Net of Jewels [Paperback]

Ellen Gilchrist (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 21, 1994

In this book, the author, winner of the National Book Award for "Victory over Japan", features the irrepressible, headstrong Rhoda Manning, now in her late teens. Rhoda is revelaed in her most stunning and disturbing role.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Gilchrist's latest--the coming-of-age autobiography of Rhoda Manning, introduced in In the Land of Dreamy Dreams (1981)--is, as usual, heavy on sensitivity and sexual soul-searching, but it's not as dazzling in its display of southern society as Gilchrist's earlier work. Rhoda Manning is cousin to Anna Hand (The Anna Papers, 1988). In her late teens, Rhoda is moved to Dunleith, Alabama, from Kentucky, and she struggles--via friends, college, sororities, affairs, and finally a bittersweet marriage--``to break the bonds'' her father ``tied me with.'' She is part rebellious late- 50's/early-60's adolescent, part ``rich and spoiled and pampered and charming.'' She wins a freshman writing contest at Vanderbilt, meets Charles William Waters, on his way to becoming an architect (``my first true running buddy, my first imaginative peer''), and- -not knowing ``that I was made of light, of star carbon and molecules'' (a Gilchrist motif in recent books)--she suffers when her careless driving leads to the death of friend Clay. After Rhoda recovers and has it out with her father (who's worried about a lawsuit), it's back to college and the trials and tribulations of a young woman who's smart. This is 1955, so an attempted rape goes unreported, but finally there's Malcolm, and marriage, and children, and separation, and civil rights, and a brief affair with a civil-rights worker, which leads to an abortion, and another attempt to make her marriage work: ``We were 23 years old and we had suffered.'' She reads Freud, drinks too much, and then Charles is dying of heart disease: ``Please don't die on me.'' But time passes, he does, and the book ends. Parts of this southern saga are schmaltzy, but Gilchrist's saving grace is, as always, her style--a mix of devil-may-care confession and emotional anarchy full of moving nostalgia for a lost world. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

8 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Faber Faber Inc (February 21, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571170196
• ISBN-13: 978-0571170197
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,646,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A darling of a book you won't put down, September 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Net of Jewels (Paperback)

Net of Jewels was the sixth Ellen Gilchrist I've read and again I was unable to put it down. Tales of Rhoda never cease to amaze me. Her self destructive tendancies lead to all sorts of on-goings and craziness. You will absolutly fall in love with her. Opening this book is like opening a bottle of good wine, you'll want to savor every last drop and share it with your closest friends.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mesmerizing!, February 18, 2003

By 

Jean Mauriello Germain (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Net of Jewels (Paperback)

Ellen Gilchrist is one of my favorite writers, Rhoda Manning is my favorite of her characters, and Net of Jewels is Ellen Gilchrist at her best. Rhoda Manning is her usual delightful, irresistable, impulsive self in this book. This captivating novel tells of her writing talent, her falling in love, marriage, children, and many painful and tragic events in between. I have read this book many times and endorse it wholeheartedly.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gilchrist Captures Dunleith AL, August 19, 2005

By 

Mike Davitt "Avid Reader" (Burke, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Net of Jewels (Paperback)

Gilchrist captures the feel of life in Dunleith AL the fictional town in Net of Jewels. I have lived in the real Alabama town that Dunleith was based on and was a personal friend of the individual the Charles William Waters character was based on. Net of Jewels takes me back to my days in Alabama, and my friend that she based Charles William Waters on. She got it right!!!