Divining Women [Hardcover]

Kaye Gibbons (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gibbons, Kaye | Publication Date: April 12, 2004

In her darkest yet most redeeming novel, Gibbons scorches us with a Þrestorm of despair-and then resurrects love and hope from its very ashes.

Autumn 1918: Rumors of peace are spreading across America, but spreading even faster are the first cases of Spanish influenza, whispering of the epidemic to come. Maureen Ross, well past a safe childbearing age, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Her husband, Troop-cold and careless of her condition-is an emotional cripple who has battered her spirit throughout their marriage. As Maureen's time grows near, she becomes convinced she will die in childbirth. Into this loveless ménage arrives Mary Oliver, Troop's niece. The sheltered child of a well-to-do, freethinking Washington family, Mary comes to help Maureen in the last weeks of her confinement. Horrified by Troop's bullying, she soon discovers that her true duty is to protect her aunt.

As the influenza spreads and the death toll grows, Troop's spiteful behaviors worsen. Tormenting his wife, taunting her for her "low birth," hiding her mother's letters, Troop terrorizes the household. But when Mary fights back, he begins to go over the edge, and Maureen rallies, releasing a stunning thunderstorm of confrontation and, ultimately, finding spiritual renewal.

The Boston Globe hailed On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon as "another gift from Kaye Gibbons to the literature celebrating strong women of every age and era." Much the same can be said of Divining Women.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gibbons (Ellen Foster; On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon; etc.) hearkens back to the Brontë sisters with her penchant for the gothic in this rather stilted novel of female oppression and liberation. As WWI draws to an end, 22-year-old Mary Oliver sits at home in Washington, D.C., waiting for her postgraduate literature classes at Radcliffe to begin. To give her something to do, her mother, Martha, suggests that she travel to North Carolina to visit Martha's estranged half-brother, Troop, and his wife, Maureen, who is expecting a baby. Troop was a terror as a boy and young man, but Martha is sure he has changed since his marriage. Mary, however, arrives to find that Maureen has been all but destroyed by Troop's psychological manipulation and verbal abuse. Troop refuses to allow newspapers into his house and intercepts all letters, reinforcing the impression that, though war is raging in Europe, the real battle of the novel is being fought on the domestic front. Diagnosed with "female hysteria," Maureen has been subjected to various demeaning "treatments." Troop blames both her and Mary's family for his elderly mother's death and rules by fear in his quest for moral superiority, while Maureen is coached by Mary to fight for freedom and self-fulfillment. Mary is well suited to the task, since she comes from an unconventional family-her grandfather, one of the novel's most appealing characters, is a nudist. Reading aloud from letters written by a family friend who sought adventures abroad, Mary helps Maureen draw closer to an appreciation of "the joy at the confluence of love and freedom." Erratic storytelling weakens the novel, but Gibbons's tale is atmospheric and unsettling, narrated in hushed Victorian tones and ornamented with period flourishes.
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From Booklist

Gibbons, as literary as she is popular, tends to portray resourceful, freethinking women in novels that subtly critique classic southern mores and offer clear-eyed inquiries into the tolls of illness and war. In this enveloping tale of marital strife and female resilience, Gibbons considers conflicts between blacks and whites and men and women within the context of the First World War and the Spanish influenza epidemic. Martha has sent her intelligent daughter, Mary, to North Carolina to help Martha's half-brother, Troop, and his expectant wife, Maureen, and Mary is amazed to find herself in a household as miserable as it is opulent. Troop is a coldhearted, possibly insane despot; lovely and muddled Maureen is his prisoner; and Zollie and Mamie, their kind African American employees, are treated with appalling indifference. The hate, lies, and machinations at work in this psychotic hothouse rival that of the most gothic of southern melodramas, a tradition Gibbons shrewdly subverts as she divines the true nature of feminine power and points the way toward justice in this gorgeously moody and piquant fairy tale. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: A Marian Wood Book/Putnam; 1st edition (April 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399151605
• ISBN-13: 978-0399151606
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,210,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gibbons outdoes herself, May 26, 2004

By 

JET (Parker, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Divining Women (Hardcover)

I had high expectations for Kaye Gibbons's first book in six years, as she is one of my all-time favorite writers. Divining Women does not disappoint.

The story: Mary is a young woman who grew up around wealthy, free-thinking relatives during the first part of the 20th century. One grandfather is a nudist, another plays host to the spirits who come through their house on the way to somewhere else in their afterlives. She has also enjoyed the benefit of a variety of strong female role models, including her mother and grandmothers. Due to WWI, Mary education is on hold. Her mother decides to send her to take care of her aunt (her mother's half-brother's wife), Maureen, who is heavily pregnant, in North Carolina. Maureen's husband and Mary's uncle, Troop, due to his upbringing and family history, is the worst sort of man: selfish, abusive, cowardly, and manipulative. He has constantly manipulates reality to suit himself and has gone through extreme trouble to crush every ounce of his wife's spirit and passion. As the women's relationship develops, the influenza outbreak worsens, the war goes on, and they slowly learn from each other and band together against the evil in their lives.

This novel is dark, but it would be unrealistic if it were otherwise, as it takes place in a dark time: during World War I, in the midst of the influenza breakout. Gibbons draws off her own experiences with love, heartbreak, and renewal, as well as tragic events of modern times, such as September 11th. Her writing is magical, beautiful, and masterful. I often found myself reading the same passage over and over to ensure that I got every drop of enjoyment out of it. Unlike other reviewers, I found the characters to be completely unique, but utterly believable. Gibbons uses humor as well as tragedy to construct an amazing, gratifying, and empowering story. Additionally, the novel gives great insight into southern life in the early 20th century.

Although Gibbons has written many wonderful books, this is one of her greatest. It is easily one of the best books of the year, if not of modern times.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The beautiful friendship of two women., September 19, 2004

By 

L. Redding "sassymama" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Divining Women (Hardcover)

Mary is a young woman, sent by her mother, to help her Uncle's new wife through the end of her pregnancy. Uncle Troop is a proud, cruel man and his family cannot understand why his lovely wife, Maureen, married him in the first place. Troop detests his eccentric family, on his father's side, and was taught to hate them by his own mother. Mary is walking into a disastrous situation, but she has been raised to stand up for herself and others. Troop has met his match when his niece arrives at his home. She steers the destiny of the family in a new direction.

This is a book reminiscent of "Fried Green Tomatoes", not in timing, but in the relationship that develops between Mary and Maureen. It is a quick read, but written in lovely prose by Kaye Gibbons. Mary is a wonderful character who makes one proud to be a woman.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not my favorite by Kaye Gibbons, August 19, 2005

By 

Cindymoon (Canton, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Divining Women (Hardcover)

As a HUGE fan of Kaye Gibbons, I looked forward to enjoying this book as much as I had her previous works. Although the language and historical content were entertaining, I found the overall story to be dissappointing. Having left an frighteningly similar bad marriage, I can admire Ms. Gibbon's efforts to show that abuse is not always physical...and emotional and verbal damage can be equally as destructive. What frustrated me about this story was that Troop's wife Maureen suddenly finds the strength and self-confidence to change her life for the better (by leaving) but the source of her new-found conviction is never revealed or clarified. Although partially the result of Mary's arrival, it cannot be completely attributed to that. A woman who is bullied, victimized and balancing on the edge of insanity because of her husband's paranoia and insecurity suddenly decides to defend herself and leave the household? That doesn't seem plausible. If so - how and when did this inner transformation take place? Ms. Gibbons does not go into this as expected; her other novels have more in-depth character revelation. If an abused woman is looking toward this novel for inspiration, she isn't likely to find it.