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Good Women: Three Novellas
Jane Stevenson enchanted readers with her first collection of novellas, Several Deceptions, which the New York Times lauded as an "elegant, surprising collection that delights with its verve and intelligence." With Good Women, she returns to the form that secured her reputation as a compelling and diabolically clever prose stylist. In this trio of audacious stories with a common theme, she investigates just what it means for a woman to be good. From a widow keen on gardening who becomes radicalized late in life, to a housewife on a murderous mission from God, to an adulterous couple who leave their spouses and begin a new life together, only to find that they cannot stand each other, these novellas ably demonstrate why The New Yorker extolled Stevenson as a "meticulous fabulist." In stories reminiscent of Roald Dahl's, Stevenson treats the notion of feminine virtue in her singular, emblematic style with sexy, subversive results, deliciously detailing what happens when good girls go bad.
Jane Stevenson was born in London and brought up in London, Beijing, and Bonn. She teaches literature and history at the University of Aberdeen. She is the author of Several Deceptions, a collection of four novellas; a novel, London Bridges; and the acclaimed historical trilogy made up of the novels The Winter Queen, The Shadow King, and The Empress of the Last Days. Stevenson lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Jane Stevenson was born in London and brought up in London, Beijing, and Bonn. She teaches literature and history at the University of Aberdeen. She is the author of Several Deceptions, a collection of four novellas; a novel, London Bridges; and the acclaimed historical trilogy made up of the novels The Winter Queen, The Shadow King, and The Empress of the Last Days. Stevenson lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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About the author
Jane Stevenson
50 books24 followersDr. Jane Stevenson (born 1959) is a UK author who was born in London and brought up in London, Beijing and Bonn. She has lectured in history at Sheffield University, and teaches literature and history at the University of Aberdeen. Her fiction books include Several Deceptions, a collection of four novellas; a novel, London Bridges; and the historical trilogy made up of the novels The Winter Queen, The Shadow King, and The Empress of the Last Days. Stevenson lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Her academic publications include Women Latin Poets (Oxford University Press), Early Modern Women Poets with Peter Davidson (Oxford University Press) and The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, co-edited with Peter Davidson (Prospect Books).
Her academic publications include Women Latin Poets (Oxford University Press), Early Modern Women Poets with Peter Davidson (Oxford University Press) and The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, co-edited with Peter Davidson (Prospect Books).
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 15, 2009
This book surprised me. I'd read Jane Stevenson's historical novel, Astraea, a few years ago and was underwhelmed -- interesting premise, but the characters were unengaging. But I really enjoyed this collection of 3 novellas all centring round "good" (or not so good) women. All have an element of revenge, and all revolve around "unexamined assumptions".
The first story, in which an unpleasant and snobbish architect trades in his wife for a younger but less socially skilled model, and duly gets his comeuppance, is full of spiky humour and cruel social satire. The second, in which a Sheffield housewife discovers her spiritual side by seeing guardian angels, seems like a light, amusing tale, but suddenly veers to an all-too-real sadness in the final pages. And the last story was a delight: I loved the character of recently widowed Alice, who has always been a "good wife and mother", silently at her husband and son's beck and call, until her son and his upwardly mobile wife start angling to push her out of her beloved house and carefully tended garden so that they can move into the rapidly appreciating and upmarket property themselves, and get their sons into a "good" school (paid for by Alice!). Her horticultural revenge is satisfying, but even more so is her discovery of her own feelings and independence beyond her family. I could almost see the shock and bewilderment on her smug son's face when she finally stood up to him.
These are feminist stories at heart, but not militantly so. Beautifully written, funny, thought-provoking, sharply observant of human foibles, with characters built up through a wealth of domestic detail. A real pleasure to read.
The first story, in which an unpleasant and snobbish architect trades in his wife for a younger but less socially skilled model, and duly gets his comeuppance, is full of spiky humour and cruel social satire. The second, in which a Sheffield housewife discovers her spiritual side by seeing guardian angels, seems like a light, amusing tale, but suddenly veers to an all-too-real sadness in the final pages. And the last story was a delight: I loved the character of recently widowed Alice, who has always been a "good wife and mother", silently at her husband and son's beck and call, until her son and his upwardly mobile wife start angling to push her out of her beloved house and carefully tended garden so that they can move into the rapidly appreciating and upmarket property themselves, and get their sons into a "good" school (paid for by Alice!). Her horticultural revenge is satisfying, but even more so is her discovery of her own feelings and independence beyond her family. I could almost see the shock and bewilderment on her smug son's face when she finally stood up to him.
These are feminist stories at heart, but not militantly so. Beautifully written, funny, thought-provoking, sharply observant of human foibles, with characters built up through a wealth of domestic detail. A real pleasure to read.
