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98th out of 370 books
—
148 voters
The Widower's Tale
by
Julia Glass
In a historic farmhouse outside Boston, seventy-year-old Percy Darling is settling happily into retirement: reading novels, watching old movies, and swimming naked in his pond. His routines are disrupted, however, when he is persuaded to let a locally beloved preschool take over his barn. As Percy sees his rural refuge overrun by children, parents, and teachers, he must re...more
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published
September 7th 2010
by Pantheon
(first published 2009)
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Her favorite story lines and more are all here. Perhaps there's too much going on in this book. At times it feels almost too topical. Let's see, Glass must have decided, I need to work in gay issues, immigration issues, ecoterrorism, cancer, and then revisit my most familiar issue - sibling rivalry.
For all that, this is still a book worth reading. Glass' work always is. She's a beautifully descriptive and witty writer. She likes her characters and makes us care about them too. (Well she was too...more
For all that, this is still a book worth reading. Glass' work always is. She's a beautifully descriptive and witty writer. She likes her characters and makes us care about them too. (Well she was too...more
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How I came to read this is kind of a funny story that isn't about the book at all.
It was one of those days, when I needed a book. I went out to the choice reads shelf and found one that looked interesting but didn't pick it up. It was one of my typical quick-mystery books.
When I didn't find anything else I wanted, I picked it up and headed to the checkout and checked it out.
Except when I got home, I had The Widower's Tale in my bag. I thought maybe I'd picked up somebody else's book, but no, thi...more
It was one of those days, when I needed a book. I went out to the choice reads shelf and found one that looked interesting but didn't pick it up. It was one of my typical quick-mystery books.
When I didn't find anything else I wanted, I picked it up and headed to the checkout and checked it out.
Except when I got home, I had The Widower's Tale in my bag. I thought maybe I'd picked up somebody else's book, but no, thi...more
The Widower’s Tale by Julie Glass is a tribute to familial love, one’s sense of inclusion in a community, and the continual desire to reinvent oneself. At seventy, long widowed Percy Darling is settling into a quiet retirement, reading and taking a daily naked swim in his pond, until he is persuaded by his wayward daughter Clover, to turn his barn into the new home of the local preschool. Little does Percy know that his entire world is about to change. His unexpected encounter with a student’s m...more
The Widower’s Tale by Julia Glass is a charming novel about love, loss, family, and survival in which men play the dominant roles. Percy Darling age 70, is the widower; Robert, his nephew is a college student; Celestino is an illegal immigrant; and Ira is a gay preschool teacher. Initially the story looks as if so many issues are involved that it will be a mishmash, but Glass avoids that hazard and creates a tale to savor and remember.
Spoiler alert. Plot details below.
Robert often visits his gra...more
Spoiler alert. Plot details below.
Robert often visits his gra...more
Seeing other reviews (Jane's included), I am in the minority on this one. I remember liking "Three Junes" also by Glass, so I assumed I'd like this book. While the story was okay (about Percy a retired librarian, who allows his barn to be converted into a preschool, falls in love, and deals with various family issues) I was bogged down by the author's constant need to provide the background story on every character ever mentioned and every time they were mentioned. Two characters, Ira, one of th...more
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I'm not suggesting that this would be a 5 star book to my friends, but I could fall in love with Percy if I were the woman I wish I were rather than the one I am. Maybe I just want to be like Percy. Percy is a 71 year old curmudgeon with a smart mouth (I can do that) and an off-beat sense of humor, who always has something to say which then prompts me to think, "Well said!" I would want Percy's astute memory, his artful vocabulary, his unique style. I would want to banter with Percy and have a w...more
I love Julia Glass. I love her because her writing style is so smooth and perceptive that sometimes I forget that I am reading. It feels more like someone is sitting with me and telling me about some really interesting people they know and I get completely sucked into the story and don't want it to end.
