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Pages for You #2
Pages for Her
Pages for Her is the story of two women, Flannery and Anne, each at a personal turning point, and the circumstances that lead to their reunion. Twenty years after their brief but passionate affair, chronicled in Brownrigg’s earlier novel Pages for You, Flannery has the chance once again to meet Anne, who opened young Flannery up to the possibility of love—then left her heartbroken.
Having long ago put their love behind them, they live now on opposite coasts. Anne has been in a deep, childless partnership with a fellow scholar Jasper, who recently left her. Flannery, to her own surprise, married a charismatic artist named Charles, with whom she has a young daughter. Submerged by her husband’s demands and personality and her adjustment to motherhood, Flannery has lost sight of her self and her work. When the two women meet at a conference, they find that the passion and understanding between them has endured, though it has been hidden. In rediscovering each other, they are able to rediscover themselves.
Pages for Her is an exhilarating, passionate work that explores marriage, sexuality, and the transformative power of love over time.
Advance Praise for Pages for Her
“[Sylvia Brownrigg] approaches her characters with clarity and sensitivity, capturing the nuances in the women's relationships to the people they love—as mother, daughter, sister, friend, wife, or lover—and the power they give those people to define and inspire them. . . . Brownrigg considers motherhood, romance, identity, and the changes brought by time in this tender, insightful novel.” —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review!)
“With Pages for Her, Sylvia Brownrigg has achieved the seemingly impossible, a gorgeous and piercing book that is both a huge gift to the many readers who loved its predecessor Pages for You and an exquisitely intelligent stand-alone novel about the intertwined arcs of time and love.” —Ann Packer, New York Times bestselling author of The Children’s Crusade
“Sylvia Brownrigg’s Pages for Her is a complex portrait of two women's sexuality. In the romantic universe of Brownrigg’s novel, there is no either/or, no simple black and white. When characters—read people—are freed from the often blinding forces of personal obligation and private loss, a lust for intimacy takes over. In Pages for Her, Brownrigg gives us two accomplished women who, coming together after decades apart, understand that truth laid bare is best beguiled.” —Alice Sebold, author of The Almost Moon and The Lovely Bones
“With Pages for Her, Brownrigg does open-heart surgery, probing the deep chamber where unfinished love resides, untouchable by time, still beating.” —Carol Anshaw, author of Carry the One
“In this intense, compelling novel, Sylvia Brownrigg writes vividly about passion rekindled in midlife with the force of a tsunami. Pages for Her, the sequel to Pages for You, stands as a beautiful testament to human complexity, reminding us that fierce love comes in many forms, none of them mutually exclusive.” —Claire Messud, author of The Burning Girl
“Pages for Her takes on all the Big Questions in women’s lives: what it means to have ‘enough’ in love, sex, work, motherhood; what we deserve; what we long for; how we get trapped; how we can break free. I found myself reading with pen in hand, compelled to underline both Brownrigg’s gorgeous prose and her astute insights.” —Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape
“In elegant, graceful prose, Sylvia Brownrigg glides in and out of the lives of two women: Flannery, a writer married to a bombastic artist who values her beauty more than her mind; and Anne, an academic nearly a decade older whose decision not to have a child ends to her long-term relationship. Many years ago, these women shared a once-in-a-lifetime passion. Now, brought together serendipitously, they are surprised to discover [find] that time has done little to squelch [tamp down] desire. Nuanced, assured, and razor-sharp, Pages for Her is both a bittersweet story about rekindled love and a profound meditation on what it means to be alive.” —Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train
Having long ago put their love behind them, they live now on opposite coasts. Anne has been in a deep, childless partnership with a fellow scholar Jasper, who recently left her. Flannery, to her own surprise, married a charismatic artist named Charles, with whom she has a young daughter. Submerged by her husband’s demands and personality and her adjustment to motherhood, Flannery has lost sight of her self and her work. When the two women meet at a conference, they find that the passion and understanding between them has endured, though it has been hidden. In rediscovering each other, they are able to rediscover themselves.
Pages for Her is an exhilarating, passionate work that explores marriage, sexuality, and the transformative power of love over time.
Advance Praise for Pages for Her
“[Sylvia Brownrigg] approaches her characters with clarity and sensitivity, capturing the nuances in the women's relationships to the people they love—as mother, daughter, sister, friend, wife, or lover—and the power they give those people to define and inspire them. . . . Brownrigg considers motherhood, romance, identity, and the changes brought by time in this tender, insightful novel.” —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review!)
