An Elegant Woman by Martha McPhee is a highly recommended family drama spanning decades.

Although fictional, this draws form parts of McPhee's own family history while following four generation of women as they determining what they are and what they want. The journey follows the family from Montana to Maine, starting in 1910 at a train station in Ohio. Two young girls, Tommy and Katherine, travel with their impulsive mother, Glenna Stewart, while heading to a new life. Tommy continues to take care of her sister while Glenna teaches in a one room school house and Katherine goes to school.

The novel opens with Isadora and her sisters going through their grandmother's house in New Jersey to clean things out. In the novel, Isadora is trying to retell her grandmother's life story while trying to understand her own journey. This is a story of a woman's journey as reflected in the stories of women in their past from her family and embellished along the way. Family myths are explored and shared in this novel about heritage and what that means.

The writing is very descriptive and the characters, along with their actions, are complex and complicated. They are all not understandable or likeable, but depicted as if they want the best for their children and future generations. The characters are well-developed. The overwhelming focus is the family stories and the handing off to the next generation.

The writing is good as it captures the historical period the characters are going through and their thoughts and reactions. The question of family legacies and what is passed down to the next generation is clearly part of the plot. The question about what the next generation knows about the past generation and their ancestors and how it all ties together is clearly part of the theme. The question arises what is memory and what is truth when telling a story that will be shared to the next generation.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
After publication the review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The beginning of An Elegant Woman started slowly, but I stuck with it even though I had to pay careful attention to the identification of each character. As a multigenerational story the author kept repeating that oral family history twists and changes with each telling. The book became a piecing together of all these stories. In spite of some confusion, it was an interesting read.

A beautiful fascinating well told story that I just couldn't put down. It's vivid and lyrical. It draws you in and places you right in the middle of the book. Pick up this amazing book. A must read. Happy reading!

I was hooked when the novelist narrator, one of the three sisters cleaning out their mother's basement, wonders if the story will be told by followers of the factual researcher Thucydides or the more novelistic Herodotus. Martha McPhee combines both styles in a novel that is riveting and infuriating at the same time.

Five year old Thelma (Tommy) and her younger sister Katherine are pulled from their cozy beds in the middle of a January night in 1910, and hauled to the train station by their mother, Glenna. She is leaving their father, and they are going to Montana where she will be a teacher. Before they even get on the train, Glenna asks some nuns to look after them and disappears into the club car for two days, not emerging even when the train is stopped by a blizzard. This will be a recurring theme, Glenna finding people to look after the girls and then vanishing for months or even years. She finally leaves them to fend for themselves in a room in Butte, adding that Tommy has had plenty of schooling and she can stay home and look after Katherine. The girls do find their own ways, and not how you think.

The character of Glenna is so difficult to get a grip on. When she's away from her children the hurt she's causing is hard to bear; when she's with the girls, we see that she is remarkable, a real heroine, a genius.

"An Elegant Woman" is not an easy book, but you will not be able to get enough. Still stuck in my head.

I really enjoy multigenerational stories and this one did not disappoint. The story of the two sisters in their emerging lives is the most impactful. I did feel like there was too much devoted at the start to the life before them. I know that it is necessary, but I felt it created a slow start. Once we get to the girls and their mother it seems to pickup and become two separate books.

Overall, I really enjoyed it.

I really wanted to love An Elegant Woman by Martha McPhee. I mean, really. As a genealogist - as my family's storykeeper - the description for this book grabbed me by the throat and said, " read me!". So I did. Ugh.

The book follows four generations of women - Isadora, Winter, Thelma and Glenna - the stories they tell themselves and pass on to their descendants, how those stories relate to and vary from reality, and the generational fall out of it all. It is a wandering saga of deeply flawed and human characters, of choices and consequences, and of the things that bind a family together.

