In this contemporary story with universal resonance, Edna O'Brien delves deep into the intense relationship that exists between a mother and daught...
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Dec 16, 2009
Sarah
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The novel opens with "The past is never dead. It's not even past," words from Faulkner's Sound and the Fury (please correct this if I got the wrong book), and to an extent the novel is about the relationship between a mother living in rural Ireland and her cosmopolitan semi-famous novelist daughter who doesn't seem to have the time to visit. Beyond the geographical divide, O'Brien's novel is an exploration of the presentness of memory, it's ability to keep one rooted in the past while
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Aug 08, 2011
Vivian
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I strongly suspect that this novel is an attempt by O'Brien to deal with the complicated relationship she had with her mother - but I don't like to read novels over-biographically and don't believe that they should appear over-biographical if they are truly art. In this case, it seems to me that O'Brien had a hard time fictionalizing. Of course, I could be wrong. But feeling like I was somewhere between memoir and fiction was a bit disconcerting. Dilly, the mother, is a fascinating character,
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Jun 16, 2011
Katherine
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“…the milk-white china cups with their beautiful rims of gold, dimmed here and there from the graze of lips…” (3-4).
“…telling her that she would have to go to Dublin for observation. Observation for what? As is she were the night sky” (8).
“…I’ll never forget this moment, the hum of the bee, the saffron threads of the flower, the drawn blinds, nature’s assiduousness and human cruelty” (81).
“…finding himself outside under a roof of frozen stars…” (96).
“It was snowing in the More...
“…telling her that she would have to go to Dublin for observation. Observation for what? As is she were the night sky” (8).
“…I’ll never forget this moment, the hum of the bee, the saffron threads of the flower, the drawn blinds, nature’s assiduousness and human cruelty” (81).
“…finding himself outside under a roof of frozen stars…” (96).
“It was snowing in the More...
Feb 05, 2009
Edna O'Brien's 20th work of fiction does what all of her novels do: it lyrically expounds on the dizzying power of love. Nevertheless, reviews were mixed. Light of Evening is simultaneously overwrought, sentimental, forceful, and heartbreakingly true__even if the tacked-on conclusion felt strained. The narrative shifts between third-person points of view, stream of consciousness, and diary entries also caused a problem for some reviewers, including Erica Wagner from the New York Times Book Revie
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May 15, 2011
Jeri
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The preview sounded like something I'd like, especially given my relationship with my mother. Based in Ireland, the mother waits for a visit from her long-estranged daugther, an author who moved away to London years before. The story talks about the mother's previous life, the only thread that holds the two together - a old farm called Rusheen -- and about the daughter's efforts to be "herself". But the writing was too "too" for me....there is a surprise end More...
Apr 24, 2009
Katherine
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I read a lot of Edna O'Brien when I was in my 20's living in New Zealand. She and I have both aged 40 years since then. This book is about very dysfunctional Mother-Daughter relationships and as a side-bar really bad marriages. I really liked the first part but had trouble with finding any resolution in the end - perhaps because there is none. I think the book has a large autobiographical component. Was selected by a number of newspapers as the best book of the year when it was published. Again
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Mar 14, 2008
Michelle
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Beautiful, sentimental, harsh...I loved it-but since I can't find the words I'll let the book speak for itself-here's the prologue...
Prologue
'There is a photograph of my mother as a young woman in a white dress, standing by her mother who is seated out-of-doors on a kitchen chair, in front of a plantation of evergreen trees. Her mother is staring with a grave expression, her gnarled fingers clasped in prayer. Despite the virgin marvel of the white dre More...
Prologue
'There is a photograph of my mother as a young woman in a white dress, standing by her mother who is seated out-of-doors on a kitchen chair, in front of a plantation of evergreen trees. Her mother is staring with a grave expression, her gnarled fingers clasped in prayer. Despite the virgin marvel of the white dre More...
Feb 09, 2008
Shari
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Reading Edna O'Brien's latest novel was sort of like reading a cross between James Joyce -- I definitely noticed his influence here -- and Alice Munro, and maybe a little Virginia Woolf, too. I wish I remembered more of The House of Splendid Isolation, which I read in 2000. Reading this was a lovely yet somewhat devastating experience, but then, I read about mothers and daughters differently now. The story centers around Dilly, a woman dying from ovarian cancer, and Eleanora, her daughter. E
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Nov 20, 2011
Judith
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This was one of the most boring books I have ever read. I could not wait for it to be over but almost groaned every time I picked it up. The only redeeming part was a section set in New York in the early 1900's. The characters were odd and the plot meandering and pointless. The sections with the daughter were the most tedious as the author went into long, literary monologues to prove she was well read ?!?!!??! Would avoid her other books like a Danielle Steel.
Oct 03, 2010
Harriet
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O'Brien is nothing short of brilliant. I'm halfway this novel for the second time, because upon finishing it, I wanted so much to see how O'Brien had created it. Alternating the points of view of an elderly Irish mother and the daughter she so loves, and feels so distant from, this book achieves an overarching vision of two women who yearn toward each other; the reader is the one to fill the gaps.