“With Pages for Her, Sylvia Brownrigg has achieved the seemingly impossible, a gorgeous and piercing book that is both a huge gift to the many readers who loved its predecessor Pages for You and an exquisitely intelligent stand-alone novel about the intertwined arcs of time and love.” —Ann Packer, New York Times bestselling author of The Children’s Crusade
“Sylvia Brownrigg’s Pages for Her is a complex portrait of two women's sexuality. In the romantic universe of Brownrigg’s novel, there is no either/or, no simple black and white. When characters—read people—are freed from the often blinding forces of personal obligation and private loss, a lust for intimacy takes over. In Pages for Her, Brownrigg gives us two accomplished women who, coming together after decades apart, understand that truth laid bare is best beguiled.” —Alice Sebold, author of The Almost Moon and The Lovely Bones
“With Pages for Her, Brownrigg does open-heart surgery, probing the deep chamber where unfinished love resides, untouchable by time, still beating.” —Carol Anshaw, author of Carry the One
“In this intense, compelling novel, Sylvia Brownrigg writes vividly about passion rekindled in midlife with the force of a tsunami. Pages for Her, the sequel to Pages for You, stands as a beautiful testament to human complexity, reminding us that fierce love comes in many forms, none of them mutually exclusive.” —Claire Messud, author of The Burning Girl
“Pages for Her takes on all the Big Questions in women’s lives: what it means to have ‘enough’ in love, sex, work, motherhood; what we deserve; what we long for; how we get trapped; how we can break free. I found myself reading with pen in hand, compelled to underline both Brownrigg’s gorgeous prose and her astute insights.” —Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape
“In elegant, graceful prose, Sylvia Brownrigg glides in and out of the lives of two women: Flannery, a writer married to a bombastic artist who values her beauty more than her mind; and Anne, an academic nearly a decade older whose decision not to have a child ends to her long-term relationship. Many years ago, these women shared a once-in-a-lifetime passion. Now, brought together serendipitously, they are surprised to discover [find] that time has done little to squelch [tamp down] desire. Nuanced, assured, and razor-sharp, Pages for Her is both a bittersweet story about rekindled love and a profound meditation on what it means to be alive.” —Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 11, 2017
87 people are currently reading
2785 people want to read
About the author
Sylvia Brownrigg
15 books211 followersSylvia Brownrigg is the author of six books of fiction, including the novels Pages for You and The Delivery Room. Her most recent novel, Pages for Her, was published in July 2017 by Counterpoint in the US and Picador in the UK.
Sylvia's work has been included on the NY Times Notable list and the LA Times Best Books of the Year. Her reviews have appeared in the NY Times, The Guardian, and the TLS, and she has taught at the American University in Paris. Her novel for children, Kepler’s Dream (published under the name Juliet Bell), has been turned into an independent feature film.
She lives in Berkeley, CA, with her family, and continues to spend time in London.
Sylvia's work has been included on the NY Times Notable list and the LA Times Best Books of the Year. Her reviews have appeared in the NY Times, The Guardian, and the TLS, and she has taught at the American University in Paris. Her novel for children, Kepler’s Dream (published under the name Juliet Bell), has been turned into an independent feature film.
She lives in Berkeley, CA, with her family, and continues to spend time in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 232 reviews
December 16, 2017
Loved it.... Terrific story....
THANK YOU RACHEL!!
I ‘might’ write a review... but I’m on vacation- Paul and I are about to get up and explore the island of Maui ... walking to the coolest little coffee shop about 40 minutes away
Great women in this story
Great story ..love a breakfast ‘design’ by Willa...
Etc.
will share more when time!!!
Aloha! 💕
THANK YOU RACHEL!!
I ‘might’ write a review... but I’m on vacation- Paul and I are about to get up and explore the island of Maui ... walking to the coolest little coffee shop about 40 minutes away
Great women in this story
Great story ..love a breakfast ‘design’ by Willa...
Etc.
will share more when time!!!
Aloha! 💕
July 23, 2017
When I read Pages for You ten years ago it opened me eyes and made me realise that there were possibilities I had not previously considered. I then spent a decade seeking out writing that captured the same emotions for a repeat experience, but all comparisons fell short and my memories of the heady six-months of passion shared by a slightly gauche seventeen-year-old Californian undergraduate, Flannery Jansen, and a graduate student a decade older, Anne Arden, remain remarkably vivid. Travelling east to prestigious Yale, Flannery falls hard for Anne and is left heartbroken when Anne calls time on the affair and reunites with her long-term male partner, Jasper. After twenty-years apart, with a brief postcard exchanged just once, the affair still looms large in their memories.
Now living on opposite sides of the coast, both women have very different lives. Flannery Jansen is thirty-eight-years-old and married to a charismatic artist, Charles Marshall, and to her surprise is a mother to six-year-old daughter, Willa. Teaching part-time, Flannery’s early success as a writer has languished and she is now, first and foremost, a mother and supportive wife to the overbearing Charles. Meanwhile, Anne Arden is alone, having split two-years prior from a contented and rewarding partnership with academic Jasper when he realised that he wanted children. Composed in three parts, Brownrigg recounts both the women's potted history and situations, with an invite to a writers conference entitled ‘Women Write the World’ comprised of former Yale students who have had literary success and moderated by Professor Anne Arden, reuniting them. As both women are presented with an opportunity to meet again, Brownrigg explores their characters, exposes their insecurities and reflects on what they both learnt from their heady romance. As Brownrigg creates a burgeoning air of expectation, the story builds to a glorious pinnacle.
