From Publishers Weekly
Bestselling author Jaffe (Five Women) pulls off an impressive feat, packing most of the major events of the last century into one family saga that starts with Rose Smith, born January 1, 1900. Rose is 10 when the book opens, attending her mother's funeral, and as Jaffe follows the protagonist and her family through the decades, the author skillfully incorporates such sweeping developments as the changing roles of women, new medical discoveries and evolving opinions about war, sexuality and individual rights. Rose is 18 when her first love is killed during WWI, not in battle but by the influenza epidemic. She marries for companionship and moves from her Connecticut hometown to Greenwich Village. Her brother, HughAwhose childhood penchant for dressing up in women's clothes foreshadows his sexual coming of ageAvisits Rose and finds his element in the then-underground homosexual world in the Village. Moving in with Rose's family, Hugh acts the role of a carefree bachelor until Rose discovers his secret. Decades later, Hugh becomes an advocate for AIDS awareness. Rose's children offer Jaffe further opportunities to integrate signs of the times into the narrative: Peggy marries her WWII soldier pen pal and lives a suburban life; the independent "Disco" Joan becomes a hip fashion editor; and Ginger contracts polio just before the Salk vaccine is released. Jaffe's compelling use of personal disasters, conflicts and love relationships reveals the broad range of the ways kin relateAthe secrets, the interminable feuds, the special closeness. In this uplifting story of how family ultimately provides the vital core for the human experience, Jaffe also convincingly depicts a century of social change. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate selections; audio rights to Dove. (July) FYI: Jaffe established the Rona Jaffe Foundation, which offers awards and funding for women writers.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Jaffe's Five Women (LJ 6/15/97) scrutinized the modern lives of five friends. In contrast, her latest novel chronicles the American 20th century through the life and times of a single New York family. The story begins and ends with Rose Smith, the pivotal character, who is born in 1900. Her mother dies when she is only ten, leaving her to be raised by her father, older sister, and eventually a stepmother. Rose falls in love with the boy next door, only to lose him to the flu, which raged during World War I. Ultimately, she marries happily and has three girls, who differ startlingly from one another. They grow up, experience victories, suffer tragedies, and form families of their own. This extended family view affords an expansive panorama of American cultural history, including world wars, Twenties flappers, the fight for women's rights, Prohibition, the lives of closeted gays, ravaging diseases such as polio and AIDS, Fifties suburban housewives, and city life of every decade. Ambitious, engaging, and recommended for all public libraries.
-Sheila M. Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
