"POWERFUL...EXTRAORDINARY...MOVING."
--San Francisco Chronicle
Her marriage over, her life unraveling, writer Leila Landsman turns ... read full description
--San Francisco Chronicle
Her marriage over, her life unraveling, writer Leila Landsman turns ... read full description
reviews
Jul 20, 2010
Patty
rated it: 
It has been years since I read a novel by Marge Piercy and I am still trying to decide if ending the unintentional drought was a good thing or not. I really like Piercy's poems and often read the poems in the anthologies I own. I just hadn't made time for her novels for awhile and I had enjoyed the ones I had read earlier, especially Gone to Soldiers.
Longings of Women is set in Boston, in a world that I imagine is much like Piercy's own life. The main character is a woman very inv More...
Longings of Women is set in Boston, in a world that I imagine is much like Piercy's own life. The main character is a woman very inv More...
Jun 30, 2009
Claire
rated it: 
Just came upon this and it drew me in for a re-read.. with a vague reminiscence..
Then, 20 pages in, it's clear: This is the one! This is the book with the depiction of the woman who is homeless, but who copes with it for years, working as a cleaning women, keeping her homelessness secret. Never getting foodstamps even, never getting housing assistance, her kids don't care much, her ex-husband really doesn't care, no human contact; wear lipstick always, many other daily rules to 'pass More...
Then, 20 pages in, it's clear: This is the one! This is the book with the depiction of the woman who is homeless, but who copes with it for years, working as a cleaning women, keeping her homelessness secret. Never getting foodstamps even, never getting housing assistance, her kids don't care much, her ex-husband really doesn't care, no human contact; wear lipstick always, many other daily rules to 'pass More...
Jul 19, 2009
Lori
rated it:
Is it possible to like a book when the characters are almost uniformly unpleasant and the writing style can be irritating? Yes! This was a very disorienting book for me, yet I read it compulsively. If there is a category for "feminist soap opera", this title would be in it.
The plot revolves around the lives of 3 women from different generations and social classes whose lives intersect in crisis. Mary is an aging divorcee, formerly part of the more affluent middle clas More...
The plot revolves around the lives of 3 women from different generations and social classes whose lives intersect in crisis. Mary is an aging divorcee, formerly part of the more affluent middle clas More...
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Dec 21, 2008
Ryan
rated it: 
Oh man, this isn't good. Actually read this in the book through the local feminist bookstore but I don't remember why...
A middle-aged professor, married to another philandering professor, decides to leave him and then she is caught up in the murder case of a local TV personality. This woman seduced a 17 year old kid and had him kill her young husband.
Perhaps Piercy was trying to compare and contrast the upper-middle class problems with the lower class problems of the mur More...
A middle-aged professor, married to another philandering professor, decides to leave him and then she is caught up in the murder case of a local TV personality. This woman seduced a 17 year old kid and had him kill her young husband.
Perhaps Piercy was trying to compare and contrast the upper-middle class problems with the lower class problems of the mur More...
Jul 23, 2008
Stacy
rated it: 
I was disappointed in this book. I thought that the story could have been told much more effectively using about 1/3 of the words and details. It took me over a week to read, not because of its length so much as my lack of interest. The storyline of Leila and Becky were interesting but I found myself becoming bored with Mary. I feel like this was an "almost there" book as I think the premise was good but the wordiness and the lack of character-depth was disappointing. I found Leila's
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Oct 02, 2011
Pam
rated it:
Basic idea was all right but it went on and on and kept repeating things. About three different women and their lives and what they wanted out of life. Not a particularly happy book but ends OK. Giving this one away.
Ho Hum
Ho Hum
Jan 28, 2009
Tracy
rated it: 
I love Marge Piercy books. I learned more than I knew about homelessness (and I was not naive) and thought a lot about class and power in women. It made me realize how close to the edge one can be.
May 04, 2011
Carol
rated it:
This is one of my favorite books. I read it years ago and will try to reread soon. The character of the homeless woman really held me. I have tried to imagine what that must have been like for her.
Sep 28, 2008
Kathleen
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The portraits of three very different women whose lives are intertwined kept me reading, despite its length.
Of the three, Leila was the most interesting...an empty nester who at times wonders about her marriage, her son. Someone who finds her body large and not always attractive. Her relationship with her homeless cleaning woman, Mary, and the criminal, psychopath, Becky fill the book with many questions. I struggled with the ending, but that's normal.