In this book, Glass tells us about the tragedy(s) that befell the Darling family at their quaint New England home. Lots of the story is told in a first person narrative by Percy Darling who has s...more
In this book, Glass tells us about the tragedy(s) that befell the Darling family at their quaint New England home. Lots of the story is told in a first person narrative by Percy Darling who has s...more
We read this for our book group, and everyone liked it, although some thought it started slowly, then they got hooked. It'd be a good companion read to Franzen's "Freedom," as it's a subtle exploration of the American conscience through individuals. It's sort of a "bomber crew" cast representing different aspects of transition in contemporary America (the immigrant, the single woman who adopted, the gay couple, the high profile woman professional who's tried to "have it all," the prosperous subu...more
This was the first time I've read Julia Glass, and I was awed by her character development and stunning prose. I love books that make me think, "Oh, how I wish I could write like this!" Glass's characters are authentic. They deal with their own foibles, beliefs, hurts and carefully guarded self-perspectives as they also attempt to maintain sometimes-fragile family relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed observing the process of Percy's emergence from 30 years of living in the past to reach a future...more
The Widower's Tale is one of those books I closed wistfully, sad to say goodbye to all my new friends. The ensemble cast is headed by Percival Darling, a 70-year-old retired librarian from Harvard, and the widower of the title. At the start of the novel, he is confronted by drastic change in his life when he allows the barn adjacent to his historic Massachusetts home to be converted to a progressive pre-school. Meanwhile, he has to cope with two difficult daughters, a budding romance, and a gran...more
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I loved every word of this densely written, thought provoking, moving, sad, happy novel. Julia Glass never writes light fluff. She is the thinking person's novelist and creates characters who are complicated, flawed, good and bad, like most people! There are plots and subplots, main characters and supporting ones, but all are well drawn and elicit some form of empathy from the readers. The story is told from more than one perspective, but mostly from that of Percival Darling, the widowed (though...more
When my eyes scanned the first paragraph and lingered on, "...I read in our weekly town paper about the first of what I would so blithely come to call the Crusades....I can also say for certain, Because Elves & Fairies were scheduled.... " I began to question having hastily grabbed this book from the library new book table. Fortunately, I decided to read more before casting it aside.
This is a wonderful tale of someone slightly older than I, his marriage and loss of it, his children and grand...more
This is a wonderful tale of someone slightly older than I, his marriage and loss of it, his children and grand...more
Glass is, quite simply, a wonderful writer, and her newest book “The Widower’s Tale” is a fantastic addition to her growing canon. In her elegant and intelligent, yet breezy and accessible prose, the author tells a multi-layered family story that centers around a seventy year old retired librarian. Percy Darling may be resigned to spend his retirement in a quietly vigorous manner, but the goings-on of his family and his own unexpected romantic feelings toward a local artist conspire to change th...more
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This is my first Julia Glass novel. I went into it with no expectations one way or the other and, I admit, I wasn’t too sure at first. For me, a good read is one which has me thinking about the characters and/or their situations at odd moments during the course of my day. This didn’t happen until I was well into the story, but happen it did. The characters are well-drawn, interesting, and real individuals. Percy, the protagonist is a retired Harvard librarian and has the pedantic nature and dry...more
My feelings about this book changed as I read it. At the beginning, I was disappointed. I knew what I had been getting into when I started the book--a nice tome about middle class New England white people and the people around them. In the beginning, I wasn't as captivated by it as other similar books I'd read (see: "The Condition", for one). By the end, though, I was enjoying getting into bed at night and falling into the characters' worlds, and I was sorry to leave their presence. The book was...more
I liked this book's writing very much. See samples below. Percy, the main protagonist, writes in the first person, and other chapters do third-person narrator for other characters. Percy is wonderful. How can I not love a pedantic retired Harvard librarian who skinny dips in his pond? The other characters are there, it seems, only to advance some general capital-I-Issues, which is what I do not like about the plot. It seems to be only an excuse to write about Issues like breast cancer, ecologica...more
Mar 14, 2011
Kathleen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorite-contemporary-authors
Drawn to this novel because of the author, I was quickly reminded why I admire Julia Glass' writing. Like the pilgrims in "The Canterbury Tales," the reader meets a range of characters here on life's journey. Many are from privileged backgrounds, many focused on doing good in this world, and then, there are those struggling with relationships, with their life's work.
