The Woman Upstairs

by Mary Walters Riskin

Diana Guthrie is a young woman struggling between her sense of what she "ought" to do and her need to believe she is more than a puppet manipulated by other people. When she learns that her powerful and controlling mother-whom she hasn't seen in 15 years-is dying, she hurries back to her childhood home. There she is faced with memories and conflicts that threaten to prevent her from climbing the stairs that will take her to her mother's bedside. Will she find the courage to face her mother before it is too late? Winner of a Writers Guild of Alberta Award for Excellence in Writing, The Woman Upstairs was published to widespread acclaim in 1989 by NeWest Press but quickly sold out and remained out of print for more than two decades. During that time, Mary W. Walters (who began her writing career as Mary Walters Riskin) published a second novel (Bitters, NeWest Press), a collection of short stories (Cool, River Books), and a book of non-fiction (Write An Effective Funding A Guide for Researchers and Scholars, The Johns Hopkins University Press), as well as dozens of articles and short stories. This new edition of The Woman Upstairs will be welcomed by Walters' long-time readers, as well as by new fans of her work.

Genres: Fiction

Hardcover

First published May 1, 1987

Reviews

[K. Velk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up when it was free on Kindle as I knew Mary Waters to be an excellent blog writer. (Someone famous once said that a person who writes good letters is a good writer, and I have found the same to be true of those who write good blog posts). I thought I would dip into it a few nights after I got it, and found myself in that happy situation of not being able to put it down. I went to college in Canada (though American born and bred) and I have a great affection for the best Canadian literature. I found here shades of Alice Munro and even of Robertson Davies in the way that the social mores of southern Ontario are illuminated. There is a slow reveal of here of the core of Ms. Guthrie, the main character, and of the incidents, particularly her vexed relationship with a mother who is also slowly adumbrated as only human, that made her into the woman she has become. It is a carefully made book and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

[Jody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written story about how our memories and perceptions of incidents in childhood can influence us as adults. Walters characters are wonderful and she gets it just right. Loved this book!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although a surprisingly short read, Walters is incredibly skilled at going through much of the main character's whole life in a small time span and across few locations within the book. Most of the novel is happening in her mind and within her thoughts, and you very quickly get swept away as she delves in and out of old memories that come to her as she returns to the town and house of her childhood, along with the heavy emotions and associations she's been scarred with. You learn about people she's known and experiences she's had mostly through her memories, but Walters somehow weaves back and forth to the present time allowing you to slowly piece together her past and make sense of her current reality.

[Ahsiisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a completely biased review but child-parent conflicts will always hit hard as a plot. Picked it up at a cheap second hand bookstore and was pleasantly surprised to read a decent novel that tackles teenage angst that barrels into adult grief and guilt. Enjoyed how at times the character was unlikeable, made the person more person rather than just a character on page if that makes sense. By all means an unremarkable novel but sometimes you're just not in the mood for hardcore angst and nail biting plots which still makes it enjoyable.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the style of this novel, which contains just the right mix of introspection, description and action for my tastes. Diana has been estranged from her mother her entire adult life. Now thirty-three, she learns her mother is dying, so with great misgivings, she journeys from her home in Edmonton back to Ontario where she grew up. This story takes place over the course of only two or three days, but through flashbacks we learn what happened to cause their rift. The author portrays the difficult relationships between the mothers and daughters in this novel well. I like the gradual reveal of how, despite Diana's quest to escape her mother and grandmother, to be different from them, she is much like them after all. Although I'm disposed to take Diana's side and believe that her mother was colder and less loving than she could or should have been, the author still manages to create a sense of sympathy for her mother. She did the best she could.

The only reason this book gets four rather than five stars is the ending. The whole novel is building up to the moment when Diana finally develops the courage to face her dying mother, and I would have liked to see more resolution. Many things remain unresolved and undiscussed between them. Although this feels very true to life, I guess I want more resolution in my fiction because it leaves me unsatisfied as a reader. And again, although it seems to be in character for Diana to flee, I don't like that the novel ends with her doing so. I want more for her. I want her to make some peace with her brother and mother, and maybe to set off in search of her father.

All in all, this was a beautiful and highly readable novel. The nuanced look families and generations of women put me in mind of one of my favourite writers, Margaret Laurence. I look forward to reading more by this author.

[Gloria ~ mzglorybe · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.4 stars from me.

A woman is summoned home to her dying mother with whom she has been estranged for 20 years. She blamed her mother for her father leaving the family and for not approving of her relationship with a boy with whom she was in love with as a 16 yr old. This flips back and forth between present and past. Sometimes it is not clear where you are, so it would've been helpful if the author had labeled the chapters as such - the past or the present. The main character isn't always very likeable, often unyielding and judgmental. It is unclear to the reader whatever happened to the boyfriend, except that he is dead but we don't get much character development on him so we can't quite figure him out. The cause of his death is kept from us until practically the end.

I expected more, after all the good reviews. The ending just stops. In fact, I kept trying to turn the page on my kindle and realized there were no more pages. Maybe that was a good thing.

[Lesley Curnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story.
It tells of the return of a prodigal daughter summoned back home as her mother is dying. This powerful and moving story explores the terrible power memory has to imprison us in a cage of old hurts. Diana is stuck because she can't forgive her mother and her inability to forgive is poisoning her life.

This finely drawn portrait of grief and anger is enthralling. The only reason I haven't given 5 stars is that the ending was a little abrupt. I wanted more - that's probably just greedy - but thats how it is.

[Deeni Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

How much control do we have over the person we become, or are we made up of influences and/or reactions to people and situations to which we are exposed? And how malleable is memory - a child's memory versus the (perhaps) different reality? How lack of communication led to years of distrust and separation, too far gone to repair. Not a good bedtime read, but well constructed and interesting.

[Ms. Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was better than I expected. Introspective and sad. The writing really conveyed the narrator's sense of loss and loneliness and desolation. The ending was a bit abrupt and left me somewhat dissatisfied, but overall it was a good read. If you're up for moody and melancholy. Which I usually am.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a very good personal account of what it was like to be an "out of wedlock" pregnant teenager in the early 60's. Very eye opening.

[Joy Irwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was one of the worst books I have ever read. The main character was crazy and the other characters were boring and undeveloped. What a waste of time!

[Carmel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this novel was just OK, somewhat predictable and I didn't really care about the heroine.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find the characters particularly likeable or believable.

[Ruth Reedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful writing, rather thin story.

[Mary Johnson]

not the right book. want to delete

[Alex]

False