With few exceptions, I found the writing itself to be disjointed, clumsy and disorienting - not only in the early pages and chapters, but throughout this book. As an example, one of the main characters is variously called Thelma, Tommy and Katherine, even though she has a sister named Katherine, who suddenly changes her name to Pat. Similarly, characters are referenced based on their relationship to the narrator ie grammy, but from chapter to chapter the narrator changes leading to unnecessary confusion. Plus, the voices all sounded the same and therefore didn't help clarify who was speaking. That said, there were some fabulous turns of phrase, descriptions and characterizations. In the end, however, the fabric of the story wasn't compelling enough to overcome the structural and technical issues for me.

This review is based on an advance copy read.

4.5 stars rounded up

Since there isn't as much press for this one, I want to provide a short summary for those reading this review. Isadora (a novelist) and two of her sisters are going through their grandmother's belongings as she has passed away and it is their job to review what can be sold or thrown out. You know the deal, that person in your family that saves absolutely everything? Well, that's this scenario. What a nightmare, right? Well, what makes this story so special is that the granddaughters actually know some of the history behind the objects in this house because their grandmother Katherine (aka Thelma, Tommy - more on this later), made it a point to repeatedly tell her children and their children the stories of their family dating all the way back to Mary Queen of Scots up through the Civil War.

Isadora is the granddaughter who was closest to Katherine so while her sisters look at most everything as junk and something to get rid of or sell, she treasures the history in the belongings and wants to write a story on her grandmother. It is from Isadora's point of view that we learn about their grandmother's life. Beginning in the winter of 1910, at a train station where Katherine's mother, Glenna, is taking her and her younger sister out West to Montana to start a new life because Glenna is leaving their father in the dead of night due to his philandering.

The characters in this book are WOW. They are fully developed characters who are powerful, flawed, headstrong and human. There is something in here for everyone. Though Glenna is extremely unlikeable, there is something to be said about how she lived her life and the courage it took to move around the state of Montana and Nevada with the gusto she had. I most enjoyed the dynamic between the sisters, Thelma (who went by Tommy and later became Katherine), and Katherine. I could write a dissertation on their relationship, but I won't because this review already is too long. There is a lot to dislike about both sisters, but I think that's one of the other themes of this book - the humanity we all share as flawed beings. We all make mistakes and all do the best we can in the environment we are raised. The decision that Thelma makes sets both sisters on a course that will reverberate through the generations.

The largest theme discussed in the book, which caused me to ponder about my own family history, (which I unfortunately know very little about), is that what the younger generations know is all based on the stories we are told from our ancestors. If there is no written record (or if that record is difficult to obtain), we can only rely on word of mouth. With this, falsehoods can be inserted and once those falsehoods are accepted as truth, events can be altered. These tiny alterations play a big part in the history of this family and was an interesting perspective that I hadn't considered before.

If you hadn't guessed already - this was a freaking fantastic read. I haven't read historical fiction in a long time (on a genre hiatus), but this reminded me why I love reading about the past. Nostalgia is a powerful force and the history nerd in me was geeking out entirely while reading this meticulously researched book that spanned from 1910 to present times and followed each generation. Multi-generational stories are my JAM and this did not disappoint in the slightest. I read somewhere that this is loosely based on the author's family and so I can see why this book was a decade in the making.

My last thought has to do with generational stories overall, but its something I wish to note here.

There was some slight confusion as I tried to grasp whose point of view we were listening to in the beginning. Once I got the rhythm down, I didn't want to stop reading. I become increasingly annoyed with my generation when reading these books. Most of the time, we are depicted as vapid, money hungry with no regard or appreciation for the past. The steady decline in American life in large part due to loosely regulated capitalism and corporate greed makes me want to vomit. Being born in the early 80's, I remember enough about life with department stores, catalogues, corner/general stores - essentially a more small town feel. I think with advances in technology and globalization there are a lot of positives, but it makes me wish I could take a time machine and visit the world my grandparents grew up in. Make no mistake, I'm not naive enough to think their lives were perfect, but I think human beings had a lot more appreciation for their work, their reputations, their word and how they treated one another than we do now. It really makes me so sad that so many contemporaries have little to no appreciation for the hard work and sacrifices of our ancestors. How hard they worked to make our lives better and how little we regard those struggles because we are so busy living our lives. I want to make it clear that I also think we have a lot more to contend with than previous generations, particularly in a world where the 1% rules everyone else (this is before COVID), but I think the American way of life that my grandparents fought for is dying and I sincerely hope that my generation realizes this and is able to lead us to a better and happier place soon. (Didn't mean to opine for so long about this since it's a little off topic, but the book brought up some very strong feelings for me on this topic. Apologies for the soap box!)