The widower has the most to teach the reader - when to push, when to let go - within his relationships. A bright, articulate man,...more
The widower has the most to teach the reader - when to push, when to let go - within his relationships. A bright, articulate man,...more
This was a lovely little story. The plot rotated among some connected characters, each with his/her own crisis. Chapters were divided by the central character speaking in first person, and the others in third.
That main character is 71 year old Percy Darling (really) a retired Widener librarian and widower. He's raised his daughters to adulthood on his own in an affluent suburb of Boston. One daughter has been extremely successful, the other appears to be a lost soul. He's lived a solitary life f...more
That main character is 71 year old Percy Darling (really) a retired Widener librarian and widower. He's raised his daughters to adulthood on his own in an affluent suburb of Boston. One daughter has been extremely successful, the other appears to be a lost soul. He's lived a solitary life f...more
I had mixed feeling as I was reading this book. My first impression was great. I love books that force me to grab my dictionary. She used words that I needed to look up, without being presumptuous. My next impression was that there was a LOT going on....maybe too many issues being dealt with in one book. After a slow start I was hooked and couldn't put it down.
What made me like it even more, was that I have been thinking about it since I finished it.
Even though I initially thought there were to...more
What made me like it even more, was that I have been thinking about it since I finished it.
Even though I initially thought there were to...more
6/13/2011: I liked Glass' NBA winning book Three Junes, but I didn't think it merited that prize...so I thought I'd give her another chance. The Widower's Tale is solid, a great read (I finished most of it in one plane ride)--but it's still not a literary achievement. Too easy, maybe? Or maybe too familiar: the story is set in what sounds like an amalgam of Concord and Lincoln (the privileged, lefty town of Matlock, out Route 2 from Cambridge--what do YOU think?), and the cast of characters seem...more
I strongly recommend this poignant book which brings forth characters you'd love to meet starting with the Widower Percival Darling. Retired Harvard librarian Percy has lived over 30 years without his beloved Poppy and has raised their two daughters, workaholic, overachiever breast oncologist Trudy and aimless Clover who has left her husband and two children in New York. At 70 cantankerous Percy has a well established rich life but he's forced to make some changes as he allows his property to be...more
Very compelling book, surprisingly so. The protagonist is a 70 year old widower, widowed 30 years prior, and his re-emergence into love and community.
This book has a structure I may not have noticed in any book before. Many books now switch from character to character's viewpoint throughout the book. In this book only the widower's story is told in first person. All other characters are told from 3rd person omniscient point of view.
There is strong foreboding throughout the book that plays out ov...more
This book has a structure I may not have noticed in any book before. Many books now switch from character to character's viewpoint throughout the book. In this book only the widower's story is told in first person. All other characters are told from 3rd person omniscient point of view.