Pages for Her is perhaps a greater achievement in the sense that Brownrigg tackles head on so many issues that are central to the lives of women, from marriage, motherhood, domesticity, right through to intimacy, identity and settling for second best. Eloquent and poetic, the prose is a joy to behold and extraordinarily powerful. This novel moved me to tears with its subtle observations and undertones, never missing a beat and delivering an building sense of expectation in the minds of both Flannery and Anne as the conference looms large. Although an erotic intensity runs through the whole of this novel, it is never overdone and Brownrigg’s focus is on the deeper meaning of rediscovering a former love. The sexual content of the novel given the storyline is remarkably limited, with Sylvia Brownrigg opting for showing more and telling less, allowing the reader to draw their own inferences and making for an ultimately more thought provoking read.
An exhilarating read with a perceptive understanding of so many of the big picture issues which arise in the lives of women, all shown with an unflinchingly honest eye. Simply exquisite.
Now living on opposite sides of the coast, both women have very different lives. Flannery Jansen is thirty-eight-years-old and married to a charismatic artist, Charles Marshall, and to her surprise is a mother to six-year-old daughter, Willa. Teaching part-time, Flannery’s early success as a writer has languished and she is now, first and foremost, a mother and supportive wife to the overbearing Charles. Meanwhile, Anne Arden is alone, having split two-years prior from a contented and rewarding partnership with academic Jasper when he realised that he wanted children. Composed in three parts, Brownrigg recounts both the women's potted history and situations, with an invite to a writers conference entitled ‘Women Write the World’ comprised of former Yale students who have had literary success and moderated by Professor Anne Arden, reuniting them. As both women are presented with an opportunity to meet again, Brownrigg explores their characters, exposes their insecurities and reflects on what they both learnt from their heady romance. As Brownrigg creates a burgeoning air of expectation, the story builds to a glorious pinnacle.
Pages for Her is perhaps a greater achievement in the sense that Brownrigg tackles head on so many issues that are central to the lives of women, from marriage, motherhood, domesticity, right through to intimacy, identity and settling for second best. Eloquent and poetic, the prose is a joy to behold and extraordinarily powerful. This novel moved me to tears with its subtle observations and undertones, never missing a beat and delivering an building sense of expectation in the minds of both Flannery and Anne as the conference looms large. Although an erotic intensity runs through the whole of this novel, it is never overdone and Brownrigg’s focus is on the deeper meaning of rediscovering a former love. The sexual content of the novel given the storyline is remarkably limited, with Sylvia Brownrigg opting for showing more and telling less, allowing the reader to draw their own inferences and making for an ultimately more thought provoking read.
An exhilarating read with a perceptive understanding of so many of the big picture issues which arise in the lives of women, all shown with an unflinchingly honest eye. Simply exquisite.
January 6, 2018
A few beautiful quotes, a sprinkling of synchronicity and the romantic reunion that I'd been waiting for (which came wayyyyy too late) gave this book the extra star. I feel like Pages for Her was probably written out of some some sort of personal nostalgic desire or need for closure but for me, Flannery and Anne were far better off in the future I had imagined for them after Pages For You.
July 7, 2017
1/3 of the book was about Flannery, the next third was Anne's, and the last part was them finding each other again, along with their selves. Bittersweet all throughout. Really, I want more pages for me.
July 27, 2019
Pages for Her is a love story about two fully realized women who loved one another passionately many years ago, and who have the opportunity to meet again after two decades of life and career choices have kept them apart.
Flannery and Anne are intellectual, thinking people; they are mature and thoughtful of others; they understand the nature of obligation and respect and promises. The depth of their self-awareness informs their relationship in unexpectedly moving ways. I felt I was being told the story of two real people, feeling real love.
There is so much to this story. I loved the way Flannery understands and accepts her marriage to a flawed man. I love Flannery's love for her daughter Willa. I love the way Anne has compartmentalized her long-ago relationship with Flannery and needs to re-discover just how much Flannery meant to her, long ago. I love the way Anne's lover has left her for a real and human reason--the desire to have children--rather than some other, more fictional reason. Brownrigg populates her fictional world with living people rather than just focusing on the women's love for one another in isolation. It makes this a complicated and interesting book, without easy answers.
Flannery and Anne are intellectual, thinking people; they are mature and thoughtful of others; they understand the nature of obligation and respect and promises. The depth of their self-awareness informs their relationship in unexpectedly moving ways. I felt I was being told the story of two real people, feeling real love.
There is so much to this story. I loved the way Flannery understands and accepts her marriage to a flawed man. I love Flannery's love for her daughter Willa. I love the way Anne has compartmentalized her long-ago relationship with Flannery and needs to re-discover just how much Flannery meant to her, long ago. I love the way Anne's lover has left her for a real and human reason--the desire to have children--rather than some other, more fictional reason. Brownrigg populates her fictional world with living people rather than just focusing on the women's love for one another in isolation. It makes this a complicated and interesting book, without easy answers.
