In the tradition of "The Stone Diaries" and "How to Make an American Quilt", Caryn James vividly evokes the pathos and drama of life at the last turning, as Gloria Carcieri ("Glorie") tells of the pain of losing a spouse, the indignity of role reversal as one's child becomes the caretaker, and the struggle to keep one's home and independence.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Widowed after 50 years of marriage, Gloria (called Glorie) Carcieri finds herself caught between two worlds. Spending her nights at the home of her married daughter and days across the street at the house she shared with her husband, Jack, she drifts between fantasy and reality, between her memories of the past and her fears of the future. Her husband has been dead for seven years, but he's still her closest confidant, and their extended conversations make Jack a character as fully realized as any other in this quietly affecting book.
Glorie's link with the past is threatened when her mealy-mouthed son-in-law Patrick pressures her to sell her former home. The book's story line (such as it is) revolves around Glorie's struggle to thwart the sale, but the principal pleasures here have nothing to do with plot. Instead, we get the rich particulars of one life as it draws to a close. Glorie is a fully realized creation, an old lady who's most certainly not from the old-lady department of central casting--neither spunky nor sweet, but wholly herself.
From Booklist
Glorie Carcieri is tired--tired of resisting her son-in-law and the bevy of relatives pressuring her to sell her house and move to a retirement community. Now that her beloved husband is dead, Glorie refuses to abandon the house they shared more than 50 years, despite her dwindling financial resources. What else does she have, now that Jack is gone? Is she right to cling so tightly to the memories of their life together? Is she losing her grip on the present? As this fiery, funny woman struggles to retain her independence and her sanity in a world without her companion, she comes to a more profound apprehension of the relationship between love and forgiveness and develops an understanding and a compassion that allow her to overcome her bitterness over his death. James' first novel is a brilliant portrait of the human spirit struggling with the tragedy of mortality. Bonnie Johnston
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb study of interior life,
By
This review is from: Glorie (Paperback)
I disagree with the reader who insists there is no story in this novel. There is more than one type of story possible for a novel, and this one's strong story is interior. It is an exquisite rendering of the inner-outer life split of an old woman attached in memory to her husband, and attached by the strings of family to her relatives, who threaten her life desires. This book is not for the reader who wants lot of exterior action narrative; it is for one who values the laying open of character and inner self.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Balm for the soul of the "sandwich generation",
By A Customer
This review is from: Glorie (Paperback)
I laughed. I cried. I wish all the elderly could be blessed with Glorie's sense of humor and grit. I loved this love story! How could such a young author have such compassionate insights? Wise beyond her years and funny beyond the norm. Wonderful!
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A thoroughly delightful book,
By A Customer
This review is from: Glorie (Hardcover)
I have to disagree with Alan Foster's comments about "Glorie". I felt that it was enchanting, and if not a laugh a page, at least a smile. So many insights into the thinking of an older person. Glorie reminds me of Sophia on "Golden Girls", only with a lighter touch. As for Jack speaking directly to her, I believe it's a given that it is done just in Glorie's thoughts, and he didn't show up on command. I had wondered how it would all end, and I think it did in the only way that would have been plausible. I highly recommend this book to one and all.
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