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88th out of 228 books
—
124 voters
Dale Loves Sophie to Death
Robb Forman Dew's cult first novel explores themes of familial and romantic bonds as it tells the story of a woman whose husband stays behind in New England while she and their children spend the summer in her Midwestern hometown.
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
September 19th 2001
by Back Bay Books
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I picked this book up at the library on a whim, and ended up reading nearly the whole thing while standing in the aisle. Weighing in at a slim 217 pages, Dale Loves Sophie to Death is a quick read... but not a light one.
From the jacket blurb:
"Dew's astonishing debut illuminates the varieties of romantic love and the unexpected rewards of family life as it tells the story of a woman whose husband stays behind in New England while she and their three young children return to her midwestern town to...more
From the jacket blurb:
"Dew's astonishing debut illuminates the varieties of romantic love and the unexpected rewards of family life as it tells the story of a woman whose husband stays behind in New England while she and their three young children return to her midwestern town to...more
This novel follows a family through a hot summer in Ohio. Nothing tremendously dramatic happens and the characters are all fairly normal Americans going about their lives but by the end of the book we feel we know them inside and out.
This book is beautifully written and Dew subjects her cast of characters to deep analysis -- she is much more penetrating and observant when examining her invented people than most real humans are about themselves. She sees everything but she refuses to judge.
The au...more
This book is beautifully written and Dew subjects her cast of characters to deep analysis -- she is much more penetrating and observant when examining her invented people than most real humans are about themselves. She sees everything but she refuses to judge.
The au...more
Beautifully written, with penetrating observations, but not a fast action plot, so will be frustrating for those who want a story. More a study of a family in the trying circumstances of daily living.
The title comes from graffiti scrawled on a highway overpass. It becomes a landmark for the family, signifying they're approaching home, and a touchstone for thought for the main character of the book. It reminded me of the restaurant in Syracuse, I think, called Pinhead Susan's. For years, there h...more
The title comes from graffiti scrawled on a highway overpass. It becomes a landmark for the family, signifying they're approaching home, and a touchstone for thought for the main character of the book. It reminded me of the restaurant in Syracuse, I think, called Pinhead Susan's. For years, there h...more
I was 17 when I first tried to read this book, and none of it stuck to me. I didn't understand the protagonist's need to spend time in her small home town when it obviously made her sick, or her need to reconcile with a father who was distant and trying; I hated the husband for his disloyalty; I blamed them both for all of their failings and failures, and I saw no reason for those two people to be married.
Oh, what a difference over a decade makes. With some experience, and age, I get it now. I...more
Oh, what a difference over a decade makes. With some experience, and age, I get it now. I...more
I had 6 hours in an airplane and NOTHING else to read but this book. I read the airline magazine and the safety & exit pamphlets numerous times and still I could not bring myself to finish this book. I even tried to skip around hoping that a chapter would grab my interest and nothing. Note to self: make sure you've read some of the book before committing to it and bringing it on an airplane.
This novel explores the inner life of an at-home mom who spends her summers in her hometown in Ohio with her kids while her husband stays at home on the East Coast. In Ohio, she stays in a house across the street from her estranged father. She has issues, and she and her husband have issues. It's well written, but the subject matter is not really riveting.
Dense but still flowing prose, though little action and overall a strangely off sense. Odd. but I like it so far.
It was pretty boring.
This sensitively written novel, which I first read in the early eighties, bears up well after twenty-five years. The ways in which personal tensions arise and are resolved in families and in marriages are described intelligently and carefully.
I would certainly read more from this author. I was very engaged by the fascination and beauty she found in the small things in life.
Aug 10, 2008
Karen Krieg
added it
An exploration of people and the need to relive the past and forget it all at the same time.
Apr 06, 2013
Mary Havens
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Mar 24, 2013
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Granddaughter of US poet, essayist and political writer John Crowe Ransom. Godfather was US poet, essayist, academic Robert Penn Warren. Grew up between Baton Rouge, LA and Ohio, well-connected to Kenyon Review writers and artists. Attended but did not graduate from Louisiana State University.
Her first novel - Dale Loves Sophie to Death - won the 1982 National Book Award. She has taught at the Iow...more
More about Robb Forman Dew...
Her first novel - Dale Loves Sophie to Death - won the 1982 National Book Award. She has taught at the Iow...more
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