January 17, 2019
After finishing Sylvia Brownrigg's Pages For You earlier this month I couldn't wait to compose a 5-star review, being effusive in praise and recommending it to GR friends. For whatever reason the story and characters (a college freshman and a instructor's assistant brief but ardent relationship during a school year) seemed to hit all the right notes -- it was thoughtful, romantic and addictive reading.
When I learned there was a sequel and it was available at the same library I just had to read it right NOW, and I remarked to the librarian (also a friend on GR) that "I need to know what happens next!"
Set twenty years later, Pages For Her departs somewhat from the earlier book's format. The first third focuses on Flannery Jansen. Now in her late 30's, she is married (to an avant-garde artist, and he's sort of insufferable - the requisite ego and lack of parenting skills make him an easy villain), has a young daughter, and has also authored two books while residing in California. Life is good . . . but it could be better. The specter of her relationship with Anne Arden certainly looms large in her mind.
Speaking of Anne - she's the focus of the second third. Nearing fifty, she has become a respected literature professor and worked at various institutes of higher learning in the U.S. and Europe. The relationship with Jasper was successful and long-running until he wanted to have kids. Thus he has left Anne (in an amicable break-up) for a younger woman. Anne is relatively content with life . . . but it could be better. The specter of her relationship with Flannery Jansen looms large in her mind, too.
Of course there's a deus ex machina in the final third of the book. A conference on women writers is to be hosted at Flannery's and Anne's alma mater. What better way to reunite these two characters?
Pages For Her was an 'almost' book for me. I liked it almost as much as its excellent predecessor. Brownrigg's writing is still top-notch -- brisk and direct, with just the right amount of detail. The story was almost as compelling, and it was interesting to see the obvious and expected changes and/or maturity in the two main characters. It's just that I think it lacked a solid ending, or maybe the conclusion that I wanted to see happen. It would be great if this was because Brownrigg was 'leaving the door open' for another go-round with Flannery and Anne. I don't want their story to be over yet.
When I learned there was a sequel and it was available at the same library I just had to read it right NOW, and I remarked to the librarian (also a friend on GR) that "I need to know what happens next!"
Set twenty years later, Pages For Her departs somewhat from the earlier book's format. The first third focuses on Flannery Jansen. Now in her late 30's, she is married (to an avant-garde artist, and he's sort of insufferable - the requisite ego and lack of parenting skills make him an easy villain), has a young daughter, and has also authored two books while residing in California. Life is good . . . but it could be better. The specter of her relationship with Anne Arden certainly looms large in her mind.
Speaking of Anne - she's the focus of the second third. Nearing fifty, she has become a respected literature professor and worked at various institutes of higher learning in the U.S. and Europe. The relationship with Jasper was successful and long-running until he wanted to have kids. Thus he has left Anne (in an amicable break-up) for a younger woman. Anne is relatively content with life . . . but it could be better. The specter of her relationship with Flannery Jansen looms large in her mind, too.
Of course there's a deus ex machina in the final third of the book. A conference on women writers is to be hosted at Flannery's and Anne's alma mater. What better way to reunite these two characters?
Pages For Her was an 'almost' book for me. I liked it almost as much as its excellent predecessor. Brownrigg's writing is still top-notch -- brisk and direct, with just the right amount of detail. The story was almost as compelling, and it was interesting to see the obvious and expected changes and/or maturity in the two main characters. It's just that I think it lacked a solid ending, or maybe the conclusion that I wanted to see happen. It would be great if this was because Brownrigg was 'leaving the door open' for another go-round with Flannery and Anne. I don't want their story to be over yet.
January 9, 2018
I look back on Pages for You fondly, but I didn't enjoy my reunion with Flannery and Anne as much as I'd hoped. Brownrigg's prose is ever lovely, but here her pacing felt slow and self-indulgent, with repetitive references to the events in the earlier book, and hardly any story advancement.
Before the heroines meet at the 75% mark--and some of that old magic sparks back to life--you learn how both women have fared in the years since their intense affair. Brownrigg describes all too common life events that will therefore probably strike a chord with many readers: failing marriages, the bittersweetness of motherhood, loneliness, being left for a younger woman. Depending on how well you can relate to these themes, the conflicted feelings of the heroines will be more or less interesting. Personally, I enjoyed reading Flannery's musings on 'heterosexual life' for this reason.
But despite several powerful scenes (most notable the ones in which Brownrigg paints a convincing picture of the widening riff between Flannery and her husband), Pages for Her was dedicated altogether too much to domestic details and daily humdrum involving children, family relations, aimless vacationing, and rehashed inner monologue. For me, a big chunk of the novel read as a languid, summarized version of these women's lives, and missed momentum. I was also surprised that a writer of Brownrigg's level reverted to repeatedly 'telling' me things, like how 'intelligent' Flannery was, without actually 'showing' me the evidence of these claims.
