Braided Lives: A Novel [Hardcover]

Marge Piercy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1982

Growing up in Detroit in the 1950s, and going to college when the first seeds of sexual freedom are being sown, Jill and Donna are coming of age in an exciting, turbulent time. Wry, independent Jill thrives in the new free-spirited world, while her beautiful cousin Donna desperately searches for a man to make her life whole. As each cousin is driven by different demons and desires, they eventually realize that they cannot overcome fundamental differences in each others' lives. Still, as their futures assume contrary paths, Jill and Donna realize that they may be separated, but they'll never be truly divided from one another.
"Rings with passionate awareness...honest and impressive."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD


From the Paperback edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Growing up in Detroit in the 1950s, and going to college when the first seeds of sexual freedom are being sown, Jill and Donna are coming of age in an exciting, turbulent time. Wry, independent Jill thrives in the new free-spirited world, while her beautiful cousin Donna desperately searches for a man to make her life whole. As each cousin is driven by different demons and desires, they eventually realize that they cannot overcome fundamental differences in each others' lives. Still, as their futures assume contrary paths, Jill and Donna realize that they may be separated, but they'll never be truly divided from one another.
"Rings with passionate awareness...honest and impressive."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD


From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 443 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First. edition (January 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671438344
• ISBN-13: 978-0671438340
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,634,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passionate, Vivid, Absorbing, June 14, 2000

By 

"lisaaoh" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Braided Lives: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is one of my top 3 favorites, along with two novels by Margaret Atwood (and what writer wouldn't want to be grouped with Atwood?) I was a sophomore in high school the first time I read Braided Lives and have read it perhaps 5 or 6 times in the ensuing 15 years. Although the prose seems at times a little overblown, this book throbs with emotion, and with each read-through I experience new depths to the story of Jill and her friend Donna. This novel went a long way toward developing my own political sensibilities, for which I'd like to thank Marge Piercy. Her characters, settings, and themes remain as vivid in my mind as if I'd lived this story myself.

Highly, highly recommend!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Womens' fiction on a new level..., November 3, 2002

By 

"ginger-girl" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Braided Lives (Paperback)

It is very easy to group all women writers into one category, especially in the UK where it seems that every woman is a twenty-something writer of tales of lost boyfriends and work stress. Marge Piercy is a world class above these writers, depite the dodgy publiscist she has who gives all her novels terrible covers! This book is an enticing tale of women surviving in a society that does not hand them anything. It's a sobering tale for those of us who feel we have a relatively firm grasp on our lives/careers in this new millenium. Spend some time thinking about the struggle women face on the most basic level day in day out and try not to cry during 'that bit'!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favourite book - ever, June 8, 2002

By 

Patricia Hill "triciahill" (Hanwell, London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Braided Lives (Mass Market Paperback)

Like one of the other reviewers, I have reread this book at least once a year since it was first published in the UK in 1984. Unbelievably, it is no longer in print there. Marge Piercy has created the most believable fictional world I have ever read - in part I suspect because Braided Lives is fairly autobiographical - and her memoir "Sleeping with Cats" confirms this (also a great read). I learn something new every time I read the book. Jill, the main character, is rounded, complex, politically aware and self-sufficient. I wish I could write as well as Marge Piercy to urge every woman to buy and read this book - I know my life would have been poorer without reading it. It really is that good.