I cannot urge you enough to read this book and I sincerely hope you do.

Thank you to Scribner and Martha McPhee for sending me a print copy to review. Thank you also to Netgalley for providing an egalley to review as well.

Review Date: 05/27/2020
Publication Date: 06/02/2020

A sweeping epic family story, An Elegant Woman attempts a grand story of the 20th century, that in times felt like it took a lot of effort to get through.

Told from Isadora the great grand-daughter of Glenna Stewart that really kicks of this story. Glenna is the matriarch of this family and embeds herself in many generations to come. She lives what would seem a very simple life, married with two daughters in the early nineteen-hundreds. Glenna soon realizes that her husband is a cheater and this is not the life she wants any longer. She decides to move her family from Ohio to Montana in the search for a new life and maybe some gold.

Glenna is offered a teaching position, but needs to hide her daughters to be able to take the position. She also becomes a suffragette and involves herself with congressman and senators. During this time she leaves her two two daughters, Tommy and Katherine up their own devices. Tommy ends up giving up her future in support of Katherine. As they grow up, they choose to take very different paths in life.

What then sets up is a pretty messy second half of this book. More generations and way more characters to keep up with, which I had extreme trouble doing. While McPhee wrote an extremely interesting story, it just seemed cluttered with ideas, that seem to get blurred along the way.

The strongest theme to this book is that men are insignificant. Glenna has instilled in her girls you do not need a man, and this seems to follow all the generations even through these women’s marriages.

This had a very strong start, with a bit of weaker back half. If you love epic stories, I think you will enjoy this, but you might want to take notes to keep this family straight.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Every review of this book talks about the 'multigenerational' aspect- as they should. BUT, I think it's taking over the beautiful nature of the story, itself.

This is about a woman - who crosses the county, who leaves her children, who created her own life on her terms.

There are parts that get confusing due to nicknames and name changes, but still the story drew me in and I wanted more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book tells the story of Katherine/Thelma/Teddy as she grows from childhood and throughout her life. From her humble beginnings in Montana where her mother leaves her and her sister with strangers to her reinvention as Katherine in the streets of Boston, this book is just an amazing delight to read. It is based upon the author's real family and is filled with a little bit of everything. The reason I enjoy reading so much is discovering books like this. This is a genuine triumph, Thanks for the ARC, Net Galley.

I have to admit that I love thinking about my grandmothers and great-grandmothers — all they overcame and accomplished. My office is filled with their heirlooms: a quilt, painting, and hope chest. I am inspired and feel loved when I create in this space and think of their stories. My obsession with my own family led me to pick up a new release by Martha McPhee.

AN ELEGANT WOMAN is based on McPhee’s own family history. It is a fluid, poetic tale about many generations of one family of women. The story begins with the granddaughter/narrator sorting through her grandmother’s belongings and considering the faultiness of stories and memories — is a story only true if it is factually accurate? Or can a story carry the essence of truth with muddled (but fully felt) details?

From there the reader follows the narrator’s great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother’s stories through the 1900s and all over the United States (OH, MT, ME, etc.). McPhee really gets at the heart of these women, their desires and fears, and explores what it means to forge a life — what can you reject or claim as your own? What is unavoidable?

The stories contain great details but there is a sort of “film” felt between the reader and the story — like these are epics passed down from one woman to another and their structures are hazy. The writing is lyrical and contains beautiful lines about memory and truth and story.

I think if you like character-driven stories, poetic writing, and books that explore the concept of truth and memory — you may find a new favorite story in AN ELEGANT WOMAN. Thank you for the copy @scribnerbooks. It releases 2 June 2020.


(I will post this review on Goodreads and my instagram account @book_beat in the next few days.)

