The Odd Woman: A Novel [Paperback]

Gail Godwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2005

"HER BEST BOOK SO FAR....[It is] one of the most literate, intelligent and powerful novels I have ever read."
--Eugenia Thornton
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Professor Jane Clifford is in her early thirties, smart, and attractive. A popular teacher at a midwestern college, she appears to be going somewhere. But Jane knows better. After a lifetime habit of looking to books for the answers to life's mysteries, she seems to be finding only more questions.
Then her beloved grandmother suddenly dies, and Jane returns home for the funeral, where she is faced with the little dramas and fictions of both the past she has lived and the past she has only been told about. In the midst of it all, she is considering breaking off a long-term, long-distance affair, but like the family stories she tries to make sense of, she cannot seem to find a reason to claim a life of her own....
"PROVOCATIVE...The Odd Woman is an ambitious and intricately developed novel....One of the most realistic, intelligent and skillful character studies of a contemporary woman to date....Godwin is an extraordinarily good writer....She is a shrewd observer of human sensibilities and shortcomings--particularly those of women--and she explores them in depth with sensitivity, wit and an uncanny eye for the truth."
--Chicago Sun-Times

"EXCITING AND AFFIRMATIVE...It is a privilege to watch the unfolding of her impressive talent."
--Minneapolis Tribune

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jane is a thirty-two-year-old professor of English at a Midwestern university, aware of her "ever present problem of her unclear, undefined, unresolved self." She considers characters and authors from nineteenth-century novels as friends and converses with them, wondering how they might react, what they might choose, how they might define Jane in their novels. The death of her staunchly supportive grandmother, Edith, brings Jane home to bury this woman whose influence feels almost bigger than life. Edith, proper and always knowing, never seemed to consider the questions that constantly haunt Jane. Kitty, Edith's daughter and Jane's mother, who recently turned to God, has become "so serene, so distant." Even Gerta, Jane's "oldest" friend, now driven by feminist zeal, leaves Jane wondering if history is all they have in common. And Gabriel, Jane's married lover - what does he provide in her life, where is the truth in that relationship? Jane has thoughts that are "flying wildly abroad, knocking one another down, flinging themselves against impenetrable windows, barriers of other times, other places" - thoughts that demand her time and attention as she remembers Edith, talks with Kitty, confronts Gerta, and allows herself to be honest about Gabriel. Odd Woman is an introspective romp; it may make you want to re-read nineteen-century novels, review your own relationships, and reaffirm your own truths. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith

From the Inside Flap

"HER BEST BOOK SO FAR....[It is] one of the most literate, intelligent and powerful novels I have ever read."
--Eugenia Thornton
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Professor Jane Clifford is in her early thirties, smart, and attractive. A popular teacher at a midwestern college, she appears to be going somewhere. But Jane knows better. After a lifetime habit of looking to books for the answers to life's mysteries, she seems to be finding only more questions.
Then her beloved grandmother suddenly dies, and Jane returns home for the funeral, where she is faced with the little dramas and fictions of both the past she has lived and the past she has only been told about. In the midst of it all, she is considering breaking off a long-term, long-distance affair, but like the family stories she tries to make sense of, she cannot seem to find a reason to claim a life of her own....
"PROVOCATIVE...The Odd Woman is an ambitious and intricately developed novel....One of the most realistic, intelligent and skillful character studies of a contemporary woman to date....Godwin is an extraordinarily good writer....She is a shrewd observer of human sensibilities and shortcomings--particularly those of women--and she explores them in depth with sensitivity, wit and an uncanny eye for the truth."
--Chicago Sun-Times

"EXCITING AND AFFIRMATIVE...It is a privilege to watch the unfolding of her impressive talent."
--Minneapolis Tribune

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (November 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345389913
• ISBN-13: 978-0345389916
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gail Godwin is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the bestselling author of twelve critically acclaimed novels, including Unfinished Desires, A Mother and Two Daughters, Violet Clay, Father Melancholy's Daughter, Evensong, The Good Husband, and Evenings at Five. She is also the author of The Making of a Writer: Journals, 1961--1963, the first of two volumes, edited by Rob Neufeld. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has written libretti for ten musical works with the composer Robert Starer. She lives in Woodstock, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Godwin's best, but..., September 16, 2000

By 

"mfshermantank" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Odd Woman: A Novel (Paperback)

Father Melancholy's Daughter, its sequel, Evensong, and A Mother and Two Daughters are, for me, vintage Godwin. They set the standard for penetrating characterization and unsettling glimpses into how people really work. I picked up The Odd Woman with high hopes and was not utterly disappointed. Flickers of the good things Godwin will accomplish in later novels are abundant in this rather dense exploration of a "spinster professor's" running inner dialogue. If this is your first go-around with Godwin, however, skip this for the infinitely richer Father Melancholy's Daughter or A Mother and Daughters.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An interesting character study;not so interesting character., April 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Odd Woman: A Novel (Paperback)

Gail Godwin has written some wonderful books; it was the experiences I've had with Ms. Godwin's books that kept me reading this one. I cared very little for the characters or for the story, but kept reading, looking for one of those gems of revalation that sometimes strike when reading Gail Godwin - even those were lacking. Books must be so well written that the words and sentences themselves keep you turning the page; if the words fail the characters and plot must take over. I could not make myself care what happened to Jane Clifford; a professor of literature who refers to George Eliot by the infrequently used Marian Evens (Mary Anne the name used in standard references and biographical notes). At first, I didn't even know who she was referring to, and in the end I found it to be an annoyance. Jane reminded me of one of those people who feel burdened by their intelligence and remove themselves from the world as we know and enjoy it because they are "just a cut above", yet she mourns her lack of close relationships and sticks, from pride rather than love, to a married man who treats her like the sometime mistress of a married man, and a friend who annoys her by looking for friendship.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars well-written but delves too deeply into too many issues, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Odd Woman: A Novel (Paperback)

This is the first time I've read a book by Gail Godwin. As it relates to real-life issues, it is not action-packed, nor is it fast paced. It is a bit difficult getting through the 423 pages. It is an accurate portrayal of a thirtysomething, single woman struggling with past decisions. Analyzing her present situation, a two-year affair with an older, married man, she looks to her family (mother, grandmother, half-sister, great aunt) for clues on which direction to take. So much research, so much reflecting, etc., are certainly believable but tedious to read. Interesting characters are introduced (the previously mentioned family members, friends, step father, etc.) but some of them seem extraneous to the central story. A little more focus might have made this more compelling. And, frankly, I am not sure that I ever fully cared for the main character enough to care about her decision. Just when I felt a kinship with her, her thoughts took her someplace else and lost me. Her relationship with her grandmother might have been explored in a separate book. Or, even a tale of the three generations of women and their development over a couple of decades. This book included some of that plus outside friendships plus the affair which was just too much for one volume.