The Good Daughters, by Joyce Maynard

Two girls are born on the same day in a small town in New Hampshire. This book follows their lives, and their families, as they grow up to be adults. Dana Dickerson's family consists of her brother, Ray; her father, George; and her mother, Valerie. George goes from one get-rich-quick scheme to another over the course of years. Valerie is distant from her family, an artist of some talent (she is a painter), who has little time for her children. George is always leaving for the next big thing.

Ruth Plank's family is quite different. She has four sisters. Her father, Edwin, is a farmer. They live on the farm that has been in his family for many generations. Her mother, Connie, is a hard-working farmer's wife with a strong religious faith.

The story is told in chapters labeled either "Ruth" or "Dana." Most of the time these simply alternate back and forth, in first-person narrative from each point of view.

This is another excellent and completely engrossing novel by Joyce Maynard. As the story of these two women unfolds, a great mystery is revealed, and not fully solved until nearly the last page.

The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood

This book begins with the return of a dead woman, Zenia. We see her return from three points of view, that of Tony Fremont, Charis, and Roz.

Tony is an historian, especially interested in war. She has a habit of reversing words, "war" becomes "raw," "Fremont" "tnomerf," etc. Roz is the publisher of a large and successful women's  magazine. Charis is a sort of New Age person, perhaps she could be called an "earth mother" type, respectful of all forms of life, aware of auras, vegetarian.

All three of these women have lost men to Zenia. Tony got hers back, but now worries that he's threatened by Zenia's apparent resurrection. Roz and Charis were not so lucky.

New York Times Review.

The Secret History of Wonder Woman, by Jill Lepore

William Moulton Marston invented the lie detector, and created Wonder Woman.

This wonderful book can be, among other things, read as a modern history of the feminist movement. It begins in the early 20th century, with the suffrage movement, and with Margaret Sanger's struggle to make birth control available for women in the USA. 

Reading this book will provide insight into the obstacles faced, and gains made, by women in America in the last hundred years or so. In addition, some will be learned about the comic book industry, and the genesis and development of the iconic Wonder Woman character who I remember being played by Lynda Carter on TV in the 80s.

The New York Times Book Review describes this book as a "long strange thing to chew on."

Available Light, by Marge Piercy

I've mentioned my discovery of Marge Piercy elsewhere. "Available Light" is a collection of poems that I have found to be eminently readable, entertaining, and just what I want from such a work. Piercy's personality (or at least the one she wishes to project) comes through loud and clear. She is a feminist, in love with her husband (Ira Wood), and a Jew.

*****





Poetry Foundation entry: Marge Piercy