Rhode Island Blues

by Fay Weldon

Smart, sexy, and infinitely charming, Rhode Island Blues tells the story of Sophia Moore, a loveless and guarded thirty-four-year-old film editor in London who believes that her only living relative is her stormy and wild grandmother Felicity. Troubled by her mother's long-ago suicide and her father's abandonment, Sophia overworks, incessantly contemplates her past, and continues a flat sexual affair with the famous director of her latest film. But when she travels to Rhode Island to help Felicity settle into a retirement center, she begins to unravel mysteries about her family history while Felicity learns to gamble, falls in love, and uncovers the truth about the center's evil nurse Dawn. A hilarious tale of family secrets, nursing-home high jinks, and late-life love, Rhode Island Blues is Fay Weldon at her witty best.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Literary Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2000

About the author

Fay Weldon CBE was an English author, essayist and playwright, whose work has been associated with feminism. In her fiction, Weldon typically portrayed contemporary women who find themselves trapped in oppressive situations caused by the patriarchal structure of British society.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fay_Weldon

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has more errors than any book I can remember reading. The numerous misspellings, awkward sentence structure, and errors of fact litter the pages from beginning to end. Here are just a few:

p. 11: "she had spent $100,000 dollars"; "what was $100,000 dollars" (using both the dollar sign and word "dollars"
p. 117: "He reminded them both of what both would rather forget" (really awkward)
p. 137: "A photograph of Alison . . . showed her with . . . mine and Angel's pale skin" (mine pale skin???)
p. 188: arugula is spelled "arugala"
p. 160: The artist Klimt is spelled "Klimpt"
p. 191: "did not mean the rest on the world shared her fears" ("on" should be "of"; there are quite a number of these minor typos)
p. 86: "Francine had died three years before Joy," (wow--Joy is a living character in the book, whose sister Francine, we are told on p. 64, died a year ago.)
p 105: "But never enough nothing to make up for the something" should be "But never enough something to make up for the nothing" (in disussion of slot-machine winnings)
p. 135: "lone mothers might ask you round to Christmas dinner, but what with . . . made me disinclined to accept" (incorrect syntax).
And for some reason, long compound sentences tend not to have commas needed for clarity, and simple sentences or clauses often have unnecessary commas.

[Reetta Saine]

Familiar characters and themes, but still something fresh. I really can't understand how she can be funny, wise, mean and scary - all in one sentence.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a 30 year gap between the last book I read (Down Among the Women) and this one, and this time she is dealing with matters of the past, family, aging and how the desires of an 83 year old woman can still be as pertinent and valid as those of a 30 year old.

"She could have explained that it was not an aging brain which made you forgetful – it was the battering upon the doors of knowledge by the hammer of experience."

However, age does not alter the continuing struggle between the sexes:

"You can watch her behavior and work out some Darwinist rationale to do with survival-friendly tactics, but I think it’s just to do with the surge of impatience any female gets with the male when she’s preoccupied. This great lolling creature with its impractical masculine attitudes. When you’re pre-menstrual the sharp understanding and clear vision of the unconscious is nearer the surface, that’s all."

She might be too cynical for most women's taste, but having felt like I've beaten my head against the wall of masculinity most of my life, I find her honesty and observations true and refreshing.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has overtones of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Miss Felicity enters, and then becomes enmeshed in the Retirement village: The Golden Bowls. Nurse Dawn is the villain,assisted with grasping relatives- and I was on the edge of my seat wondering if Miss Felicity would manage to extricate herself!

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started out charming and affectionate, and ended up cynical and affected. I really enjoy satire with a heart, like Richard Russo's Straight Man, but I thought that in this book, Weldon sucked all of the heart out of the characters by the end. As a result, I found the experience of reading this book profoundly disappointing. I also thought there were some strange messages about adoption and LGBT issues, which were hard to make sense of. There were a lot of throwaway lines about gay people, which were unnecessary, and sometimes offensive. And for a book which was all about family, there was not really a sophisticated exploration of the meaning of family in relation to biology, adoption, and identity. This book lacked depth in both characterization and themes, and as a result, was a frustrating and often unpleasant read.

[Nelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Fay Weldon's novels in general. Intelligent, feminist and never taking themselves too seriously--what more can you ask? Well in this case, the more you would find is a tale about falling in love in old age, finding redemption and meaning through the plots of movies and the I Ching, the mixed blessing of having relatives, and the way we create and recreate ourselves throughout our lives ("We are all postmodernists now" writes Weldon in one of her reflections about this).

[L · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. Some pretty painful sentences. However I read it through.

p. 186
"So Lois must have felt, waiting for Sylvia to die, so she could marry Arthur and move in, and oust Felicity who was not her own blood, or joined to her by semen as a husband is, making the pair more one flesh than otherwise."

[Ande · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good! Started out okay, but got so slow and boring in the middle I gave up. I couldn't read more then a couple of pages without losing interest. It seems like there is chapter upon chapter of an old lady contemplating sex, how much of that can anyone find interesting?

