Customer Reviews

Lady of the Snakes

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(2)
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Usually I tear into a book but this time I felt like "Lady of the Snakes" devoured me and left me an extremely satisfied reader. As a motherhood writer myself, I've read hundreds of books about the tradeoffs between work and family that all mothers have to face. Since reading is part of my work, at this point in my life I am generally burned out about reading about motherhood, and have little patience for either dense literary fiction or fluffy "chick lit."

Against that background, "Lady of the Snakes" was a wonderful treat. Incredibly honest about the everyday realities of a young academic juggling work and family, yet engrossing on the level of big questions; compulsively readable and convincingly literary at the same time. Rachel Pastan creates believable voices for both her modern heroine, Professor Jane Levitsky, and Jane's research subject, Russian countess Maria Karkova. (Quite an accomplishment given that Pastan had to create the excerpts of Karkova's journals and letters as well as the fictional 19th-century literary masterpieces of her husband Grigory Karkov.)

The academic mystery/counterplot about Karkov and Karkova is involving even if you have no background in Russian literature. The relationships between Karkov and Karkova, Jane and Maria, Jane and her husband Billy, and Jane and her academic rivals avoid easy categorization, mirroring the complicated textures and ambivalence of real life. I was touched by Jane's honesty about the tug she felt toward her work even as she cared deeply for her young daughter.

"Lady of the Snakes" would make an ideal book club selection. If you enjoyed Allegra Goodman's Intuition or A. S. Byatt's Possession: A Romance I highly recommend "Lady of the Snakes."

Rachel Pastan's Lady of the Snakes is a really terrific read, just a delightful way to spend a few hours. The novel opens as Jane Levitsky, a Russian literature Ph.D. candidate is about to give birth and is focused on the life of another woman, Masha Karkova, the wife of a fictional Russian novelist. Her thoughts lead to comment to a friend, which in turn send her in search of the truth about Masha, her husband, his novels and her journals. Jane has to balance the life of a (working) scholar with that of a wife and mother. The truth she seeks manages to disrupt both her professional and her personal life and she struggles for the balance that most working mom's grapple with. Jane is a sympathetic protagonist, not perfect. One of her experiences that was spot on was her search for child care for her daughter. Pastan captures that dilemma and the hypocricies surrounding it perfectly. I really enjoyed this novel--a sort of Possession-lite. I've seen it referred to as "literary chick lit", but I think the "chick lit" tag is a bit demeaning. The Lady of the Snakes is much more substantive than that genre. This is a really terrific read that I highly recommend. Enjoy!

A professor of 19th century Russian literature and an expert on the novels of Grigory Karkov, Jane Levitsky has immersed herself in academia, her obsession the diaries of Grigory's wife, Masha Karkova. But life interferes with the birth of a daughter, Maisie, thrusting Jane and husband Billy into the usual dilemmas of new parenthood. Sleep-deprived and short of tolerance, Jane attends to the baby's incessant demands, all the while longing for the comfort of Masha's world, the Russian's diaries revealing a complicated life, wife and mother married to a demanding genius. Fortunately for Jane, Billy is accommodating and helpful, doing his best to alleviate the burdens of motherhood and career; but there is nothing a husband can do to resolve the issue Jane faces: the clash of family and career, the frustrating trade-offs of limited time and demands that cannot be ignored: "Time was like fruit left rotting on the vine."

Two years later, Jane's burdens are exacerbated by a move to Wisconsin, where she accepts a teaching position at the University, the opportunity for a stellar career move within reach, in the same department as Professor Otto Sigelmann, aficionado of all things Karkov. While Jane focuses on Masha, the professor remains Karkov's greatest champion, a sly colleague she would do well to keep at arms length concerning her own interests. Floundering a bit in her first real teaching position, Jane escapes into Masha's diaries, developing an affinity for the Russian woman's personal challenges, her poignant words flowing between the centuries, linking the two in common angst. In real time, however, Jane and Billy are beset by the nightmare of childcare that is faced by young working parents, the couple sliding into routine, the spontaneity of their marriage slipping away with the days that pass too quickly.

