Margaret Mayfield is nearly an old maid at twenty-seven when she marries Captain Andrew Jackson Jefferson Early. He’s the most famous man their Missouri town has ever produced: a naval officer and an astronomer - a genius who, according to the local paper, has changed the universe. Margaret’s mother calls the match ‘a piece of luck’.
Yet Andrew confounds Margaret’s expectations from the moment their train leaves for his naval base in San Francisco, and soon she realizes that his devotion to science leaves little room for anything, or anyone, else. She stands by him through tragedies both personal and those they share with the nation. But as World War II approaches, Andrew’s obsessions take a darker turn, forcing Margaret to reconsider the life she’d so carefully constructed.
Private Life is a portrait of marriage and the mysteries that endure even in lives lived side by side, a riveting historical panorama, and an unforgettable novel from one of our finest storytellers.
I currently have a small backlog of books to get through, but I'm really looking forward to reading 'Private Life'. Over the last year I've enjoyed several novels of historical fiction and I reckon this could be another good one. It looks interesting and I'm wondering if it'll put me in mind of Barbara Kingsolver's style of writing. I've become a huge fan of her work and would love to discover another author who writes in a similar way.
ReplyDeletestewart, in response to your emailed comment on shortage of posters on the site, it can be a bit of a struggle to get on to the blog, even for those like me who are on the mature side but still scientifically and technically literate; indeed it only yielded to me when i blindly selected 'google account' as it was first on the profile list (even tho i had no knowledge of what it was) and finally offered 'lastchance' as my open sesame, which seemed to effectively put the frighteners on it from alison aka al
ReplyDeleteAlison, you should be able to post easily if you choose the Name/URL option. This will then bring up a box, into which you can type your name. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeletethanks stewart, but having tamed it i'll just stick with the devil i know (until it pulls a new trick on me...);
ReplyDeletei mentioned it to you because it might have put off some potential posters who, like me, were not general users of blogs?;
i never cease to be amazed at how self-importantly nerdy and fiddly everyday web usage has been made by the 'experts', presumably in the paranoid name of rampant security - i was brought up on the good scientific premise that it takes a true genius to make things intuitively simple for the user ( no reflections on you, nor faber, of course!) which is probably why a mac at least suits me better than a pc?
on a more appreciative note, the new book shows promise - now that i've remedied my initial misreading of the cover title as 'the private life of jane smiley' and mistakenly resigned myself to another modern, statutary-500-paged, tale of the sexy and violent lives of secret agents...
Funny you should say that about the title, Alison, because I had exactly the same notion. It came as a surprise when I re-read the title.
ReplyDeleteI have started reading it and the jury is out at the moment. Seem to be having difficulty getting into it, but will press on.
I thought I had posted a comment, but it has failed to appear. Try again. I am now more than halfway through the book and think it is very good. I enjoyed the social history of the early chapters, sort of Anne of Green Gables with a sour twist. But in the week of the earthquake at Christchurch, I was reading about the 1906 earthquake at San Francisco. What a stark sentence Jane Smiley writes at the end of her account of the visit of her mother-in-law.
ReplyDeleteCompelling reading - I cannot think where it is going, even after the first chapter, but am determined not to skim. I do pity these main characters.
I have to admit defeat on this one. I had thought I would enjoy it but when I started to read I found that I wasn't particularly interested in the characters. I can't say exactly why but every time I picked it up I found I couldn't remember what had gone before. It must be a personal thing because I can see that other people are enjoying it. I hope that continues.
ReplyDeleteJust started with the book and slowly but surely getting in to it....will post a proper comment once I finish.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alison and Lynn about the title - I've been telling folk I'm reading "The Private Life of Jane Smiley" but I couldn't remember who it was written by! I know we shouldn't be judging by the cover, but I love the font and cover image, although personally I'm a sucker for anything from the "Poirot period". I've only read the first 50 pages so far, but I'm really enjoying it. I think the initial writing, describing Margaret's childhood, is sparse and all the more affecting because of it - Smiley really captures the confusion and misinterpretation of childhood experiences. There's lots happening, and the anticipation of more to happen and find out. I'm really intrigued to see what happens next...
