Customer Reviews

The House on Coliseum Street (Voices of the South)

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joan Mitchell has been dating safe and boring Fred for quite a while, when she has a fling with the blunt and somewhat more dangerous Michael Kern. She becomes pregnant by Michael and her family rather matter-of-factly arranges an abortion for her. She never tells Fred and they get back together again, though she keeps him so at arms length he eventually gives up on her. Michael's indifference to her having the abortion soon unhinges her, and she seeks revenge against him by scandalizing him to his boss. Grau writes in a very spare style that moves the story (and the reader) along quickly; she avoids any histrionics on Joan's part, which places the emotional response to what she's up to totally on the shoulders of the reader. She does not rely on a lot of description and doesn't feel the need to inform the reader of every incident the characters engage in (the love-making, for example, between Joan and Michael is barely hinted at). Grau is a good storyteller with an interesting knack of keeping the reader focused on her narrative while carefully controlling the emotions of her characters. It's a good novel worth checking out.

If you like New Orleans and would have liked to be a fly on the wall of one of those decadent mansions in the 1960's, this is the book for you. The book takes you to a different era and may seem dated to some, but one must remember that this book deals with abortion before Roe Vs. Wade and causal sex before the sexual revolution. It is beautifully done and well thought out.

...but kind of dull for ours. This book, dealing with an unmarried young pregnant woman who has an abortion must have been quite racy back in 1961 when it was first published. By today's standards though, its quite weak. There are too many things in the story that are implied or glossed over. Additionally, the heroine seemed quite detached from the goings on around her. There was nothing about this character that made you care what happened to her one way or another. Set in New Orleans and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast I did like reading about the places she went since they were so close to home. It was a quick read, but not one I am likely to recommend to others.

Shirley Ann Grau's protagonist Joan Mitchell ventures into an eventful, observable passage after one date. Her loneliness and ongoing existence lead her to realize the essentials in life.

The scene settings are done marvelously.

A great read=)