June 16, 2009
The three novellas in Good Women were each short enough that the book read rather like a short story collection. And from story to story, they just kept getting better. the three "good" women were all incredibly different, from different generations, backgrounds, and economic groups, but each story came down to a fundamental issue of defining oneself within the social and legal strictures of marital property.
By far, my favorite novella was the last one, Garden Guerillas, about a widow who finds herself being forced out of her home by a legal structure set in place by her late husband to protect their son from inheritance taxes. While her actions in retaliation aren't exactly noble, she was easily the most relatable of the three heroines and, by the end, I didn't blame her one bit. This is what good women are driven to.
By far, my favorite novella was the last one, Garden Guerillas, about a widow who finds herself being forced out of her home by a legal structure set in place by her late husband to protect their son from inheritance taxes. While her actions in retaliation aren't exactly noble, she was easily the most relatable of the three heroines and, by the end, I didn't blame her one bit. This is what good women are driven to.
January 14, 2019
I had read and greatly enjoyed Stevenson's novel "London Bridges" several years ago, so when I saw this, I picked it up, and am I ever glad I did. Each of the three witty and sharp novellas collected here features a titular "good woman" at its core. Although in the first story the woman is somewhat of a maneater, in the latter two stories, traditional housewives take the center stage. However, this is an entirely feminist book, because when the men in their lives let them down, they fight back. Which is not to say this is a polemical book, or a simplistic, black and white one. A lot of moral ambiguity and human weakness is mixed into these stories, and that's a large part of what makes them so compelling.
"Light My Fire" is narrated by a somewhat dodgy middle-aged, married-with-kids architect who's a partner in a firm specializing in high-end home renovations in Scotland. A chance meeting with a sexy married woman on a train leads them into an affair and ultimately a new life together. Alas, this new life of theirs also involves moving into a decrepit 14th-century Scottish stone fort/house. His running suave patter of narration is entirely engaging while comically revealing his selfishness, contempt, and snobbery. And yet one can't help but feel somewhat sorry for him when the well-foreshadowed denouement arrives. This kind of faceted character construction is what makes all three stories so excellent.
"Walking with Angels" takes place in the totally average small suburban Sheffield home of a couple in their 30s, where the husband works long hard days, and the plain wife splits her time between a grocery store job and keeping house. Their comfortable domestic life is changed forever when she starts to see two angels. This leads her to explore her spiritual side, which then leads her into alternative therapy and healing. But when she wants to start her own business, her husband grows increasingly nasty and the marriage degenerates. There's a lot of comedy as she struggles to come to terms with her new "gifts" and tries to integrate them into her regular life. It would have been easy to make treat the ending as glib dark comedy, but Stevenson is more subtle than that.
The final story is in some ways, the most conventional. A 60something widower slowly comes to the realization that her son and daughter-in-law want to force her out of the Kew Gardens family home, which belongs to all of them via a trust. She reflects on how she subsumed her own personality into the role of being a housewife, mother, and top notch gardener. As her family brings increasing pressure to bear, she is forced to confront her own past behavior in the face of expectations, and with the help of an old friend, creates a new reality for herself (while also crafting some very creative revenge on her daughter-in-law). This is a great story for women of all ages, but especially those who love gardening.
Unfortunately for Stevenson, this is not a particularly auspicious time to be an excellent novella writer. In publishing circles, there is a distinct preference for the novel over the short story collection. However, the short story at least has a chance to shine in a magazine or literary quarterly. Novellas are caught between the two worlds and are thus very unpopular as a form. One might draw the conclusion then, that any novella collection which actually makes it into print must then be very very good. And in this case, one would be absolutely correct.
"Light My Fire" is narrated by a somewhat dodgy middle-aged, married-with-kids architect who's a partner in a firm specializing in high-end home renovations in Scotland. A chance meeting with a sexy married woman on a train leads them into an affair and ultimately a new life together. Alas, this new life of theirs also involves moving into a decrepit 14th-century Scottish stone fort/house. His running suave patter of narration is entirely engaging while comically revealing his selfishness, contempt, and snobbery. And yet one can't help but feel somewhat sorry for him when the well-foreshadowed denouement arrives. This kind of faceted character construction is what makes all three stories so excellent.
"Walking with Angels" takes place in the totally average small suburban Sheffield home of a couple in their 30s, where the husband works long hard days, and the plain wife splits her time between a grocery store job and keeping house. Their comfortable domestic life is changed forever when she starts to see two angels. This leads her to explore her spiritual side, which then leads her into alternative therapy and healing. But when she wants to start her own business, her husband grows increasingly nasty and the marriage degenerates. There's a lot of comedy as she struggles to come to terms with her new "gifts" and tries to integrate them into her regular life. It would have been easy to make treat the ending as glib dark comedy, but Stevenson is more subtle than that.