ReplyDeletei have just lost my very intelligent and bookish comment as a result of pressing the wrong bloody button in the failed process of posting on this site: it was about margaret getting what she deserved as a passive virginia woolfish spectator of life and her final acknowledgement '..so many things i should have dared...'; and it was about my appreciation of being taken into her day to day life; and it was about my appreciation of the pros and cons of scientific husbands, having endured 2 of them myself, neither of whom sadly ever offered me the marvellous prospect of a running commentary on the passing geology from a train across america which i would have loved;
ReplyDeleteand it was far better written than this is, but thats e-life and i shall copy this before a repeat go at posting!
and thankyou lynn and shona for reassuring me that my poor old brain is not alone in trying its best to fill in gaps in incoming information!
ReplyDeleteI keep trying to post my final comment on this book, but my first comment did not appear, and I lost the second one. Here is my third try. This book was fascinating, and the characters are still dwelling in my mind. Not a happy marriage and never could have been. Margaret was a sacrificial victim, not allowed to be an old maid, or emancipate herself, as Dora did.
ReplyDeleteThe book ends in 1942, and it was in 1944 that Asperger described a syndrome he had observed in some patients. I am sure that Jane Smiley was describing, in Andrew, this sort of person. Andrew's mother was clearly aware of his interpersonal difficulties. (refer to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night).
I am still not sure what to make of Pete. And the wise, artistic, suffering Japanese?
I liked this book very much and shall certainly seek our more of Jane Smiley's works.
yes i agree with all the positive comments re this book- which i finished without any guilty feelings of 'i must read this book or stewart will be cross with me'; in fact it intrigued me sufficiently about ms smiley that i have taken out 2 of her other books (now why had i never heard of her before - might it be that the celebrity list writers are taking up too much literary meedja space?)'; i'm struggling a bit with the first one, 'MOO' , mainly because i really need cast lists, with brief CV's, family trees, and sometimes maps as well, in order to really enjoy being caught right up in most novels these days - if such aids are made available for stage works, why not for books (apart from those grim study guides for teenagers)? ; the answer may be that 'really' sensitive booky folk despise diagrams and summaries and check lists, or indeed any device which might save readers from having to obediently plod through and/or flip back and fore over pages and pages of words, sentences and paragraphs, to remind themselves of just who that particular character is ?!
ReplyDeletefrom grumpy but exploratory alison
I got into this book to begin with but I lost interest because the main character was so bland and grey. I can't help but think the book would have been better if her mother in law had been the central character!
ReplyDelete100 pages in and loving it so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying this book so far - although only about 60 pages in. Thanks to those of you who pointed out that the title is not "Private Life of Jane Smiley". Whoops. I love the background, partly because it makes me think back to Laura Ingalls Wilder, LM Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott - all my old childhood favourites!
ReplyDeleteI just loved the description of Margaret bicycle riding. This really made me smile and wince at the same time. She is so excited and daring then nothing more comes of it than being looked after and comforted!
Hi, I agree with Kirsty's comment that the mother in law is a much more interesting character but only half way through so Margaret might still shine!
ReplyDeletejennifer, thats an interesting idea, but i sometimes wonder if the Asperger's spectrum is just yet another example of the middle class medicalisation of the wide range of 'natural' variations in human behaviours?
ReplyDeleteI had mixed feelings about this book. On the positive side, it was very well researched, no doubt because Jane Smiley writes both fiction and non-fiction (her biography of Charles Dickens is well worth a read!), and the details about events such as the San Francisco earthquake were very comprehensive. However, I felt that these discriptions often lacked emotion, and that the characters were bland and dull. The cenral character, Margaret, irritated me with her passive attitude to life, and so I struggled with parts of the book. On the other hand some of her 'stages of life' read very well, and for short bursts I found myself enjoying it. It felt to me like a merger of two different books, in that the flow of the narrative was not constant and was a little disjointed. The concept was interesting enough, but had the characters had a just a little more gumption it could have been a far more intereting story! To be fair, this isn't a book I would have chosen for myself, so perhaps it just doesn't suit my taste. I quite agree with the other comments that the mother-in-law was underused and could have had a whole book to herself! Maybe that will be Jane Smiley's next project?