In a 20th century, multigenerational saga, this novel began as three granddaughters go through the home of Grandmother Katherine in Maine after her death. The beginning of the story grabbed my interest as sisters Katherine and Tommy (Thelma) traveled by train with their mother, Glenna. It was a journey of flight from Glenna's husband who betrayed her with another woman. Glenna swiftly packed the girls and boarded a train to go west. This exciting start to a life journey for the women made for compelling reading, sometimes hilarious and often, sad, even tragic.

The significant portion of the book is about the life one of the sisters made on the east coast. Many references back to the other sister figured into the plot. Comparisons of the sisters' lives provided points of view and an opportunity to root for one or the other. The family story shifted and changed as the years passed. References to Mary, Queen of Scots, and Buster Brown shoes provided funny anecdotes. I worried about that porcelain bowl belonging to Nancy that traversed the country, with each person who laid claim to it.

This story is homespun stuff with a strong feminist bent to the lives of all the women Marth McPhee created. Men figured into this story, but the women formed the heart of the story by their decisions in young adulthood. It is a true American saga based partly on McPhee's ancestors. It made me wonder about the veracity of the stories handed down in my own family. We weave our stories for our children, and they are eager to know us, no matter how the origins have bent with time and storyteller.

Thank you to the author, Scribner, and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book to be published on June 2nd.

I enjoy reading multigenertational stories but, I struggled through this. The time frames and characters were difficult to follow and the storyline did not flow. I understand it moved backward and forward through time, but not succinctly. I would have preferred the Author stuck with one storyline at a time rather than jumping back and forth. Thank you Scribner & Net galley for the opportunity to review this book.

jb
https://seniorbooklounge.blogspot.com/

“And just like that, a life is over—the urgencies, the fights, the stories, the sweet peas, the rattlesnakes, the attempts to make something of it, bend it and stretch it and configure it with our wills, give it a narrative, a history, a story, to make it amount to something.”
▫️
AN ELEGANT WOMAN is a multigenerational saga spanning the 20th century. more than just the stories and fables of the women in this family, the book explores what it means to dream of creating another life and desiring to be someone else, to work to press away the unwanted parts of your past and your story, and to discover if you’re ever able to escape who you really are. if you enjoyed the family saga aspect of PACHINKO, I think you’ll like this book, too. the story covered so much time and so many places, which made it a really interesting read on top of being beautifully written. 4/5 ⭐️—I liked it! Out June 2.

Interesting concept and gorgeous cover - I found it interesting that it is based in part on the authors own family, but it was a little too slow moving for me.

I usually really enjoy multigenerational stories like this and I did like many parts of this book and I liked the characters. I think it was the layout and flow of the story that threw me, the way it meandered, jumped and then meandered some more. I never got completely settled into the story.

An Elegant Woman is a story about Stewart sisters and their mother Glenna. The author has drawn stories from her own life and the characters are wonderfully written. I couldn't relate to them, but I could feel them. This is my first multigenerational family story. I was surprised that I loved it. If you want to read heavy, emotional women's fiction, pick this one. Not an easy or fast read, but definitely an inspiring one about what we choose to remember/tell about our own lives!
Thank you NetGalley, Martha McPhee and Scribner for letting me read and review this memorable book. This review is my own and is not influenced in any way.

A multi-generational family saga. The narrator here is a novelist and that POV/frame didn’t quite work for me. And, there were lots of stories/threads. But, some of the characters were marvelous.

This book was so good! The characters were so well rounded, you felt like you actually knew them! The plot was so good you didn't want the book to end!

This is the story of sisters Katherine and Tommy Stewart, and their mother Glenna, in the early twentieth century. Glenna is on fire for the right of women while Tommy cares for Katherine, begging, trapping animals, anything to keep the small family afloat so Katherine can go to school. After Katherine graduates, Tommy decides to finally do something for herself, but that decision will have serious repercussions for both she and her sister. From Ohio, to London, from a little house in Maine to a psychiatric hospital, this multi-generational story of women is both profound and beautiful