The Great Divorce

by Valerie Martin

From the Orange Prize-winning author of PROPERTY, with a tale of sex, betrayal and the wilder side of human nature.Every woman holds the power to enchant or to destroy. In New Orleans, three women from completely different backgrounds face a turning point in their lives. Ellen, a vet at a New Orleans zoo, is trying to contain an infectious disease that threatens the zoo's animals. At the same time, she must come to terms with her crumbling marriage. Alongside her works Camille, an enigmatic and disturbed young woman whose terrifying fantasies threaten to overwhelm her. Finally there is Elisabeth, 'The Catwoman of St Francisville,' who was hanged in 1845 for murdering her bullying husband in horrific circumstances.In a compelling tale that bristles with energy and a sense of foreboding, their stories converge to reveal the secrets behind the 'untamed' aspects of human nature.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novels, Contemporary

Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Valerie Martin is the author of nine novels, including Trespass, Mary Reilly, Italian Fever, and Property, three collections of short fiction, and a biography of St. Francis of Assisi, titled Salvation. She has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, as well as the Kafka Prize (for Mary Reilly) and Britain’s Orange Prize (for Property). Martin’s last novel, The Confessions of Edward Day was a New York Times notable book for 2009.
A new novel The Ghost of the Mary Celeste is due from Nan Talese/Random House in January 2014, and a middle-grade book Anton and Cecil, Cats at Sea, co-written with Valerie’s niece Lisa Martin, will be out from Algonquin in October of 2013.
Valerie Martin has taught in writing programs at Mt. Holyoke College, Univ. of Massachusetts, and Sarah Lawrence College, among others. She resides in Dutchess County, New York and is currently Professor of English at Mt. Holyoke College.

Reviews

[Mindy Megill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started a little rough but was then thoroughly sucked into each womans life. I found it difficult to put down until the very end as she neatly ended our time with each character. I saw a little of myself in each of the characters which says alot about the authors ability to connect with her readers. Over all a very good read.

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up after enjoying Martin's 'Mary Reilly.'
'The Great Divorce' is a very well-crafted book. However, it's not really what I would describe as enjoyable experience. A worthwhile one, certainly, but it creates a difficult atmosphere.
The stories of three women are told here: Ellen, a veterinarian at the zoo, enjoys a typical middle-class lifestyle - but her life seems happier from the outside. Her marriage is crumbling - her philandering husband has finally decided to leave her for a younger woman, and her daughter is emotionally traumatized by this and acting out. Meanwhile, all the animals at the zoo are dying of mysterious ailments.
Camille is an assistant at the same zoo, but to her Ellen's lifestyle seems glamorously unattainable. Camille is desperately lonely, and desperate to be loved, but only knows how to express that by sleeping with men that most women wouldn't even consider. She lives with her abusive, controlling mother, and sees no way out.
Meanwhile, back in the pre-Civil War South, Elisabeth, a young aristocrat, thinks she has her future husband wrapped around her finger - until after the marriage, when she finds herself trapped with a man capable of unspeakable cruelties.

The third story, to me, was by far the most interesting, but it was only tied to the first two by the concept that Ellen's husband is researching the historical crime that involved Elisabeth. (And, of course, by the themes of the stories). It felt a little awkwardly meshed.
All three women are, somehow, involved with big cats. I'd say there's a commentary here on the frequent erotic association of women with cats (such as in 'Cat People')... but this is a very cynical, non-erotic, and depressing take on the association.

[Kat Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just this evening finished Valerie Martin's The Great Divorce, published in 1994. Wow, just wow. The novel starts slowly, even unattractively ... but finds its rythym and and not so much builds on as it weaves together the stories of three women in New Orleans in contemporary time. Heavy animal and zoo factor (always works for me). Finest kind, and a bit oddball which likely accounts for some of the charm.

Valerie Martin is shaping up to be reliably my cuppa -- she's always off at a slant with a story that features an undertow or two; unexpected turns and a penchant for the exotic that is common in most of us. Plus, an unflinching habit in her writing and an willingness to address more of what makes us human than some folk may wish.

She's hot-damn fine for me.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul is a historian and married to Ellen, a zoo doctor. Paul’s midlife crisis throws their family into a crisis, as he falls in love with a much younger woman, and becomes fascinated with a murder case over one hundred years old. One daughter begins acting out, and the lions at the zoo start becoming ill. However, the novel, told in a very pleasant, almost soothing tone, never gives the impression that the world is clearly falling apart, even though it is.

[Rita Tipton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story.

I first read this book when it was contemporary, and it seems so long ago now. Before cell phones, even before CD tapes. Reading it again today, which is at least the third time I've read it, it's a period piece. But I love everything Valerie Martin writes, I love her style. I can't recommend this book nor any of her books highly enough.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved everything I've read by Valerie Martin, and this one kept me engaged the whole time. I love her writing and the story was really interesting. I usually cringe at the three stories intertwined into one, especially if one's from a different time period, but she made it work.

