel from the late 18th century, actually, with its pacing and long descriptions. Which is fine; just be forewarned.

What I didn’t like was that I figured the four strands of narrative would come together in the end. It was obvious what the relationships between Addie, Louisa, and Hazel were, but the relationship that Juanlan has with the three of them is quite nebulous- only that she lives in roughly the same area of China that Addie lived in. I expected that at some point some long hidden letters would appear or something that meshed them all. No such luck. The ended was quite a letdown.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you're reading a book and you're liking it a lot but it's 600 pages and all you can think about is how it better come together because otherwise what's the point and then you get to page 612 and you realize that's all there is and it doesn't hold together and yet it's very readable and 3/4 of it is interesting but there's no THERE there... that's this book.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up. Outstanding character study of four women and their families over different periods of history in the US and China. It's long - more than 500 pages - but worth it.

[Brett Beach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, immersive, and compelling. The novel weaves together the stories of a missionary in China and her lonely sister back home, a widowed farm wife in the 1950s, and a restless young woman returned to her small Chinese town after college. In their own ways, each of the women makes space for herself in the world, by pushing back against expectations and circumscribed roles--a perfect novel for our present day. And it's also compulsively readable. A real treasure.

I am the author's husband, by the way, so I am biased. But seriously: this novel is amazing.

[Rebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book--stunningly layered and sensuous, simultaneously sweeping and intimate in its scope, Molly Patterson's Rebellion examines the ways women across culture and time find ways, large and small, to rebel against the roles and expectations that might otherwise box them in. Addie, a Christian missionary in nineteenth century China, who leaves her family to follow the woman she loves across China; Hazel, a mid-century farm widow in Illinois who falls in love with her best friend’s husband; and Juanlan, a college graduate in contemporary rural China who struggles to define her life on her own terms. Patterson brings the threads of these women’s lives together in a way that positively shimmers. I found myself touching the final pages, hoping some of their beauty might stay with me a while longer.

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every minute of reading this novel and didn’t expect to be pulled in and finish it in such a short time. The author brought each of the characters to life with her intricate detail of the time, characters and landscape. I found myself invested in each of the characters and couldn’t help but hold my place and reference some of the earliest chapters in order to make sure I was absorbing all of the details that added color to each of them (and to be able to extend reading the book for as long as possible because I didn't want it to end). The author's knowledge and understanding (and obvious research) into China’s history and culture was fascinating and really helped to draw me into Juanlan’s character which I didn’t expect.

I can’t wait to see what's next for Molly Patterson.

[David Leaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I neared the end of this excellent novel, it occurred to me that Rebellion reads like an Alice Munro short story that slows down and keeps on going, telling and integrating stories that end up as one big beautiful book. Where Munro short fiction has density and intensity, this Molly Patterson novel has patience and cautious revelation. Still, like Munro, all the details matter, the women are large and very interesting, and there are precious moments of clarity. I loved the subtlety and indirection of the ending, Patterson's choice to let minor characters bring the narrative home. For me, it fit one of the novel's themes: the interconnectedness of our lives over distances of time and place and in ways we don't even know.

[Dawnel V · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was reading the individual stories of these women, I kept hoping that there would be some uplifting message in each of their struggles. Instead, at the end, all I was left with was a sense of futility. The first person telling of the tales means that there are no lessons to be learned by the supporting cast, no warnings passed from generation to generation, no constructive ending.
Rebellion was well written but misnamed. I did not hear what I would consider rebellion in their collective voices, but rather a tendency to loosely and wantonly fall into unwise situations or deeds. Characters blindly following choices that hurt other people and did not redeem the chooser in the end.

[David Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a history and politics buff who grew up in one of the U.S. locations in this novel and who spent two weeks in less urban China as a bewildered American, the novel rings true. Some reviewers thought this may be a "women's" book. While I see their point, must say that never crossed my mind while reading. Tossing away your upbringing and choosing what to keep and what to replace seems rather universally human. And in no way easy. Dealing with this in a believable way, which IMHO Rebellion does, is rare.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic read, one I could barely put down. The characters are gorgeously constructed, as are the subtle but poignant connections between them. The landscapes, both in time and terrain, feel carefully and respectfully sketched. Though all four of the women in this novel are complex, Juanlan and Louisa stand out to me, in particular, as characters destined to stay with the reader long after they've left this epic story. I definitely recommend REBELLION for lovers of literary fiction, historical writing, and novels carried by strong female characters.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderfully dense work is a tour de force. Intimate portraits of 4 courageous women intertwined by time and place are satisfyingly intricate and nuanced. The nature of home, friendship and kinship are all important to Patterson, as are the wider connections of community, nation and global politics. The sense of place, in all its variety, is viscerally authentic and the characters, molded and melded into the land, could not be anywhere but where they are. Book group discussion will be wide ranging. These women will live in your mind long after.