Had Flannery and Anne rekindled somewhat earlier in the book all might've been different. But when they finally did, I'm not sure I believed in their alleged chemistry anymore?
I'll continue to think of the first book fondly.
Before the heroines meet at the 75% mark--and some of that old magic sparks back to life--you learn how both women have fared in the years since their intense affair. Brownrigg describes all too common life events that will therefore probably strike a chord with many readers: failing marriages, the bittersweetness of motherhood, loneliness, being left for a younger woman. Depending on how well you can relate to these themes, the conflicted feelings of the heroines will be more or less interesting. Personally, I enjoyed reading Flannery's musings on 'heterosexual life' for this reason.
But despite several powerful scenes (most notable the ones in which Brownrigg paints a convincing picture of the widening riff between Flannery and her husband), Pages for Her was dedicated altogether too much to domestic details and daily humdrum involving children, family relations, aimless vacationing, and rehashed inner monologue. For me, a big chunk of the novel read as a languid, summarized version of these women's lives, and missed momentum. I was also surprised that a writer of Brownrigg's level reverted to repeatedly 'telling' me things, like how 'intelligent' Flannery was, without actually 'showing' me the evidence of these claims.
Had Flannery and Anne rekindled somewhat earlier in the book all might've been different. But when they finally did, I'm not sure I believed in their alleged chemistry anymore?
I'll continue to think of the first book fondly.
September 7, 2017
Frustratingly slow at times... but the pay-off was worth it (and I still have a crush on Professor Arden.)
June 6, 2017
Pages For Her is the story of Flannery, a writer, and Anne, a respected academic. 20 years after their brief, passionate affair, Flannery has the chance to meet Anne again at a writing conference.
Flannery has married Charles, a bombastic, emotionally abusive, narcissistic artist. They have a young daughter, Willa. After she becomes a mother, we see that Flannery has lost herself to her husband’s demands and his overbearing personality.
Anne has recently parted from Jasper with whom she shared a long, loving partnership. Jasper wanted children. Anne did not.
I loved this book. Brownrigg plays with words, painting pictures as she creates patterns and puzzles with the 26 letters of the alphabet. She is that one author in a million who knows how to tell and not show. It takes an artist to get this right.
If you love beautiful writing and interesting characters, read this book.
Flannery has married Charles, a bombastic, emotionally abusive, narcissistic artist. They have a young daughter, Willa. After she becomes a mother, we see that Flannery has lost herself to her husband’s demands and his overbearing personality.
Anne has recently parted from Jasper with whom she shared a long, loving partnership. Jasper wanted children. Anne did not.
I loved this book. Brownrigg plays with words, painting pictures as she creates patterns and puzzles with the 26 letters of the alphabet. She is that one author in a million who knows how to tell and not show. It takes an artist to get this right.
If you love beautiful writing and interesting characters, read this book.
December 11, 2018
Frustrated by the awful men, bored by the mundanity. Where was the romance?! Oh, in the final chapters. It kinda felt like the point of the book was the affair and hell, did it take a long time in coming. Anne and Flannery need to be together to make anything interesting happen, especially when all other events are flashbacks and Flannery is so, um, bland. And the ending was just kind of- meh? It felt like it ended before we reached our climax, much like the dissatisfied lovers this book presents.
August 2, 2018
I didn't know this was a sequel when I started it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It's pretty slow and a bit depressing and at times quite pretentious but I really liked it anyway and definitely want to read "Pages for you" now.
September 14, 2017
Brownrigg needed a better editor. The first two sections were twice as long as they needed to be--I just got impatient, waiting for Flannery and Anne to be reunited. The linear structure didn't help either. She should have interwoven the stories from the different time periods and points of view, a la A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson. And last but not least, why are these two in love? I maybe believed it as a first romance in Pages for You, but now that they are middle aged adults, I actually would like to see and understand their connection. All the book did was tell me over and over how strong the connection was, but never showed me why.
May 18, 2020
I read Pages For You in 2018 and really enjoyed it. I really enjoy forbidden romances, and soulmate who separate type tropes. I was really excited to be coming back to this story to finish it off, and see what Flannery and Anne were getting up to. I liked what I got, don't get me wrong, but I felt a little bit snubbed near the end. It happens later than I would have hoped, and the ending is more open than I would have liked. I expected specific things to happen, and instead it's all a bit ambiguous.
Overall, a really well written duology, but I could have used a little bit more.
Overall, a really well written duology, but I could have used a little bit more.
August 12, 2017
Elegant, deep, self-reflecting, and passionate... one of the rare romances that will leave you wanting more!!
May 29, 2017
I fell in love with Brownrigg's prose when I first read Pages For You. She wrote about first love and self discovery with such grace and emotional accuracy it often took my breath away. That story, between Flannery and Anne, unfolds while they both are young and life ahead holds promise and possibility. At one point in the story, Flannery presents Anne with a poem of such raw beauty and power that I felt sure if someone wrote a poem like that for me they would instantly own my heart.