[Ted Cornwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot how much I enjoy Fay Weldon's humor. This one, following the later life of a British-born widow, finds her living under more supervision than she'd like in a Rhode Island nursing home. But the powers that be are no match for Felicity.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that good. There were moments of sardonic wit and intricate historical details of the lives of her characters that made this book different. Occasionally the author just ranted on and gave negative commentary, so I frog leaped in order to get through. I enjoyed the character Felicity and cheered her ability to rise above her past, but Sophia seemed stuck. There were numerous editing errors throughout which I normally would have ignored, but it was as though the book was just pumped out and thrown into the market in a hurry. The title missed the mark, as the book seemed more rooted in Connecticut and London, except for the chickens.

post note: I borrowed the book from my friend who bought it at Goodwill, so I was drawn by the title, I wished it had more about Rhode Island than it did.

[Kathie Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started out neutral about this book, but became very involved about a quarter way in. Even noted some excellent lines in a place I keep for good book quotes. But the longer I read the less interested I was. Somewhere just past the middle I totally lost interest. Finished it though. Maybe others by this author would keep me engrossed?

[miaaa.lenaaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Turn the sound softly. Krassner sleeps again. Outside the wind drops. A stillness descends . Everything stops in the face of love, freezes for just one seconds before entropy wins again. I sense it. To hold back time itself, to halt the inexorable descent into darkness of death mid-flight, what power is this? Its not as if new life were going to come out of this union.’

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am from Rhode Island and the humor was spot on.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous light read that had me both chuckling and worrying about my later years.

[Mel Haggart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my sort of book

[Geraldine Croft · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a Fay Weldon fan for decades and really enjoyed Rhode Island Blues. It’s classic Fay Weldon, this time taking a wry look at ageing and the aged, growing old disgracefully and just growing old.
Felicity (83 or thereabouts) checks herself into The Golden Bowl Complex (for creative retirement) in upmarket Connecticut taking her attitude and priceless work of art with her.
Her 34-year-old granddaughter Sophia is burning the candle at both ends as a film editor in Soho, fighting feelings of guilt and responsibility, loneliness and loss while craving family and love.
All things Felicity - her sad, shocking past and gung-ho present - were my favourite parts of the book (especially the care home sections) and best friend Joyce with her driving issues, deafness and gaudy leisurewear along with controlling Nurse Dawn with her secret stilettos and questionable practises were my favourite characters.
Well worth a read.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine for a light read. The story moves along well, and chops back and forth between differnt characters, which maintains ones interest.
Comments on retirement homes, family, inheritance, neighbours etc amusing and often insightful.
A theme often referred to - in reference to mental attitudes, illness, misfortune etc - is that in previous times there was not a name to certain issues so we did not worry about them. Now that everything is named we concern ourselves more with them - eg senility etc to the point of obsession which can magnify the issue to the point of detriment.
I would read another book by Fay Weldon - due to the story telling, the wit and the pace of the book. A lighthearted read - but not one where I would say - do read this.
Suited my humour at the time.

[Alice Persons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Fay Weldon's books for decades. She has not lost her edge or her mordant sense of humor. She's a fierce feminist but compassionate toward everyone and wise in the ways of the world. I loved this book and highly recommend it. I did notice some awkward writing and copyediting errors that should have been caught by her publisher. This is all too common these days and it drives me crazy.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d read this before but it was a good book to read while travelling– entertaining and clever. It’s a story about aging, desire , the dependence (and independence) of women and the relationship between fantasy and reality (including the mediation of experience through fiction or film). Witty and satiric, especially about the ‘Golden Bowlers’ of the retirement home where Felicity lives and is visited by her grand-daughter Sophie.

[Frankie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Fay Weldon's acerbic wit and insights into her characters' thought processes, which are uncannily like our own. However, this book dragged on after the first half, and I found myself skimming in order to discover what was actually going to happen. The final couple of chapters fairly trucked on to a grand finale. Not as good a read as some of her earlier novels.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different from what I usually pick out, but I got it for 50 cents at the library, and I got more than my money's worth. Made me realize how plot-driven most of my picks are ... not that this didn't have a plot, but it was slow, and there was a lot of reflection.

[Philippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Loved the characters and the setting - and the premise was really original. These were people you could meet; some had led remarkable lives, others very ordinary ones but all were interestingly portrayed.

[Helene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Fay Weldon's style of writing. She makes the characters really interesting especially Felicity and her family and friends. There are references to familiar places in Connecticut (Foxwoods Casino) and Rhode Island. It's a fun read.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

What fun - imagine being in your 80's and finding love and life so available. A very enjoyable read from Fay Weldon.

[Jacqulyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to me only because of New England. Poorly edited, many errors. Mildly decent storyline.

[Williamsji Maveli]

Good reading and nice cover page

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly boring, even Fay Weldon's superb writing style didn't make this book any better. The plot moved too slow, and it didn't keep my interest for very long. Very disappointing.

[anita Lauricella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great read. Weldon's sense of humor is very dry and her narrative always unpredictable

[Susan]

PR6073.E374 R47 2000

[Helen Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a curates egg really ....definitely not her best .....the plot was a bit all over the place. Acutely observed however with flashes of her customary acerbic wit