[Hayyahgmail.Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is the second novel I've read by Valerie Martin, the first being, Property. The writing is confident and succinct and it becomes harder and harder to put this novel down as the story unfolds. It is really three stories in one and three variations on the concept of divorce, only one of which involves an actual divorce. Martin really knows how to plumb the depths of human dysfunction as well as human strength without getting heavy or depressing. She's like the Miles Davis of writing. I'm pretty hard to please when it comes to writers and this writer has earned my respect and admiration. What a lovely treasure.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because I loved Mary Reilly and Property; this is the first (mostly) non-historical Valerie Martin book I've tried. I didn't care for it as much. The problem with interweaving storylines is that some are likely to be more compelling than others. I found Ellen's to be the least interesting, and the other two were essentially extended stories of women being tortured to death. It's a grim book, and though it ends with Ellen on what I suppose is supposed to be a note of hope, the ending felt jarring to me.

[Thomas Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and, at times, very powerful exploration of the lives of three women negotiating worlds in which the forces of civilization and nature clash to dire effect. Martin blends domestic drama, psychological case study, and southern gothic into a successful and thematically integrated whole. Not, for me, the tour de force of "Mary Reilly," but well worth the reading.

[Naomi Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings. I can't recall much about this book, other than it was "fine" so sadly, I can't recommend it!

[Harrynetta Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up on a spur of the moment and I'm glad I did.

[Carol Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unsettling read. The characters are separated, divorced, from nature, self, community, soul. The author has painfully legitimate concerns about whether healing is possible

[Chiefdonkey Bradey]

Mississippi gothic - bayou noir - desire - the leopard in our dreams

[Maria Keenan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty weird

[R.L. Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weeeell, this is an odd book to review and, judging from other reviews, I seem to be in the minority. My short opinion is The Great Divorce is a depressing, though well-written, man-rant that made this reader want to scream and throw the book across the room during just about every chapter.

My slightly longer review is as follows:

My main complaint with this novel is that every man in the book (with the exception of 2-3 minor characters) is a total a**hole. Cheaters, users, abusers, liars, selfish idiots, thugs, and perverts.

Camille's sections were like watching the All Humiliation Channel. NOTHING good happened to that girl and we're never given a reason why her own mother seems to hate her so much. And so Camille came off as a pathetic wimp who makes stabs at standing up for herself only to fall back into her dishrag ways. A total stranger MOLESTS her on a public bus and she just sits there and takes it.

Ellen is slightly better, though I don't think well of a woman who turns a blind eye while her husband habitually runs around on her because "he fascinated her so much."

As for Elisabeth Boyer, she was probably the most promising of the three female characters, but Martin ended her story abruptly and without an satisfactory conclusions.

I read it all the way through, though I gnashed my teeth most of the time because it was beautifully written and had a compelling trio of story lines. But, my god, it was depressing and hate-filled. I'm not saying books have to be all sunshine and rainbows, but sheesh does every male character have to be such a d-bag? Does sexual assault and emotional degradation have to be such a certainty? I Probably will not revisit Valerie Martin again.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking dual time-period tale of a zoo veterinarian's struggle to keep alive the animals entrusted to her care and her estranged husband's research into the case of the first white woman in Louisiana publicly executed. Set in mid 1990s New Orleans and 1840s Louisiana. Interesting commentaries on the role of zoos in the extinction of species and the devastation that can take place when freedom is denied, to humans as well as other animals. A darkness prevails throughout the novel, particularly in the exploits of a disturbed young female character. Also, there isn't a single positive male character in the book. Still, the story ends with a sense of optimism and hope. Martin's prose is flawless.

[m_miriam · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was too much in this book; the author really should have focused on a single main story line, rather than trying to focus on multiple interconnected characters. Camille and Elisabeth's story-lines were just sad and frustrating, Paul's was boring, and, while found Ellen engaging, she was spread much too thin across the book. I appreciate the metaphor the author was attempting to convey, but her intentions did not come together in a cohesive and interesting narrative.

[Hawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly written with amazing illustrations and approach to explaining or looking into the intricacies of the discussion of heaven vs. hell. Fantastic! Short and easy to read, but deeply meaningful and enriching for the conversation of what happens after death and how God deals with us lovingly. I highly recommend it.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this book, was slightly disapointed with the ending , it appeared to end too quick.
following three woman from very different backgrounds and eras, loved the story from the 1500's and voodoo conotations, found myself sitting up till two in the morning to finish it.
not the type of book i generally buy but i'm glad i did.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you pick the perfect book to read after you've just finished the last one. This is one such book. If you've just read We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, then start this; I think you'll like it.

[Maryka Biaggio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully intricate book with three different threads connected in surprising ways. This is one of Valerie Martin's earlier novels, but her brilliance shines through as much as in her later work!

[Lorriespence]

One of my favorite books.

[Vicki Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book by a great author. She weaves the stories of 3 very different women into one theme. All 3 have fascinating landscapes to explore. Well written and engrossing.

[Christine (AR) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dense prose -- paragraphs that go on for a page and a half, almost no dialogue to speak of -- but some interesting ideas about cages and breaking free.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful writing. Three major characters, three stories, each worthy of a book of their own. Great book with beautiful symbolism.

[Jackie Simons]

Read 9/98

[Chandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

no new discoveries or insights but a good reminder about what really is important

[Wendy]

(found read date in diary)