In the sequel, Pages for Her, both women are older, and worn down by the imperfect choices and compromises and sacrifices which shape a life. That point, at a certain age, when you're mostly looking back and wondering what would have happened if you had taken this path rather than another. And the idea that your best years are behind you, in love, career, youthfulness.
So when you realize that the intercutting of Flannery's life today with that of Anne's will see the two intersect - it's a beautiful and thrilling moment of hope for them. But also for the reader. There is no headier a prospect than rekindling a first love -- and feeling that it is as powerful a connection as the first time -- but with much pain and loss to be shared and thereby unburdened.
I love Brownrigg's turns of phrase, I can feel her mind working to deliver the right word for the right emotion. She doesn't waste a single one -- each holds its weight perfectly and confidently.
For those of you who haven't read Pages For You, do yourself a favor. But don't expect sexual cliches, or any other cliches. Then, follow it up with Pages For Her, its grown up companion. Wise, moving, poetic and every bit as beautiful.
In the sequel, Pages for Her, both women are older, and worn down by the imperfect choices and compromises and sacrifices which shape a life. That point, at a certain age, when you're mostly looking back and wondering what would have happened if you had taken this path rather than another. And the idea that your best years are behind you, in love, career, youthfulness.
So when you realize that the intercutting of Flannery's life today with that of Anne's will see the two intersect - it's a beautiful and thrilling moment of hope for them. But also for the reader. There is no headier a prospect than rekindling a first love -- and feeling that it is as powerful a connection as the first time -- but with much pain and loss to be shared and thereby unburdened.
I love Brownrigg's turns of phrase, I can feel her mind working to deliver the right word for the right emotion. She doesn't waste a single one -- each holds its weight perfectly and confidently.
For those of you who haven't read Pages For You, do yourself a favor. But don't expect sexual cliches, or any other cliches. Then, follow it up with Pages For Her, its grown up companion. Wise, moving, poetic and every bit as beautiful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2018
This is a sequel to the author's Pages for You, taking place twenty years after that novel ended. Two women, who met when going to an unnamed New England college (revealed in this novel to be, obviously, Yale), had an intense year long affair. Flannery, 17-18 at the time, was a naive, intelligent, beautiful blond California girl. She becomes enamored with the divine Anne, ten years her senior, a midwest beauty. The affair ends with Anne getting married to a former male lover and Flannery going back to San Francisco and getting married herself to a very dynamic artist. She has a daughter with this artist, who is six when the novel begins.
Flannery is invited to speak at a symposium of women writers at Yale which will be moderated by Anne. She is both nervous about it and excited. Her marriage is not in the best shape and she has never forgotten her intense passion for Anne. The novel reveals the twenty years since their initial breakup, describing Anne's marriage to Jasper and Flannery's marriage to Charles and her maternal love for her daughter. They meet again at the symposium, and they reconnect. The ending is quite satisfying.
This is a really intelligently written novel. The characters are extremely well drawn, their emotions laid bare and their actions very believable. It is not thoroughly gripping, but I really cared for these characters and their situations, and found the overall cultural atmosphere to be most intriguing. This is obviously the work of a strong author.
Flannery is invited to speak at a symposium of women writers at Yale which will be moderated by Anne. She is both nervous about it and excited. Her marriage is not in the best shape and she has never forgotten her intense passion for Anne. The novel reveals the twenty years since their initial breakup, describing Anne's marriage to Jasper and Flannery's marriage to Charles and her maternal love for her daughter. They meet again at the symposium, and they reconnect. The ending is quite satisfying.
This is a really intelligently written novel. The characters are extremely well drawn, their emotions laid bare and their actions very believable. It is not thoroughly gripping, but I really cared for these characters and their situations, and found the overall cultural atmosphere to be most intriguing. This is obviously the work of a strong author.
September 2, 2018
This is not a romance.
I hate it when people say a book that is quite clearly a romance is not a romance. It seems disingenuous. But damn I wish someone had told me this about Pages for Her before I read it. It is about the experience of love, the fascination, obsession, passion, longing, loss, and heartache, rather than romance.
It took me forever to finish this book and predictably I have mixed feelings about it, as I did about the first book.
This book is a character study. Normally I enjoy that. Reading is all about the characters for me. I can do without much plot if the characters are engaging, loveable, relatable, and real. The characters here - Anne Arden and Flannery Jansen (such gorgeous names btw) - are extremely well drawn. Perhaps too well drawn. There is little room left for excitement or passion or romance. It's all slices of life and rumination. It's not comfortable and sweet but it's true and tough.
I found much about this book that I loved. The author is sharp. She can pinpoint and explain succinctly moments that you have experienced in your own life and never thought to examine more closely. She has a way with words too. As in the prequel to this book, the writing is rich and lovely, descriptive and exact.
