Customer Reviews

Household Words: A Novel

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Set in New Jersey the 50's and 60's, Household Words is a very heartbreaking novel about a young Jewish woman with two small daughters whose life changes when her husband suddenly dies. The author's prose style is spare without being dry. She is able to present a moving portrait of a very strong and appealing woman with a great sense of humor. I first read this book ten years ago and I've never been able to forget it.

Penquin should reprint this book immediately.

I really enjoyed this book! The main character, Rhoda, is about as three-dimensional and full-bodied as any literary character deserves to be. A poignant and honest portrayal of a person who is a less than perfect human being, wife and mother. A book you can really sink your teeth into!

Rhoda is an intensely pragmatic woman, her marriage to Leonard, a pharmacist, and the births of her two daughters in 1940's New Jersey taken in stride, as though certain things are expected in life, even if the reality is somewhat disappointing. Infrequently introspective, Rhoda tackles motherhood with determination, if not joy, caring for her children from a distance. But then Rhoda has always handled the daily skirmishes of her marriage and home with some disinterest, as though waiting for life to begin, realizing belatedly that it has been happening while she keeps herself busy. Rhoda's journey has been relatively easy, if not entirely luxurious; but a change in fortune leaves her unable to form any coherent plan for the future. Married in the pre-war forties, Rhoda is of a certain generation, her role strictly proscribed by a society that defines women as caretakers and helpmeets for their husbands. Born of a non-religious Jewish family, Rhoda possesses all of the traits of a well-brought up young woman, but has invested little effort in self-examination, life choices as foreign to her as the enemies fought by the soldiers in World War II.

Whatever her disappointments, Rhoda manages to present a façade to the world, instinctively more comfortable with wisecracks than affection; even with Leonard she is emotionally guarded, believing romance belongs in the privacy of the bedroom. The girls, Suzanne and Claire, gravitate more easily to their father, who appreciates their childish concerns, Rhoda more likely to exact obedience in lieu of comfort. Loss leaves Rhoda particularly unmoored and when surprised by circumstances, she can only cope by keeping herself too busy to ponder her altered situation. The private landscape of Rhoda's detachment is quite an experience, her skewed perception, isolated from all others, makes this character surprisingly sympathetic. For all her sarcasm, Rhoda remains disconnected, floating slightly above the surface of reality, whether in her marriage with Leonard or carrying out her maternal duties.

In the introduction, Mona Simpson refers to the novel's "tightly managed point of view". Simpson's succinct description accurately describes Household Words, Rhoda embracing her own limitations and sense of dislocation, a quiet helplessness in the face of the unexpected. The strength of the book lies in Rhoda's ordinariness, the familiar dramas of daily life played out without much fanfare. Bearing the experiences of a limited world without asking much in return, Rhoda is often stunned by the banality of daily existence, the measured rewards of parenthood and the few comforts of her life. This very constriction renders the story riveting, a small portrait furious in its restraint and acquiescence to convention. Through it all, Rhoda feels that she is "a normal woman with an attractive fate who was trapped inside a mistake". Luan Gaines/ 2005.

The story of Rhoda's adult life. Rhoda is housewife from New Jersey and lives a pretty normal, reasonably privileged life with husband who can provide for her, two children, a close family and good friends. She is just kind of detached from life (as illustrated by her relationship with Moe and her inability to become attached to him). She seems to go along and accept what is handed to her - which is quite a lot, since she exeperiences and feels deeply about the death of her mother and somewhat less deeply the untimely death of her husband. Despite her detachment from her life, she takes the reader into it. At the end of the book, she dies of cancer. I found myself trying to remember who close to me is suffering from a terminal illness, and I was just as upset about Rhoda's failure to end her life on good terms with her older daughter as if it had happened to me. An excellent reading guide, with very thought-provoking questions.

The author has a brilliant talent in writing about the day to day in the life of a willful and arrogant Jewish woman living in New York way back when. It's authentic and beautifully written. Doesn't insult your intelligence. In fact, I read it a year ago and am currently re-reading it again. Even better the second time around.

Rhoda, the main character, is interesting, but extremely unlikeable. She slaps her daughters, speaks ill of her friends, doesn't really like her husband all that much and only tolerates her brothers. There is no actual plot except the passage of time. The book covers twenty years and a parade of ordinary events passes by. Blah, blah, blah. The characters are well developed and they do have fairly interesting interactions, but there is no rising action and Rhoda remains the same throughout. I did read the entire book, so I guess it wasn't that bad, but finding a new book to read every few days ain't easy, so I continue through some that are only mildly entertaining. Was medical care really that bad in the 1950s?

For those who like a slice of life novel, though it's really more like a "chunk of life" since it chronicles twenty years of Rhoda's life, I think you'll also find this book a fascinating read. While many novels seem to feature a captivatingly beautiful woman, a mother who blindly loves her offspring unconditionally, or people doing extraordinary things, Rhoda, an uncompromising Jewish woman leads quite an ordinary life. What is intriguing is her approach to it. How responsible is she for the fates that await her? Is her life really heartbreaking? How different is it from so many of ours? Is she a good mother? A good wife? Sister or daughter? Rhoda is not necessarily a likeable woman, but her comments and observations on life are thoroughly thought provoking. Joan Silber poured over magazines of that era to paint a picture of what life was like then, from furnishings, fashion to mores and politics. The questions for group reading at the end of the book are interesting to consider even for the independent reader. This is not a novel you'll soon forget. I think, like me, you may find it unforgetable.