Nov 20, 2009
Nancy
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Fantastic writing. Totally conveys the interior lives of her main characters and provides a truly compelling, moving account of the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter. I love the never-fleshed-out allusions to the alcoholic, perhaps violent husband/father, who is never really involved in the tale yet looms in the background. But I wasn't satisfied by the vague resolution, however poetically rendered, and the novel's sheer literariness started getting on my nerves a bit.
May 17, 2009
Karen
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If you've never read Edna O'Brien, you have a treat in store. Like John Banville and Colum McCann, other Irish writers I enjoy, the beauty of O'Brien's work is less in the story than in the telling. The prose is luminous and lyrical. Every page is worth savoring, though the story is difficult to follow at times, it is ultimately worth whatever time you spend on it.
Apr 08, 2009
Shirlyn
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The only thing that this left me with was don't let time pass without telling people you appreicate them and get over the petty little indifferences you have with your family, because they will be gone some day. Very slow, I had to finish though to see how it ended. Could have quit, should have quit. Almost gave it one star, but I save those for books I just really don't like at all.
Aug 06, 2011
Jen
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Enjoyed this Edna O'Brien - my first but not my last. A novel of mothers and daughters.
Dilly is determined to leave the problems of Ireland behind her when she goes to America. She becomes a maid, and has an unhappy affair. Eventually she decides to return to Ireland where she marries and has a family. Her daughter, Eleanor becomes a novelist, and marries a man that her mother disapproves of. The split between mother and daughter widens to such an extent that it will never be bridged
Dilly is determined to leave the problems of Ireland behind her when she goes to America. She becomes a maid, and has an unhappy affair. Eventually she decides to return to Ireland where she marries and has a family. Her daughter, Eleanor becomes a novelist, and marries a man that her mother disapproves of. The split between mother and daughter widens to such an extent that it will never be bridged
Dec 13, 2011
Karlan
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This woeful story of sad love affairs began well but became too depressing by the half way point. The writing is moving and the use of different styles in various sections was excellent. The mother's letters and the daughter's journal made an interesting contrast.
Apr 30, 2010
Carol
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the language is gorgeous; the narrative, which switches back and forth over several decades and between mother and daughter, is often confusing, but nonetheless I found myself captivated by the book (probably not for everyone---she's written many better novels).
May 04, 2011
Nancy
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The story unfolds through three generations of women in an Irish family that is struggling to escape poverty and the limitations of their lives. Lots of mother-daughter angst. Rich plotting for a story told largely through correspondence.
Feb 02, 2012
A. Mary
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This is an extremely layered story, full of many cultural markers and recognizable O'Brien staples, yet somehow quite different from her novels and short stories I've read. It isn't a happy story.
Mar 09, 2008
Marie
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Loved it, but struggled with it. Just as you think you are going to be given the secret, the "thing" that has been driven between this mother and daughter, you are led back around to something else. But it's there - I think it's there on the last page of Eleanora's journal, the one her mother wasn't supposed to read (or was she?), and then confirmed later when we're told of a young boy watching a woman storm up and down the banks of raging river. Or at least I think we're told. And
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Apr 22, 2010
This one might be good for me to read. I have a daughter and we constantly endure the power struggle although our love for each other runs deep!
Aug 19, 2011
Bess
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I really enjoyed this novel. Even though at times it felt too self-consciously literary, I thought it was a nice representation of a contentious mother-daughter relationship. Rather than explicitly stating that her mother was over-bearing and a little manipulating, but that the author felt guilty for keeping her distance, the author told the story from her mother's point of view, so I was always rooting for and cared about her mother. It was at once sweet and mature. At the end, you see more fro
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May 01, 2010
Kimberly
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I couldn't get into this book. I read the first several chapters and gave up because there wasn't anything to draw me in to the characters.
Apr 24, 2010
Joan
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A moving account of a mother's life, a daughter's life and their relationship. Edna O'Brien is a brilliant wordsmith; the prologue is a one-page masterpiece.
Mar 26, 2009
Jane
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This is a book about a complicated relationship between a conservative irish Catholic mother and her wild slightly messed up daughter. I bought it at my favorite book store in Kinsale Ireland . It's set in Ireland and written by an Irish author.
Nov 03, 2010
Deb
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Okay - sad. Saving grace was memorable letters from a mom to her daughter in last chapter.
Sep 03, 2009
DaisyChains
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I enjoyed this and found it moving in parts, but I was left strangely dissatisfied at the end - which might have been the point, I suppose?!
Jun 09, 2010
Laura
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I'm still cogitating on this one. Veering between 3.5 and 4 stars. It was beautifully written, and the beginning and end were awesome, but the middle was a little flat for me.
Also, I think you need to veg on this one for awhile to figure everything out.
Also, I think you need to veg on this one for awhile to figure everything out.
