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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Lyons Public Library | F FEL | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | FICTION FELDMAN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | Feldman, E. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Woodburn Public Library | Feldman | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
For fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, The Postmistress , and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a story of love, war, loss, and the scars they leave set during the years of World War II and its aftermath.
Set in a small town in Massachusetts, Next to Love follows three childhood friends, Babe, Millie, and Grace, whose lives are unmoored when their men are called to duty. And yet the changes that are thrust upon them move them in directions they never dreamed possible--while their husbands and boyfriends are enduring their own transformations. In the decades that follow, the three friends lose their innocence, struggle to raise their children, and find meaning and love in unexpected places. And as they change, so does America--from a country in which people know their place in the social hierarchy to a world in which feminism, the Civil Rights movement, and technological innovations present new possibilities--and uncertainties. And yet Babe, Millie, and Grace remain bonded by their past, even as their children grow up and away and a new society rises from the ashes of the war.
Beautifully crafted and unforgettable, Next to Love depicts the enduring power of love and friendship, and illuminates a transformational moment in American history.
Author Notes
Ellen Feldman , a 2009 Guggenheim fellow, is the author of Scottsboro, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank, and Lucy . She lives in New York City.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Feldman's latest (after Scottsboro) follows three female friends through WWII and into the '60s as lives, loves, and perceptions change both within and without. Bostonians Babe, Grace, and Millie don't want to lose the men they love to the looming war in Europe. So Grace and Millie marry their boyfriends before they ship out; Babe, on the other hand, follows Claude to his Southern Army base before he's due to join the fight in England, but is raped before reaching him. Grace and Millie's husbands die in battle, and Claude returns a changed man. The three old friends navigate life in a tumultuous era of social upheaval, holding to the belief that happiness lies in finding the right man. Babe, the quintessential girl from the wrong side of the tracks and a very sympathetic character, is determined to have life and love on her own terms. Grace and Millie, however, continue to hope for rescue and fail to learn from their mistakes. Feldman adopts multiple points of view and sticks to the awkward present tense, which instead of bringing immediacy pushes the reader away. A section of letters, though, is beautifully rendered, illuminating the characters and advancing the plot. Feldman's portrait of an era, and its women, is both well drawn and frustrating. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Sincere, at times piercing, Feldman's (Scottsboro,2008, etc.) latest tracks the experiences of three women, best friends since kindergarten, whose fortunes are shaped by what World War II did to their men folk and their world.Opening inPostmistressterritory, Feldman's looping saga goes on to span two decades of seismic change as experienced in a small town in Massachusetts during the war years and their aftermath. Sexism, racism, anti-Semitism and consumerism all play their parts, sometimes too dutifully, yet there's no denying the searching sensitivity of much of the prose as individual fates are played out. Babe Huggins is the central female who escapes her bad neighborhood by marrying respectable history teacher Claude. Millie marries Pete and Grace marries Charlie and then all the men go off to fight, leaving the women to support each other, work and wait. Babe is relatively lucky; Claude comes home again although it will take him more than a decade to heal his invisible wounds. Millie and Grace face different struggles, but all three find themselves coping with the damage done to them, their partners, in-laws and children by war and history. And an understated ending delivers the knowledge that the cycle is far from over.Conventional in shape and content, this nevertheless affecting tribute to the "greatest" generation is elevated by its empathy for the women left behind.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The quiet devastation wrought by WWII on the lives of ordinary Americans forms the backbone of this haunting and profoundly moving novel that interweaves the stories of three small-town women, one working-class, two wealthy, and their families from 1941 to 1964. With their new husbands fighting overseas, independent Babe, gentle Millie, and regal Grace fight another war at home, against loneliness, tedium, and the ever-present terror of receiving a telegram from the War Department. After tragedy strikes, the three struggle to reshape their lives and those of their loved ones not only around loss and heartache but also in a maturing America simultaneously launched into Eisenhower-era prosperity and rocked by the first tremors of the women's liberation and civil rights movements. At turns brave, frustrating, and fragile, Feldman's characters live and love with breathtaking intensity, and her deft juggling of several zigzagging plots makes the pages flow past with the force of a slow but mighty river. Equally impressive is her understanding of the period and of the assumptions not only about race and sex but also about keeping private pain private, which made the Greatest Generation not only flawed but often deeply, quietly miserable.--Vanderhooft, JoSell. Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
This novel looks at the impact of war on those left behind, specifically the women who must deal with many types of losses during the postwar aftermath. Although very different from one another, the three main characters are lifelong friends who support one another during and after World War II. Two lose their husbands in the fighting, and the third must deal with a physically and emotionally damaged veteran. Feldman portrays the 20 years following the war and the concomitant social changes realistically and sympathetically, despite covering a lot of time in a short span. The audio is professionally and unobtrusively read by Abby Craden. This well-written story will appeal to fans of historical and women's fiction. ["Feldman's (Scottsboro) scathing prose intensifies the daily routines of these families and makes readers fearful and worried along with them," read the starred review, LJ 5/15/11.-Ed.]-Mary Knapp, Madison P.L., WI (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.