ReplyDeleteFinished this book, really liked it but read it superficially as just a tale which I enjoyed enormously. Sometimes I think that analysing it too much spoils the story for me.
ReplyDeletea final note re the author: i've now read her 'MOO' (set in a campus university) and 'A Thousand Acres' (set in a farming community); great story-telling and fascinating interplay of somewhat exaggerated characters, which nevertheless ring true with my own real (or imagined) experiences in USA and UK - perhaps thats all it takes to make a good read for this rather lazy reader?
ReplyDelete( if you live on a farm and notice neanderthal tendencies in your nearest and dearest, brace yourself before approaching those thousand acres...)
They say there are only about twenty different plot outlines. I reckon it must be true, because almost every book I've opened over the last year seemed like an inferior version of one I've read before.
ReplyDeleteJane Smiley's Private Life feels to me like the flat, plodding sequel to a (non-existent) story akin to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, L. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables or Susan Coolidge's What Katy Did. Except it isn't. Just because characters are plain doesn't mean descriptions of them should be bland and uninteresting. I kept hoping the characters who people this book were eventually going to surprise me, but sadly they never did. Perhaps it's Smiley's writing style, but they seem insufficiently moved or changed by the events shaping their lives.
The depiction of the female characters is laboured and although I hoped to be proved wrong Andrew turns out to be precisely the kind of obsessed military husband headed for eventual self-destruction I'd anticipated from the mention of him at the beginning of the novel. Even Peter, with his initial air of mystery, who I thought would intrigue me more and more as I turned the pages failed, in the end, to really hold my attention.
Although largely passive and accepting of the social conventions of her era I felt Margaret is more intelligent and 'thinking' than she is given credit for. When she realises the true circumstances of her marriage and the betrayal by her own family I would have loved her to reveal the sudden spark of gumption or spirit which the author appears to want the reader to believe lies buried deep within her. I was waiting for her to somehow take charge of her life in a positive way, but the internal analysis of her situation doesn't bring the 'awakening' I would have expected. I think Smiley missed an opportunity to provide an extra dimension to the story here.
The transition from small town life in Missouri to San Francisco is interesting. Although widening her horizons and acquainting her with different people and cultures Margaret remains entrenched in her passive interpretation of the world. Perhaps the only message that Smiley does manage to convey with any real conviction is that you can take a person out of the place (and circumstances) of her birth, but she can never quite lose the constructs of her upbringing.
The author's attempts to explore some very complex and difficult themes is brave and commendable. It's just unfortunate that she seems unable to draw in her audience and convince it to join her on the journey.
* * * * *
Amazon.com carries an interview with the author which gives some interesting insights into the background to the novel.
http://www.amazon.com/Private-Life-Jane-Smiley/dp/1400040604/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
I've just finished and found it gripping. It was up there with her Barn blind and A thousand acres... though I couldn't quite work out the significance of her memory of the hanging coming back right at the end - any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI found this book an excellent, but depressing read. I re-read the first chapter on finishing the book....this tied the narrative together. The clever portrayal of the various characters through the storyline was interesting along with the backdrop of the historical context. i will need to read something more cheerful next.....
ReplyDeleteHaving finally finished this book I have to say, overall, I did enjoy it. Margaret is an interesting character- at times very depressing due to her apparent passive endurance of her life (and Andrew's, although not necessarily intentional, irritating behaviour), at other times inspiring simply because of her ability to endure! The other characters (e.g. Andrew's mother, Margaret's and Dora) also added a bit of 'meat to the bones' and helped me see Margaret in the context of other women living in the same historical period (as opposed to comparing her to someone of our time). I did enjoy the historical setting of the story...anything pre 1950's is always a hit with me generally.
ReplyDeleteStill thinking about the significance of the hanging?- some sort of deep metaphor about Margaret's life ?
I also re-read the first chapter after finishing, as feel it brought it all together a bit more!
I did enjoy this book but would not rush to recommend it to anyone because it was too disheartening. The plot lines and characters that looked like they might become more significant seemed to falter and fade away (e.g. mother in law, Pete, Dora, the earthquake, the death of Alexander. Although this may have been realistic it didn't help with making an exciting or intriguing novel. I was disappointed after a promising start.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a while to get into this book. I enjoyed the way the author wove the historical events into the relationships of the characters. Margaret, on several occasions, indicates that she feels like a spectator looking in on her life.