There is strong foreboding throughout the book that plays out ov...more
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In The Widower's Tale, Glass continues to explore the intricate ties of family and friendship that have become her trademark. Some critics felt the novel was just as evocative, timely, and emotionally gratifying as Three Junes, and they enjoyed the novel's different voices and timely issues. Others, however, couldn't get past the inauthentic dialogue and overuse of clichés, such as the droll gay couple who also love whipping up gourmet cuisine. Additionally, several reviewers felt overwhelmed by...more
I'm very bitter about this book: it got rave reviews for its touching character studies and perceptive social commentary, so I bought it and waited for a pleasant Friday evening to start reading. I made it through about six chapters and gave up, and I was PISSED. The main character is a 70-year-old man. He came to adulthood in the 50s, right? Here's how he talks to a salesgirl: "I'm having one of those -- what youngsters so blithely call 'a senior moment.' I thank you for your cordial assistance...more
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This was an awesome story. I listened to this on CD while taking a long road trip, and had the book to read when I was not in the car. There is a large cast of flawed and complicated characters each with their own voice and their own story. The book follows about a year in the lives of these characters, and each gets to tell part of the story from their perspective. The writing is vivid and beautiful - words are used with precision (be prepared to check meanings of unfamiliar words with a dictio...more
I think I'm physically unable to give Julia Glass anything less than four stars. I just love her writing. I can see where people fault her for unrealistic and over-written dialogue and too many sub-plots, but I just really enjoy her! I loved Percival Darling, even if he seemed to step out of some Henry James novel. He was just such a clever, fun old man. I think this book would have benefited from some editing though. I did think there were too many subplots and too many "on topic" issues dealt...more
Aug 25, 2011
Eileen Granfors
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
divorce,
environment,
families,
grief,
highly-unusual,
immigrant-life,
marriage,
medical-issues,
men,
women
In "The Widower's Tale," Julia Glass deftly introduces many, many narrators, each offering a portion of the intertwined stories of life in Boston's affluent suburbs.
The book's star is Percival (Percy) Darling, a curmudgeonly gentleman, who can be counted on to say something witty in response to questions or simply toss in a remark off the cuff. Not everyone appreciates his dry wit, especially his two adult daughters, Clover and Trudy. He raised them after their mother, Poppy, died. The interact...more
The book's star is Percival (Percy) Darling, a curmudgeonly gentleman, who can be counted on to say something witty in response to questions or simply toss in a remark off the cuff. Not everyone appreciates his dry wit, especially his two adult daughters, Clover and Trudy. He raised them after their mother, Poppy, died. The interact...more
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Julia Glass gifts her readers with a stunning tale, a tale that encompasses multigenerational relationships, love and self-forgiveness, family loyalty and betrayal, the meaning of parenthood, and the intricate web of human connections.
Percy Darling – a 70-year-old retired librarian with an offbeat wit and courtly manners – is at the vortex of this novel, the only character that narrates from the first-person perspective. He has spent years in self-afflicted soltitude following the senseless and...more
Percy Darling – a 70-year-old retired librarian with an offbeat wit and courtly manners – is at the vortex of this novel, the only character that narrates from the first-person perspective. He has spent years in self-afflicted soltitude following the senseless and...more
I know I read a majority of this (83% to be exact) yesterday at home in bed with a horrible head cold so i KNOW that skews what I think...but I liked it. I found it well written, entertaining...really enjoyed reading it. I like Percy...I like how he stood his ground (on Gus). I liked that most of the charachters were read. Clover drove me insane...and when she wrote that letter to her dad at the end that sent me over the top. Screwed up is an understatement. I really didn't get why Robery did wh...more
I hated for this book to end as I had become really involved with many of the characters. And there are lots of characters, but it wasn't difficult to keep them straight. Julia Glass' gift for characterization (and beautiful writing) is just splendid. The curmudgeony protagonist is by far the most wonderful voice; humorous, wry, sarcastic, clever. His voice dominates the story, but there are three others that we hear; his beloved grandson Robert (a premed student at Harvard), Guatamelan immigran...more
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Julia Glass is the author of
Three Junes
, which won the 2002 National Book Award for Fiction, and
The Whole World Over
. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Her short fiction has won several prizes, including the Tobias Wolff Award and the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society Medal...more
More about Julia Glass...
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“Well, yes, there were quite a lot of books throughout, tumbling out of haphazardly placed bookshelves, stacked beneath chairs, beside beds, even in the bottoms of a closet or two. But I was never a "collector." My love of books is a love of what they contain; they hold knowledge as a pitcher holds water, as a dress contains the mystery of a woman's exquisite body. Their physicality matters--do not speak to me of storing books as bytes!--but they should not inspire fetishistic devotion.”
—
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“Ready how? Who's ever ready for anything important?”
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