Women's Room [Paperback]

Marilyn French (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1985

The twenty-one-million copy bestseller?available again for a new generation of readers Originally published in 1977, The Women?s Room was a novel that?for the first time?expressed the inner lives of women who left education and professional advancement behind to marry in the 1950s, only to find themselves adrift and unable to support themselves after divorce in the 1970s. Some became destitute, a few went insane. But many went back to school in the heyday of the Women?s Liberation movement, and were swept up in the promise of equality for both sexes. Marilyn French?s characters represent this wide cross section of American women, and her wry and pointed voice gives depth and emotional intensity to this timeless book that remains controversial and completely relevant.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An experience not to be missed."
-San Francisco Chronicle

" I kept forgetting it was fiction . . . [French''s] women pulse with life and individuality."
-The New York Times

"The kind of book that changes lives."
-Fay Weldon

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Women's Room by Marilyn French is a classic of feminist writing. You can learn about the feminist movement in it's hayday, by soaking up this engrossing novel. I wish I were picking it up for the first time, so I could enjoy it, and remember.

Ruth Ross
Art Director Ballantine Books --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Jove (August 15, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515084883
• ISBN-13: 978-0515084887
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,449,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feminist treatise, powerful novel, and great read, July 24, 2000

By 

"julies_27" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Women's Room (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm not sure I could (or would want to) put aside the feminist message of this book. Even though I'm in my 20s and come from a different generation, I was able to empathize Mira's struggles of trying to be a good wife in the 50s and 60s, and then rebelling in the 70s to reclaim her identity and role. At the time this was published, these ideas were probably more revolutionary than they are today, but I still think they are just as important. There were many moments in this book that were happy, many more that were sad, and it was always touching. I recommend this book to many of my women friends of all ages, and always consider it to be one of the best books to read if you're frustrated with your life and need to think about going in a new direction.

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life!, May 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Women's Room (Mass Market Paperback)

Putting aside the anti-male aspects of the book (I didn't know it was an "important feminist work" when I started), I'd sooner describe it as an epic novel, a story of intelligent people encountering different stages, events, structures in their lives--perhaps a bit of a soap opera. The book went surprisingly quickly; the narrator's voice drew me in, and the plot stayed interesting throughout, since each section brought radical changes in Mira's life and cast of friends. It starts with her growing up in the 40's, getting married, having kids and becoming a (miserable) suburban housewife, but is punctuated with passages of the narrator philosophizing, and framed by a group of thoughtful, "modern" women sitting around in 1968, interrupting with "but how could you have lived like that?"--"well, my house wasn't so different really"--"it had its good points too"--"aren't you glad all our relationships are more equal than those?" [heh]. Plenty of reflection, along with close up individual perspectives. The high points glowed, parts forced me to put down the book for feeling sick or depressed, and there was no lack of wit and strong characters. A compelling story.

Then there's the recurring theme of how women keep getting screwed over. The author's got a point, and it's actually a little hard not to hate men while reading the book, but she takes it too far. Somehow despite characters being round and believable, men always turn out to be insensitive, to put it mildly, and women a classic "oppressed people". Real life is (I hope!) more fair. (These days, anyway. I'm also immeasurably grateful for the almost 50(!) years of societal change separating her birth and mine.)

The evolution of the group of grad student friends struck a particular chord with me, as a recent college graduate. People change unexpectedly, relationships change, friends come together and fall apart, and when you look back there's no real pattern or meaning. As she put it, "No, it's the little things that matter. But when you're dealing with a lot of insignificant lives, how do you put things together?" It's trite at parts, and with an axe to grind, yes, but this book's got life.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Desperate Housewives/Single Feminists, June 28, 2009

By 

Charlene Freethy "Inner Fog Reviews" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Women's Room: A Novel (Paperback)

The story of Mira and her group of friends at two very different periods in the character's life is informative, especially from the standpoint of the 2000's. The first half of the novel dealt with Mira's life as a young suburban doctor's wife and mother of two young sons. It describes many of the women she truly bonds with and how women were definitely at the mercy of their husband's career choices, level of fidelity, even their spending habits. Lack of communication between the couples highlights these desperate housewives and their working husbands. The second half of the novel is of Mira, newly divorced, living on her own and pursuing a post-graduate degree at Harvard. From a fish-out-of-water she begins to form friendships with a diverse group of feminist women and their male admirers. Mira begins to find purpose intellectually, passionately and socially.

Women's Room is excellently written and although it is steeped in sterotypes; the miserable housewives and the hard line angry feminists, I still found it enjoyable at every level. In the end, had it not been for the feminist women of the 1960's/1970's we would not have the opportunities we have today. The choices and the fact that our worth fails to expire at age thirty is very apparent by reading this book. I highly recommend it.