ReplyDeleteThe mothers in this story are interesting. Those with money have no trouble finding husbands for their daughters, while those with less money help their daughters to make good marriages. Margaret's mother sends her off into the community to do good works for the less fortunate in order to show her life as a spinster, should she become too choosy in selecting a partner.
Andrew Early, her husband, has an unerring ability to get on the wrong side of people in positions of power. This, in it's turn, contributes to the type of life they have as a married couple. His ability to see conspiracies and threats in every situation eventually causes a loyal wife, who has made the best of a tedious existance by taking every opportunity and fulfilling every expectation wherever possible in their isolated community, to see their relationship for what it really is.
Her mentioning of the hanging she was taken to as a child is her only claim to something interesting happening. She has lost two brothers to accident or illness, her father commited suicide, her baby son died at a few days old, and none of the feelings caused by these situations are discussed.
When her husband thinks she is being used by Japanese spies and that her friends are enemies of the state, and the result of him reporting this means that they are taken away to internment camps, any feelings for her husband are finally killed off and this widening gulf sees their seemingly steady marriage disintegrate.
I just wanted some hope for Margaret. She was capable of much more and should have had a happy life, but like many women of this generation she made the best of what she had. I would have seasoned it with more hope, it was sad.
Thistledown
I'm still struggling my way through this one - but am now into the final section so the end is in sight. It's not that I'm not enjoying the book; I'm just not caught up in it. I suppose the overall tone (is that the correct term?) matches the lack of get-up-and-go in Margaret's life, but it doesn't make for captivating reading. There are clearly a number of highs and lows in her life - the death of little Alexander, the earthquake, her affair with Pete - but they seem to get but a brief mention and are then pretty much forgotten. Almost as if they haven't really touched her at all.
ReplyDeleteI usually read in bed at night before I go to sleep. One of the advantages of this particular book is that I've never got to the end of a section and thought: "Gosh, I must read the next bit to find out what happens." I've always been quite content to put it down and switch off the light. If the author's intention was to show how mundane life can be, she's achieved her goal. But I'm afraid I'd rather read something with a bit more oomph in it.
I will keep reading though. I refuse to give up!
This book comes under the banner of 'all right'. It didn't really grip me, but I was happy to keep reading it. So glad Jennifer mentioned Asperger's Syndrome. Right from the first time we met Andrew (talking to Margaret when she was on her bicycle) I thought his character and mannerisms were very much in keeping with Asperger's. In that respect, Jane Smiley's portrayal of Andrew was really effective. My feelings towards Margaret fluctuated. I mostly felt sorry for her, sometimes I admired her, but towards the end I was just plain annoyed with her because she allowed herself to be so controlled by Andrew. However, I do realise that I am looking at her life with through the eyes of a 21st Century woman. My feeling at the end of the book was 'What a waste of a life'.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I'd recommend it to anyone, but I wouldn't slate it either.
It took me a long time to read this book - a few pages at a time before putting the lights out at night, no fault of the writing just lack of time.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it. I found it well written and that it flowed well and kept me interested. That surprised me, as I initially almost failed to get past the Prologue. More stream of consciousness! Further lack of speech marks! Oh no!! Thankfully they appeared in the body of the text and I was able to settle to my reading.
Admittedly, by the time I had reached the Epilogue, I had forgotten how the book had started and had to return to the Prologue in order to place the pieces together.
I should have liked to have read more of Pete and had a few more glimpses of the relationship with Margaret... and a far better resolution for Dora!
Overall I seem to be out of step with other readers. I did not find the book sad or depressing but quiet, sweeping and contemplative and I actually found hope in the ending. The final bitter comment from Margaret told me that things would now change and finally she was to take charge of her life and start to live. I could see a whole other book beyond this one -- in which Margaret has at least ten thoroughly disreputable years... maybe after knocking off her dreadful husband. I so want to see Margaret in her purple frock and red hat, kicking up her heels in the South of France and being a really naughty seventy year old :-)