Customer Reviews

Moon Women

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I heartily applaud Pamela Duncan for her first novel, "Moon Women". The book tells the story of 4 women trying to come to grips with the reality of their lives. Ruth Ann is the mother, just getting used to her freedom being divorced from her husband A.J. But in one day her life suddenly does a complete turn around and she finds herself trying to once again relate with her daughter Ashley 19, who has just gotten out of rehab and come home to stay and who is pregnant. Then there is Marvelle, Ruth Ann's mother who at 84 is slowly sliding into senility. Her mother has been living with Ruth's sister Cassandra but, Marvelle decides she would rather stay with Ruth Ann and Ashley.
Thus starts the story of nine months out of these women lives as they learn from and about each other. Ashley who has spent 19 years running away from home now finds herself on a journey to find herself, Cassandra who has always hid behind her obesity and lonliness trys to come to terms with the life she has been dealt. Marvelle living between today and the past and has stories she wants her daughters and granddaughter to know before she passes. Ruth Ann is just trying to hang on to each of them and somehow find herself too. This is a heartwarming story that will leave the reader glad they took the time to listen.

Take three generations of women from the same family, add in their problems and secrets, and mix it with the understanding, but at times unorthodox, support they give each other, and you have a heart-warming story from Pamela Duncan. "Moon Women" is a solid 4 read. If not for a slow start, which made me wonder if I should give it up, this would have earned a 5 from me. Duncan weaves the story of life's lessons and the need for ties between mothers, daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters. By the end of the story, I loved each of these women, who started out like a portrait of dysfunction. It also displays the strength of women who can forgive the men in their lives, and shows why this is oftentimes the best path to take.

The author spends a great amount of time developing the characters in this book and I thank her for it. Now, the Moon women are friends of mine too. These folks live, as most of us do, surviving the bad times, savoring and remembering the good times, and always looking forward with anxiety and hope for the times to come. Most people who read this book will look at Ms. Duncan's creations and see pieces of themselves or their family members embedded in the words she wrote. I know I did. I had a gandma with some of Marvelle's traits and a sister somewhat like Ruth Ann. Come to think of it, there's probably a few A.J.s, Cassis and Ashleys around too.

This book is a different genre for me - no detectives, serial killers, sports, courtroom scenes, or blood & guts at all. Still, there was a mystery in each character, an unknown that kept me turning pages and wanting to know more about these women and the few men they had under their spells. If anyone thinks this book is just for women, they are going to miss one heck of a good read.

Yes, despite the use of the southern vernacular throughout this first novel, MOON WOMEN is eloquent. In the beginning I wasn't sure if I would like this book. Was I going to read another book about southern women who were outspoken and cranky in public, drank too much bourbon in the moonlight, and were pious towards God, country, and men? Nope. Not this time. The Moon women (their last name) are much more than some stereotype of the south. As you read and come to know them, you see what has troubled them, what has made them happy, what has made them the women they are.

This is not a funny novel. Ruth Ann's 20 year old daughter Ashley comes home from drug rehab on the same day her 82 year old mother Marvella decides she's going to move in with Ruth Ann. No one is more surprised than I am when the lives of these women and their men become more interesting than watching a baseball game.

Marvella's memories are woven into the present-day story in a subtle manner which makes the reader become more and more curious about the ramblings and outbursts towards her family.

Give this novel a chance. It has nothing to do with the Moon or astronauts. It has to do with love and independence and time, the great healer.

Ruth Ann Payne, middle-aged native of a small town in the North Carolina mountains, has her hands full. She's about to turn 50, has divorced her husband A.J. and, as this delicious novel opens, is about to bring home from Rehab her youngest daughter, Ashley. Ruth Ann has set out to, for the first time in her life, live her own life, but Ashley is her child and she can't turn her back on her when she needs a place to live. Poor Ruth Ann may have bitten off more than she bargained for, though -- Ashley is unmarried and pregnant at 19. And then Marvelle Moon, Ruth Ann's 80+ year old mother who is going senile, walks away from her home with daughter Cassandra and refuses to live anywhere but with Ruth Ann.

These characters are so vividly defined and the interaction among them is so real that at times I felt as though I was reading about some of my own family escapades. A recurring theme throughout this beautiful novel is that of human flaws and frailties. The magic woven throughout by this gifted author speaks to powerful emotions and gothic secrets soothed by the balm of forgiveness and acceptance. The author has taken an ordinary family and turned their everyday problems into pure magic. This book had me alternately smiling indulgently, nodding knowingly, proffering advice aloud, and shedding tears. What an absolute jewel of a first novel!

I've family in western NC and SC that could be neighbors of the Moon women. The issues, way of speaking, concerns and approaches to life all reminded me of real people in my life.

Each of the three main characters face critical periods of life - starting out as an adult, mid-life and old age. All of us have walked through or will walk through these ages - Ms. Duncan represented her characters with understanding while making them unique individuals.

I have trouble imagining the book would appeal to a man's taste, but feel many women of all ages would identify with one or more of the characters. I thought the male characters were a bit less interesting - perhaps too pat. But the female characters were fully developed and interesting.

The book read comfortably - like sitting over coffee and chatting with a friend. When I put it down, I wondered what would happen next and looked forward to when I could pick it up again.

For a good read and some thoughts of life stages each of us must face, this would be a good choice.

Cheers.

Pamela Duncan has written a beautiful debut novel. Her characters are three-dimensional and their names only begin to tell the story. This book is filled with metaphors and thought provoking moments. Marvella Moon, the senior protagonist, is a sage; she enriches the reader of her simplistic, yet astonishing wisdom. "Moon Women" is a joyous read, used for engaging discussion at my book club meeting. A wonderful book!!!

I thought this book was thoroughly enjoyable. Being a born and bred Yankee, the Southern charm was apparent as the other reviewers noted, however I believed the themes of family, maternal love, inter-generational relationships were globally appealing. Many women everywhere are in a situation like Ruth Ann struggling with priorities and problems of aging parents and rebellious children and personal dilemmas. The positive message that comes from this book (mostly through Marvelle's wisdom) remind us of the long term perspective that we often can't see through the day-to-day crisises of carpools, report cards, layoffs, illness we face each day.

In the tradition of Eudora Welty and Lee Smith, comes this story of down home North Carolina women. If you love southern fiction, then you will take a shining to Moon Women. The characters are very real as is the way the speak. Anyone familiar with the south will love the dialect that this author pulls off. Moon Women weaves the crisis of life with humor and it keeps the reader turning the pages. I look forward to reading more books by this writer.

Pamela Duncan's novel is wonderful. I found myself crying toward the end and I'm not even sure why. She just must have struck a chord with the varied voices of the generations of women (and even the men).
Other reviewers have criticized the use of poor grammar but many people DO talk that way. I thought that kind of talk made the characters all the more real. And women through the generations use the same kind of speech unless they leave the environment.
I really liked the faith shared by Marvella; her dying was poignant.Life continued on to the next Moon woman.
I look forward to the next Duncan novel.