Other character's of interest: More...
Of the three, Leila was the most interesting...an empty nester who at times wonders about her marriage, her son. Someone who finds her body large and not always attractive. Her relationship with her homeless cleaning woman, Mary, and the criminal, psychopath, Becky fill the book with many questions. I struggled with the ending, but that's normal.
Other character's of interest: More...
Sep 04, 2010
Tiffany
rated it:
I could forgive how dated and heavy handed this feels if it had been written in the '70s. But it wasn't.
Feb 19, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Not my favorite Marge Piercy book. It just ended a bit too neatly, which is unusual for her.
Jun 11, 2010
Sabelmouse
rated it:
this is a much better and more sympathetic take on the same story as the one in to die for by Joyce Maynard. though that is only one of the 3 stories concerning women's lives.
it seems to me to expose the underbelly of american prosperity very well.
while the writing style is a little strange it is very readable.
as for the story of becky; it was very strange for me to watch 'to die for' after i had read tis book. the stories are so similar yet the motivation so different.
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it seems to me to expose the underbelly of american prosperity very well.
while the writing style is a little strange it is very readable.
as for the story of becky; it was very strange for me to watch 'to die for' after i had read tis book. the stories are so similar yet the motivation so different.
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Nov 13, 2009
Gail
rated it:
This is a thoughtful book about women coping with the life they seem to have fallen into.
Oct 28, 2007
Eileen
rated it:
'm on a Marge Piercy kick. I love her writing. I read City of Darkness, City of Light, about the French Revolution and now reading her "The Longings of Women", about the lives of three women and how their lives intertwine. One woman is a cleaning woman. Her husband divorced her for a younger woman and her 2 selfish kids don't want to help her out so she is homeless in her 60's now. She cleans their houses and pet sits. Sleeping in garages, airports, churches or their homes if they are
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Jan 04, 2011
Thorn
rated it:
I like most Piercy better, but this avoided explicitly being about polyamory.
Nov 28, 2010
Lynn
rated it:
Marge Piercy gives us a look into women's intimate lives. Her storyline is angular which kept my interest yet was distracting.
I enjoy character studies from a womanist perspective. Thank you Ms. Piercy
I enjoy character studies from a womanist perspective. Thank you Ms. Piercy
May 12, 2009
Ellen
rated it:
Didn't grab me the way that Gone to Soldiers did, but the characters have stayed with me and Piercy's look at homelessness grips me still.
Apr 05, 2009
Roy
rated it:
Alice Hoffman: "Every new novel by Marge Piercy is cause for celebration [my experience:]. "The Longings of Women" is a rich tapestry filled with passion and rage and real love, a book that gets under your skin and stays with you long after the last page has been turned." And, as usual with Ms. Piercy, she has you from the first page on. The 3 key characters are unforgettable before they've even come fully into play.
Sep 28, 2007
Mary Ann
rated it:
I've read this book before--I love Piercy's writing, the way she delves into her main characters--there are three in this book. Leila is a college professor who has been married for years to an openly cheating husband; Becky is a young girl fromo a working class home with fierce ambitions; Mary is a woman who is not at all who she seems to be. This is excellent.
Apr 21, 2009
Catherine
rated it:
Add me ot the list of people who loved this book. I found the characters so identifiable. The homeless situation was especially well done because while it is not something someone with a good job or husband can imagine it does happen and her characterization of it stayed with me for days.
Yes, the book is long but I thought it was well worth it.
Yes, the book is long but I thought it was well worth it.
Aug 22, 2008
I read this slowly over about eight months....it's about three different women, each who pretends in some way. Leila pretends her marriage is ok, Becky pretends she's living her ideal life and Mary pretends she's not the homeless woman she is. Leila is the central character who is known by both women.
Mar 23, 2008
Viv
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Another great book by Marge Piercy, concentrating on the very different lives of three women, one of whom prefers her cat to her husband! Again probably quite painful to read, but great realism.
Aug 06, 2011
Sarah
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my favorite book of piercy's you can see how someone can go from a woman with house, husband,to becoming homeless with no fault of her own
Jun 20, 2008
Sarah
rated it:
A very interesting story that weaves a tale of what seems to be three unrelated women whose stories all come together at the end.
Feb 06, 2012