She explores the poignancy of small moments and truths. Like Flannery realizing her daughter would have a different view on life because her father was present, unlike Flannery's. Or Anne saying, if only to herself, that she didn't want a child, not because she disliked children but because she would care too much about one, that it would be too hard. Or Charles passive aggressively managing his wife. *cringe* Or Flannery knowing her love for her daughter Willa was of the same strength as her love for Anne had been in the past.
In fact, motherhood in particular and other familial relations play a large part in the story. Wife/husband, mother/daughter, and sister/sister relationships are all central to the narrative. I very much related to Flannery's journey as a mother. Being taken by surprise with a feeling that is much like falling in love, in its purest form. Truly loving someone more than yourself. Feeling that the loss of them would be the end of you. Also her tie to Charles was relatable, that they made a person together, which holds a power that can't be denied, even if they didn't love each other romantically anymore.
I also related to Anne, to how she lost a love that meant everything to her and how she tried to make sense of it, tried to move on and recover. I heard once that any loss or major change brings grief and it's true. It has to be worked through.
I even related to Jasper, to being on the other side of a break-up, not wanting to hurt someone who you love but who don't want to be with anymore. I related to him seeking solace in a church and its power, even as he was not sure if he believed in it.
The addition of Anne's POV was a plus in this book that the first one lacked. In Pages for You, Anne was the unattainable lover, someone you could only ever partially know or have. She was Flannery's but never completely and you felt it from page one. She was older, wiser, more confident, sexier, self-assured.
Pages for Her does address this point. Anne and Flannery were not ready for each other the first time. There was an imbalance between them. Lovers have to be ready and accepting of mutual love. They need to be in the same place emotionally or it doesn't work. Flannery was too young, too inexperienced and searching, the first time, and Anne did not want to be her everything.
So all of that is poignant and worthy of reading, but you need to know what you're getting into. The wait for their romance is long and it feels rather slight in the end, compared to everything that came before. You get distinct, thorough POVs but they become so separate that they never really merge, even when Anne and Flannery finally acknowledge how they feel. There is no intimacy or relief in the reunion, at least for me as a reader.
You are always on the outside with these two, observing, and ultimately it just feels too analytical. After two books you want to feel it more. Hell, you want THEM to feel it more.
A quote I liked: "Throughout her life Flannery would find that in writing she had occasional access to wisdom or perceptions that eluded her when she spoke aloud."
I hate it when people say a book that is quite clearly a romance is not a romance. It seems disingenuous. But damn I wish someone had told me this about Pages for Her before I read it. It is about the experience of love, the fascination, obsession, passion, longing, loss, and heartache, rather than romance.
It took me forever to finish this book and predictably I have mixed feelings about it, as I did about the first book.
This book is a character study. Normally I enjoy that. Reading is all about the characters for me. I can do without much plot if the characters are engaging, loveable, relatable, and real. The characters here - Anne Arden and Flannery Jansen (such gorgeous names btw) - are extremely well drawn. Perhaps too well drawn. There is little room left for excitement or passion or romance. It's all slices of life and rumination. It's not comfortable and sweet but it's true and tough.
I found much about this book that I loved. The author is sharp. She can pinpoint and explain succinctly moments that you have experienced in your own life and never thought to examine more closely. She has a way with words too. As in the prequel to this book, the writing is rich and lovely, descriptive and exact.
She explores the poignancy of small moments and truths. Like Flannery realizing her daughter would have a different view on life because her father was present, unlike Flannery's. Or Anne saying, if only to herself, that she didn't want a child, not because she disliked children but because she would care too much about one, that it would be too hard. Or Charles passive aggressively managing his wife. *cringe* Or Flannery knowing her love for her daughter Willa was of the same strength as her love for Anne had been in the past.
In fact, motherhood in particular and other familial relations play a large part in the story. Wife/husband, mother/daughter, and sister/sister relationships are all central to the narrative. I very much related to Flannery's journey as a mother. Being taken by surprise with a feeling that is much like falling in love, in its purest form. Truly loving someone more than yourself. Feeling that the loss of them would be the end of you. Also her tie to Charles was relatable, that they made a person together, which holds a power that can't be denied, even if they didn't love each other romantically anymore.
I also related to Anne, to how she lost a love that meant everything to her and how she tried to make sense of it, tried to move on and recover. I heard once that any loss or major change brings grief and it's true. It has to be worked through.
I even related to Jasper, to being on the other side of a break-up, not wanting to hurt someone who you love but who don't want to be with anymore. I related to him seeking solace in a church and its power, even as he was not sure if he believed in it.
The addition of Anne's POV was a plus in this book that the first one lacked. In Pages for You, Anne was the unattainable lover, someone you could only ever partially know or have. She was Flannery's but never completely and you felt it from page one. She was older, wiser, more confident, sexier, self-assured.
Pages for Her does address this point. Anne and Flannery were not ready for each other the first time. There was an imbalance between them. Lovers have to be ready and accepting of mutual love. They need to be in the same place emotionally or it doesn't work. Flannery was too young, too inexperienced and searching, the first time, and Anne did not want to be her everything.
