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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Tangled Web, August 24, 2009
This review is from: Web of Tyranny (Paperback)
WEB OF TYRANNY is a powerful book about difficult subjects. And WEB OF TYRANNY could have been an uncomfortable book, yet it is not. Author Laurel-Rain Snow's easy and engaging writing style completely draws the reader in as this ultimate survival story unfolds. Equal parts bold frankness and heartfelt sentimentality, WEB OF TYRANNY will keep you turning all 599 pages.
WEB OF TYRANNY takes us deep into the life of Meg, beginning when she is about 10 years old. Meg is terrified of her father, but she does not know why, or when, her fear began. She is totally controlled by him and dreams only of freedom, control of her own life, and a college education. Her strength of will is evident as she strives to accomplish these goals. With the timid, hidden help of her mother, and the strong, vibrant help of her grandmother, Meg makes it to college and freedom in her own apartment, and she seems to be gaining control of her life. However, it appears that fate is against her when Meg marries Bob, who turns out to be just as controlling and manipulative as her father. Meg soon gives birth to a son, and she realizes that, again, she must make a break, and take control of her life. But every time she gets ahead, Meg unconsciously sabotages her own efforts. But, with the help of caring, independent, strong, confidant, women friends, Meg confronts her past, her internal turmoil, and her own flaws.
Ms. Snow's writing style is very compelling as she spins a wonderful web of words, creating interesting, sympathetic images that draw the reader in. WEB OF TYRANNY is a fictionalized story based on real life events - painful and touching at the same time. Her characters are real, flawed, and not always likeable, but Ms. Snow makes you care anyway. WEB OF TYRANNY is not at all fast paced, but at the same time, I couldn't put this book down.
Set mostly in the 1960s, WEB OF TYRANNY could have felt dated, but it did not. The women's issues explored and exploded here are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago. While not my usual genre, I am more than thrilled to have had the honor to read this book. It took me out of my comfort zone, into a new world, and kept me immersed until the very end.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting story! You will love Meg...and this author, April 15, 2009
This review is from: Web of Tyranny (Paperback)
I seldom enjoy books longer than 350 pages, so I was intimidated when this book came in at a whopping 608 pages. Ouch! I almost shoved it to the bottom of the growing TBR pile.
But I've read this author before, so I decided to glance at page one. "Only page one," I muttered under my breath... But page one was enough. I was hooked!
There's nothing that hooks me on a book quicker than a skilled author making me care about the main characters. And that's exactly what Laurel Rain Snow does in Web of Tyranny! She reeled me in as easily as a shoe salesman flashing a pair of red Pradas before my eyes--flip-flops, of course. LOL.
I fell in love with the main character Margaret Elaine Graham--Meg for short. That girl tugged at my heartstrings from the beginning of this intriguing story; I was a goner! We first meet her at age ten when she struggles to understand why her father is so controlling and mean to her. Poor Meg becomes entangled in a web of tyranny that "smothers" her life for decades.
Author Snow weaves her web of well-chosen words in such intricate ways that we follow Meg from one type of tyranny to another. But the innocent child is inventive, learning to cope by sheer courage, determination and natural self-preservation. She's a good student, smart and sharp, so she finds some escape through her studies and friendships.
Why doesn't her mother help? What happens to Meg later when she escapes through marriage? Is her husband the answer...or will he be controlling like her father? All she wants is freedom and escape from tyranny. Does her husband support her goals? Does she stay in the marriage?
Throughout her childhood abuse, Meg fails to find the meaning behind some of her more frightening "memories," so shoves them to the back of her mind. For many years--throughout her marriage and as she develops close relationships with supportive women friends--she refuses to examine the deep, dark thoughts that rush to the surface on more frequently occurring occasions.
This author takes Meg through college and the birth of her child with such clear, crisp writing that the pages fanned right through my fingers. On and on I read, empathizing as our main character struggles through one wrong choice after another, but when she turns to alcohol, my heart broke for her. She was weaving a web that would entangle her even tighter than the one her father had spun.
How does Meg finally overcome and find her long-awaited freedom? I can't tell you that, of course, but I can tell you that she becomes a social worker, which gives her a certain amount of the freedom she craves. Her job brings her into contact with other women like herself, while friendships with other social workers helps to a degree.
I recommend you read this book to find out what brings Meg to fulfillment. You will delight in watching her tear down that web...one painful strand after another. And you will undoubtedly learn skills that will help in your own relationships.
I've read three of Laurel Rain Snow's books, but since she has written five, I have two more treats in store. She certainly is a gifted writer, telling one story after another with such self-assurance that it's obvious she knows all about human relationships and the social-worker's job. She should, because she was an esteemed social worker, helping many women like Meg along her career path.
I recommend this book highly... To be read at a leisurely pace, along with soothing cups of tea.
Reviewed by Betty Dravis, April 2009
Author of: "1106 Grand Boulevard"
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed for Midwest Book Review, September 3, 2011
This review is from: Web of Tyranny (Paperback)
As a child, Meg Graham does not understand her father's cold, overly harsh attitude toward her and wants nothing more than to escape from her strict fundamentalist upbringing. College offers her the chance but Meg ends up in a similar situation when she marries a man who is controlling, overly critical and manipulative. Meg finds the strength to leave the marriage with her toddler son in tow and begins life anew as a social worker, subsequently changing her name to Lainey. She joins the protest movement and through a feminist group meets supportive women, enjoying the freestyle life of San Francisco during the `60s, experimenting with sex and drugs. Ultimately, Meg/Lainey questions her problems with intimacy, which she can only overcome via the use of alcohol, and enters treatment. Through therapy, she confronts the demons of her past and allows her repressed memories to emerge, learning why she continues to sabotage her own happiness.
With great skill, Snow captures the essence of the `60s via her depiction of that era's fashions, vernacular, sexual mores, protests against the Viet Nam War, and women's efforts for egalitarianism through the feminist movement. Although two separate subplots at times threaten to overpower Meg's story, this does not happen, and the unveiling of the relationship between Rainbow and Natasha enhances more than takes away from the plot. Young adults of today would be well-advised to read this novel if only to get a good grasp of what life was like for women during this fascinating, history-changing time period.
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