[Thao Thai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gorgeous, GORGEOUS book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys absorbing books that span many different generations and locations. It was written with deliberate, intelligent, graceful prose, and the characters are so artfully described. I felt connected to each and every character. The plots intertwined beautifully and kept me turning the page to see how each story would come together. No spoilers, but I felt a deep sense of peace and satisfaction at the end of the book. I would read it again and again - and it's absolutely the perfect book for a holiday gift!

[Blaine Morrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patterson tells four stories on two continents, spanning generations, with the ease of an accomplished novelist. Her characters are vividly drawn, the narratives (one is even in first person) move wonderfully, and she manages to tie all the pieces together deftly. This is a debut novel that will have readers eager for the next.

[Joyce Salih · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating story of four women who's lives intersect over two continents spanning 100 years. Well written with beautiful imagery and keen insight into human desires and needs. With great poignancy Molly Patterson brings to life the never-ending conflict between tradition and personal choice.

[Lavonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would like to rate this 3.5+. Just didn't make a 4 rating for me. Interesting characters - sometimes hard to follow. It all comes together in the end. I actually went back and read the first chapter after completing the book. Meant so much more the second time around.

[Linda Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. You can't help but be captivated by the main characters.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rich details, great characters, and wonderful storytelling make this a terrific historical fiction choice!

[Grace Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great first novel. Beautiful moments in the writing.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a long novel, 500+ pages, but it doesn't feel that way because there are four separate plot lines going on. Two of the plot lines deal with sisters who live in the 1890s: Addie, who marries a missionary and travels to China, and Louisa, who marries a farmer and establishes a family farm in Illinois. One of the plot lines is told in first person; that of Hazel, Louisa's daughter who remains on the family farm and is telling her story in the 1950s. Finally, Juanlan, recently graduated from university, lives in a small city in China that is about to experience significant change with the completion of a new freeway in 1999. The plot lines are bookended by periods of unrest and rebellion with the Boxer Rebellion changing the lives of the two sisters in the 1890s, and the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade spurring Juanlan on to political protest. Hazel's rebellion is more of a personal nature, but touches on larger emotional issues. I really enjoyed the depth and the immersive experience of this novel.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me awhile to get into the. It didn’t make sense, but it picked up. And then slowed down again… 3.5 stars.

[Jessica Ruetschlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world is full of difficult women. Thankfully.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a BIG, beautifully-written book which could have had so much more emotional impact had it been shorter and less ambitious. Molly Patterson is the kind of author for whom true readers yearn. There are sentences here -- entire paragraphs, even -- which caught me up short and stole my breath so that I had to read them again and again. Add that to a book which, in all honesty, could have used some tightening for pacing and you've got a BIG book that takes quite some time to read.

It is time well spent.

While I did find it jarring to switch viewpoints between the four women and, like others have mentioned, I found Juanlan's passages less engaging, the various narratives were so poignant that I continued to read because I _cared_ about these women.

This is the level of writing that I, as a reader, have been hungering for of late. Far too many authors have forgotten what it means to "show, don't tell the story," but Patterson delivers that kind of deeply satisfying experience. I am happier for having read this book and am eagerly and avidly looking forward to reading more of her work.

[Mica · Rating 5 out of 5]

"That's what I'm saying to you, Hazel. It's like this woman (from a Life magazine photo) -she was me, but she was living a different life. Like if I'd been born somewhere else, grown up some other place. I kept looking at that light, and thinking it looked better than it does here, and I'm telling you it made me feel...angry, I guess, because I won't ever see it shining down that way, hitting at just that particular angle." Rebellion-Molly Patterson

Four woman connected in small ways, across generations, choosing their own large and small rebellions and living with the consequences. It's the story of every woman at some point in their life, when we felt we were meant for more, something different, someone different, or just to escape the life we didn't choose.

I love, love, love this book! Easy to read. Hard to put down.

[Heather Butterfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main feeling I had reading this book was that we have no idea what our grandmothers and great grandmothers were up to. Rebellion follows the lives of 4 women from 3 different generations, all living lives of duty. These women's obligations - to their children, husbands, sick parents, religion - dictate almost everything about their lives. These are the grandmothers and great grandmothers we know. Except at some point, each of the women, each in her own way, basically gives the middle finger to what is expected of her and secretly - sometimes recklessly - chooses something else. Molly Patterson's beautiful writing carries you into the heart of their rebellions and reminds you that women are not - and probably have never been - as selfless as we imagine.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me think about my grandma and her life on her and my grandpa's farm in the Midwest. Definitely worth the read for that reason alone.

As for the book itself, I found myself simultaneously wanting to read more about the protagonists and wishing the book was shorter. It was interesting to see how the four of them fit together. I'd probably read another book focusing on some of the secondary characters in this one.