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First of all, I love Wallace Stegner’s prose.
Second of all, he knows what to tell, what to hold back and how to tie up a story. Even the title has meaning.
Stegner was given access to Mary Hallock Foote's letters and information about her life. It was first thought he would write a biography. He sought to get under her skin; he sought to understand who she really was and why she did what she did. What does one do when portions of what you are searching for are missing? You analyze and think deep ...more
Second of all, he knows what to tell, what to hold back and how to tie up a story. Even the title has meaning.
Stegner was given access to Mary Hallock Foote's letters and information about her life. It was first thought he would write a biography. He sought to get under her skin; he sought to understand who she really was and why she did what she did. What does one do when portions of what you are searching for are missing? You analyze and think deep ...more
Stegner makes the job of writing seem effortless. His brilliance shines through as he uses wheelchair-bound Lyman, a writer writing the history of his grandmother Susan Ward going back to circa 1870-1895. Susan's published writings and illustrations and her personal letters of her married life in the American West provide him (and we readers) wonderful insight into the human experience--interpersonal relationships, a marriage between social opposites--seamlessly juxtaposed with Lyman's estr
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This is a story within a story. It is the account of Susan Ward, a cultured New York young woman, a talented illustrator, who moves to the untamed West in 1875 with her engineer husband who moves the family from one primitive setting to the next in pursuit of jobs. It is the record of the thoughts and observations of her grandson, a 58 year old historian, a man severely crippled by a degenerative illness that robs him of his ability to move, who spends his days combing through his grandmother’s
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Loved this classic with interesting characters and the wide variety of settings all of which I have visited in the West! 22 pleasurable hours on audiobook kept me locked in for entire time! It also gave me credit for Feb. Goodreads challenge of reading 2 Chunkers (books of at least 500 pages)!
As I always say, classics are classics for a reason - good reads thru the ages! As I reflect,this was closer to a 5 for me than a 4!
As I always say, classics are classics for a reason - good reads thru the ages! As I reflect,this was closer to a 5 for me than a 4!
This is a well-written book with a good story, but is very slow moving. A middle-aged but seems like an old man historian decides to write about his grandmother who was an artist in the early days of the West being settled. There were only moments when I felt a real connection to Susan and I never connected with Lyman. My favorite line was she was more lady than woman and he was more man than gentleman. For me the biggest takeaway is that you need to respect your spouse.
Oct 09, 2009
Sara
marked it as to-read
Feb 12, 2012
Karen
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Mar 05, 2013
Kats
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Apr 26, 2015
Mary Bronson
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Annet
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Mar 14, 2017
Amy
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Jul 26, 2017
Mary
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Aug 18, 2017
Jules
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Oct 22, 2018
Carlye
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Jun 11, 2019
Karen
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Oct 17, 2019
Melissa
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Jan 12, 2020
Mary
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Jan 27, 2020
Nancy
marked it as maybe
Jul 30, 2021
Dana
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