Pastan does an admirable job of illustrating the frustrations of a career woman learning the harsh lessons of balancing work and home, the demands and daily frustrations, the fear that one must choose one or the other, not both. Just as Jane stumbles across a discovery that may establish her credentials in Russian literature, her home life cracks along predictable fault lines. Although she spends many chapters wallowing in discontent, Jane is eventually jarred out of a complacency that has become all too seductive, even Masha Karkov's life revealing conflicts beyond what Jane has anticipated. After much pain, both academic and personal, Jane must reassess her options, weighing career, family and reality. With Masha as inspiration, Jane faces the future from an altered perspective, harbinger of a new maturity. Realizing that vipers are everywhere, Jane learns to navigate more carefully through her particular world, embracing shortcomings as well as achievements. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

This story, of Jane Levitsky, Russian literature scholar, wife and mother, hits all the bases for this working mother. Pastan writes beautifully about the way that ambition and the love of one's work (and its politics) can tangle up so drastically with the needs of children and spouse and domestic life. The literary mystery on which Jane stumbles provides additional dramatic heft: Pastan's Russian literary giant, Karkov, and his wife, Masha, are believable down to the "original" material of their journals and writings. Lady of the Snakes is a rare find.

I seem to be the only person so far who didn't enjoy this book wholeheartedly. The writing, especially in the Masha voice, was lovely but the last third of the book felt so contrived; the one dimensional Felicia, the convenient reason to reunite the family, the emergency on the one occasion that Jane takes a little time for her professional growth which I believe is quite mandatory in her occupation. Even the conflicts with Otto and the encounters with the heir of Karkov felt like a contrived pitting of man vs mother. I found it very hard to get into the book and only continued because of all the great reviews. As a working mother it felt too much like reading about my daily life.

I enjoyed the story and writing. As an academic I've advised, consoled and probably frustrated students trying "to have it all." This novel meanders in that seemingly hopeless process quite successfully; and I admit on average, the pressures are of different degree on women students. I had two minor problems with the book that bring the score down abit. First, there is a confused sense of time through the first half of the book. I don't mean the flash backs to 1800s but the time of Janie in the now. This maybe related to the second problem, the vagueness of the academic process. I would have thought the academic calendar would have provided a background grid for author and reader but it doesn't. Also, the competition for long missing letters and documents is more Indiana Jones than academic author. The tersely outlined implications of discovery might have been expanded to reinforce the academic side of Jane's struggles. How many articles could have come of the discoveries? Who could Janie get to review her outlines or drafts? Perhaps a book would be best, but written for whom? Finally, a very little thing, where are the computers, the internet and emails? There is a technological hole in the book!

Thank you to NPR for putting this book on its summer reading list! Lady of the Snakes aptly portrayed the daily struggles of life for a young mother and wife, Jane, struggling to find balance in a world that provides little support for working women. Jane is an assistant professor with a young daughter, her husband in law school full time. Throughout the book, Jane is on a constant mission to make a name for herself within her department, find quality childcare for her young child, be a good wife, mother and friend, and some how find happiness with her chosen path in life.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "Too many things that were supposed to be indications of success feeling like burdens," spoken by a secondary character, a woman who after three children decided to leave tenure at a university when it was clear she would never find balance in her life. Pastan created a realistic scenario where no one is the winner, a genuine world where any one of us could easily play the main character. Well done - a great read!

I was a little put off when I first started reading this book because I have never been a big fan of classic Russian literature, which is central to the book. My doubts were quickly erased, however. Pastan speaks to every woman who has worked hard to balance a career with her family. There were so many situations in Jane's life with which I identified! The added sub-plot of the Russian author's wife makes Jane's struggles seem all the more poignant. Watching the two women's lives spiral into chaos on parallel paths is very compelling. I found Pastan's text refreshingly brief (I've been reading some verbose books lately), but she sacrificed nothing in getting you to connect to her characters. The only reason I am not giving the book five stars is because some events were far too predictable. I would have enjoyed a few more plot twists. I would definitely read another book by Pastan.

Jane Levitsky is a researcher who may have stumbled upon an incredible plot of deception by a novelist. But he is from the 19th century and academia in the 21st century may not look too kindly on the (re)writing of a new historical chapter in the life of Grigory Karkov.

Author Rachel Pastan pens an intriguing novel literary mystery that explores fact, fiction and the oftentimes petty professional jealousies which determine who is credible when the dusty corners from years past are called into question. Levitsky stumbles upon solid leads that Karkov built his career on material he plagiarized from his wife. And as Levitsky delves deeper into this maze - which may have no exit - her career and marriage may end up destroyed.

Some things are better left unsaid and Pastan realistically portrays the politics played when people with powerful voices can't handle the truth.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the way the author shows Jane's involvement with her career and her family and how she has trouble separating the two. I loved how the author includes passages from Karkov's and Karkova's writings, how she shows the difficulties of Jane's first year as a college professor, and how Jane must solve the mystery of Karkov and Karkova's relationship at the same time she and her husband struggle to hold theirs together. Overall, a very satisfying read.