Joy Street [Hardcover]

Frances Parkinson Keyes (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Buccaneer Books (April 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568494475
• ISBN-13: 978-1568494470
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,668,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Joy Street": A Lesson in Tolerance, June 8, 2000

By 

Laura L. Wines (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joy Street (Hardcover)

Joy Street was written by historical novelist Frances Parkinson Keyes. The novel was set in Boston spanning the years, 1936 - 1946. The heroine, Emily Thacker Field, was born into the Forbes family one of the bluest of the blue blood families in Boston. When I began to read Joy Street, I did not believe that I would ever be able to read more than the first few chapters. I found Emily's life to be extremely pretentious and did not believe that I could tolerate 532 pages of Boston society. I had no desire to read about the elitism of the upper classes. However, as the plot developed I realized that portraying the virtues of a class system was not the author's intention.

The plot focused on Emily and her husband Roger Field. Roger was not considered a member of Emily's class, but he was "properly" raised and thus he was an "adequate" spouse. The other characters important to the plot were Mrs. Forbes, Emily's grandmother, and three lawyers who worked in the same law firm that employed Roger. Brian Collins was from an Irish Catholic family. Pellegrino de Lucca was from an Italian Catholic family. David Salamont was from a Jewish family.

When Emily married Roger she went through all of the "proper" motions of setting up house. She hosted afternoon teas and formal dinners. However, instead of inviting the top of society to her teas and dinners Emily invited friends. Thus social barriers were broken at the house on Joy Street as Emily entertained Brian, Pell, David and their families and friends. The only connection to the upper classes that Emily maintained was her relationship with her grandmother. Emily was even able to bring about change within her family as the grandmother accepted Emily's friends in her home.

This book is well worth the read as one can examine the barriers that a elitist society creates. The most important lesson drawn from Joy Street is one that still rings true today in the 21st Century and it is the lesson of acceptance and tolerance of all no matter what their ethnic background. Joy Street allows the reader to learn lessons from the past that can still be applied to society today.