The final story is in some ways, the most conventional. A 60something widower slowly comes to the realization that her son and daughter-in-law want to force her out of the Kew Gardens family home, which belongs to all of them via a trust. She reflects on how she subsumed her own personality into the role of being a housewife, mother, and top notch gardener. As her family brings increasing pressure to bear, she is forced to confront her own past behavior in the face of expectations, and with the help of an old friend, creates a new reality for herself (while also crafting some very creative revenge on her daughter-in-law). This is a great story for women of all ages, but especially those who love gardening.
Unfortunately for Stevenson, this is not a particularly auspicious time to be an excellent novella writer. In publishing circles, there is a distinct preference for the novel over the short story collection. However, the short story at least has a chance to shine in a magazine or literary quarterly. Novellas are caught between the two worlds and are thus very unpopular as a form. One might draw the conclusion then, that any novella collection which actually makes it into print must then be very very good. And in this case, one would be absolutely correct.
December 12, 2024
The third story, "Garden Guerillas", gets 5 stars from me! I loved prickly Alice who is upset at being foisted out of her home by her son, and begins plotting her revenge by making changes to the garden that will make it nearly impossible to maintain in her absence. The revenge story itself is excellent, but the part I found truly delightful was Alice's introspection into her life so far and what she wants from the future.
June 5, 2021
Banal, cliched and predictable.
Every book, of every quality, which I’ve checked out on this website, has a score of around 3.6-3.8. What is the point?
Every book, of every quality, which I’ve checked out on this website, has a score of around 3.6-3.8. What is the point?
August 27, 2009
These vivid and subtly suprising portrayls of three, very different women share few things aside from a dark, and subtle humor. Stevenson's 'Good Women" face some kind of not-uncommon challenge. A wealthy, aging woman fights to save her beloved home (and garden)from greedy ungratful adult children who want to plunk her in a crappy condo. A Middle aged housewife finds her husband is less than amused with her new hobby. A young, hottie is resltess in her marriage to a shipping execuitive. Stevenson doesn't moralize, just transports us directly into a life and time with wonderful results.
November 21, 2011
Having read all of Jane Stevenson's books, I looked forward to this, my last one. The first story Light My Fire, totally did not light mine. Any man that stupid deserves the bimbo he got and to be taken to the cleaners! The second Walking With Angels concerns me that anyone could truly become involved in such things to that degree seriously. So two stories of totally unsympathic characters. But Garden Guerrillas...wonderful. I truly began to like Alice and was so happy she finally took full control of her own life. On a positive, I believe writing novellas or short stories has to be very difficult and as with Several Deceptions, it was a nice journey.
July 28, 2008
My book group recommended this one. At first, I thought I hated the author. Persisting with the first novella, however, I realized that I hated the viewpoint character -- and this was just one of the wickedly funny tricks the author plays on the reader. She's oh-so-British, poking fun at the snobbishness of Brits in an insider's way. The twists plots in a devilish way, and is a true delight to read. Her characters have unusual depth for such short pieces. She made me laugh with delight.
April 22, 2008
Jane Stevenson is probably best known for her historic novels (like The Winter Queen), but her true genre is the novella. Good Women is her second collection of three novellas and contains one short novella that is destined to become a classic of the field: Guerrilla Gardener. I am a huge fan of ehr work.
September 2, 2008
It seems that many modern women don't think of what it means to be a "good woman". We live at a time where the definition is flexible and many of us can pick and choose our duties and how we perform them. This book was not preachy or old fashioned at all, but the snapshot it gave of these three women and their relationships with their families gave me a new perspective of womanhood.
August 2, 2012
I have read this four times. There are three novellas within all excellent, all different than anything I have ever read before. I don't like to own books but I refuse to part with my copy of Good Women!
August 12, 2011
3.5 stars. Entertaining, lively stories about mischievous older women discovering themselves. Fun, but not as good as you'd like it to be.
August 30, 2008
I didn't like the first story much. The main characters were both kind of annoying and the plot was dull. I enjoyed the second and third stories. I especially liked the ending of number two.
June 9, 2009
out of the 3 short novellas, i enjoyed one alot, one okay, and the other not at all (as in didn't read past first pages)
May 17, 2009
Snooze. Maybe you have to be British to get this?
December 29, 2010
enjoyed it very much, especially the wicked one about Guerrilla Gardeners!
March 29, 2010
Read for book club... not really that impressed.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews