The Longings of Women [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Marge Piercy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994

"POWERFUL...EXTRAORDINARY...MOVING."
--San Francisco Chronicle
Her marriage over, her life unraveling, writer Leila Landsman turns to work, and finds herself drawn to the sensational story of Becky Burgess, a young woman accused of killing her husband with the help of her teenage lover. Becky thought she'd escaped the grim poverty of her childhood when she married up, but her husband was soon planning to trade her in for a newer model. And that's just what happened to Mary Burke, whose middle class life ended with her divorce. Now Leila's housecleaner, Mary has a secret: she is homeless.
They are three very different women who share the same longings: to be seen for who they are, to be valued and loved, but most of all, to have a physical and emotional home that can't be taken away....

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Piercy's ( Gone to Soldiers ) latest novel is one of her best: like all her work, it's a well-crafted and compelling narrative, and it also deftly illuminates a timely theme. In unpretentious but quietly forceful prose, she portrays three memorable women from different backgrounds whose lives plausibly and poignantly intersect. The three heroines are Leila, a middle-aged Boston college professor and writer; her long-suffering and secretly homeless 60-ish housekeeper Mary; and Becky, an ambitious young wife accused of murdering her husband and who is the subject of Leila's new book. All three face problems typical of women ill-used by men and by society: trying to fill the role of the "good wife"; financial dependency; the low regard accorded older women; and the difficulties of morganatic marriages. Especially wrenching is Piercy's limning of the modest middle-class aspirations of the average woman and the precariousness of a sense of self-worth that is dependent on others. Moving back and forth among her protagonists, Piercy maintains a suspenseful narrative drive which leads to a rending climax. If the ending is a bit implausible, her readers won't hold it against Piercy; in this book she airs subjects of importance not only to women but to the society that encompasses them. 75,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Piercy adds another impressive novel to her already impressive list (e.g., Mars and Her Children , LJ 2/15/92). This time she tackles the issue of women on their own through homelessness, divorce, and even murder. Leila is a middle-aged writer/professor whose husband continually cheats on her. Becky is in jail for conspiring to have her teenage lover kill her husband. And Mary, who finds herself homeless after her divorce, manages to cope by working as a cleaning lady and then living in her employers' homes when she knows they are away. Each woman has ventured outside the accepted "safe circle" of what a woman's life is supposed to be so that she can become her own person, no matter how perverse or infamous that might make her. Each woman's story could be a novel on its own. In particular, Piercy's portrait of homelessness is poignant and perceptive. This book deserves bestsellerdom. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/93.
- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, Cal.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 711 pages
• Publisher: G K Hall & Co (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816174571
• ISBN-13: 978-0816174577
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,047,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I will never look at a homeless woman the same way again..., December 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Longing of Woman (Mass Market Paperback)

This is not a perfect book. But, again, as always with Marge Piercy, she has a way of putting you right inside the characters. Especially Mary, the homeless woman. Fascinating to read about a woman who lives like a mouse, hidden inside the homes of the people for whom she cleans! And so gut-wrenching to feel what Mary has to go through. Leila, of course, is supposed to be the one most readers can relate to, the one "most like me." And Becky - I can't get with her program - and I am sure we are not supposed to.
The longings of women - obviously Piercy presents what we want as a home of our own. And she writes so well about how easily we can lose "our" homes. Married women - husbands die or we split up with them. Working women - we lose a job and are out on the street. As long as we are dependent on the men in our lives, we are vulnerable. This is not "man-hating", this is reality. Though I am married, and happily, this book makes me want to make sure I have money put away and my name on the deed of the house. And a way to make a living and keep my home if my husband is suddenly gone one day...this could happen to any of us.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Assured and Entertaining, April 22, 2005

By 

M. G Jackson (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Longings of Women (Mass Market Paperback)

Marge Piercy's compassion and understanding of our human nature is at the forefront of this novel and is its greatest strength. Anyone who defines this generous writer as a Feminist based on "The Longings of Women" has given it a most superficial reading. Three women's stories, each spotlighting a male cad who defines the arc of the women's lives, yet the book is so thoroughly the stories of those women that the men function to move the plot but not to provide easy scapegoats. Piercy doesn't stack the deck for either Leila or Becky as they maneuver their lives' choices around their loutish husbands, so as the book neared its conclusion I found it very exciting. The way Piercy reveals the character of Becky in particular is masterful. Of course, the story of Mary Burke is quite a singular exploration of the homeless, very specific and hard to shake.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars obviously written by a feminist!, November 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Longings of Women (Hardcover)

And I am a feminist (so, I can be critical!) Marge Piercy's books are too pat. The women are all serious and dedicated, the men are all bad, and no one has a sense of humor. She makes her point, albiet in a very preachy manner. Her best books consist of her vision of the future. Read the book, He, She and It for her best.