So all of that is poignant and worthy of reading, but you need to know what you're getting into. The wait for their romance is long and it feels rather slight in the end, compared to everything that came before. You get distinct, thorough POVs but they become so separate that they never really merge, even when Anne and Flannery finally acknowledge how they feel. There is no intimacy or relief in the reunion, at least for me as a reader.
You are always on the outside with these two, observing, and ultimately it just feels too analytical. After two books you want to feel it more. Hell, you want THEM to feel it more.
A quote I liked: "Throughout her life Flannery would find that in writing she had occasional access to wisdom or perceptions that eluded her when she spoke aloud."
June 14, 2018
As a teenager, I fell in love with Flannery and Anne. Pages For You was the first novel I'd read where the characters' sexuality didn't cause them any distress. Instead, it's a sensual narrative, full of optimism and vigour. Brownrigg also captures a certain wisdom in Pages For You: a sense of the inevitability of loss and the courage of youth. Reading it gave me a lifelong appreciation for purple prose and an outlet for both my romance and my cynicism. Unfortunately, Pages For Her just does not compare. We meet Flannery and Anne twenty years after we have left them -- during that time, Anne has been in a long relationship with a man, but he has recently left her; Flannery is married to a male artist, and has a small child. The two women remember each other fondly, and personal crises leave them eager to meet one another again. The story is full of their remembered love for one another, and the impact that love had on their lives. This is completely believable, for me: some people do have a profound and sometimes limitless impact on our lives, and if I, their reader, am still in love with Flannery and Anne, of course they care about one another. But Brownrigg takes most of the book to actually allow Flannery and Anne in the same room, and the time spent exploring their lives feels hollow and misplaced. Flannery's husband is a caricature of male entitlement, and it's hard to see how Flannery married him. Though we enter Anne's head for the first time, I never feel like inhabit her thoughts or understand how she works. The moments when Anne and Flannery meet are the only interesting ones, and these are too brief and unsatisfying. Perhaps I wanted too much from this book -- but it did not feel at all worthy of Pages For You.
August 26, 2017
I often enter the search term "lesbian/s" into the library catalog to see if anything new comes up. I think I scrolled past this on a couple different occasions before realizing that it was NOT Pages for You with a different cover. (My brain didn't register the slight difference in object pronoun.) When I realized what it actually was, I was surprised and then eager to get my hands on a copy. Though I only read Pages for You three years ago, it is always exciting when something gets a sequel 10+ years later. Unless of course the sequel cheapens the original.
That was not the case here. Though I can't say whether I enjoyed this more or less than the first book. My memory doesn't go back three years, apparently. I echo those who wish more pages in this book had been spent with Flannery and Ann together. I would murder for a third book. Who would I murder? Flannery's husband Charles, of course. Damn, I hate that guy. I figured the ending would not offer a straightforward occurrence of events to follow, but that won't stop me from wishing that we actually got to see Flannery divorce that bastard. This seems like a weird note to end on, um... but I have nothing else to say.
That was not the case here. Though I can't say whether I enjoyed this more or less than the first book. My memory doesn't go back three years, apparently. I echo those who wish more pages in this book had been spent with Flannery and Ann together. I would murder for a third book. Who would I murder? Flannery's husband Charles, of course. Damn, I hate that guy. I figured the ending would not offer a straightforward occurrence of events to follow, but that won't stop me from wishing that we actually got to see Flannery divorce that bastard. This seems like a weird note to end on, um... but I have nothing else to say.
June 22, 2020
This book feels like an interlude. A quick glance through a window that quickly shows what was and only a glimpse of what will be.
Part one is about Flannery. It reads slow, the words did not flow for me. It was hard to get invested in the story. I felt distant from it. The very short chapters only added to that feeling.
Part two is about Anne. It felt almost immediately like this was written by a different person. Maybe, in a sense, it was. Anne drew me into the story, made the words flow, made me care.
Part three is about them both. There were so many promises here, a world of possibilities was created. Yet everything is left open. It’s just a glimpse.
Like Schrödinger’s cat, we never get to look, so reality does not collapse into one or the other. Everything is still possible. But as paradoxes go, if everything is, then at the same time, nothing is possible.
Anyway, I think I liked the book.
Part one is about Flannery. It reads slow, the words did not flow for me. It was hard to get invested in the story. I felt distant from it. The very short chapters only added to that feeling.
Part two is about Anne. It felt almost immediately like this was written by a different person. Maybe, in a sense, it was. Anne drew me into the story, made the words flow, made me care.
Part three is about them both. There were so many promises here, a world of possibilities was created. Yet everything is left open. It’s just a glimpse.
Like Schrödinger’s cat, we never get to look, so reality does not collapse into one or the other. Everything is still possible. But as paradoxes go, if everything is, then at the same time, nothing is possible.
Anyway, I think I liked the book.
December 24, 2021
yes yes yes yes my favourite bisexuals
i love them
this made me cry and laugh and squeal, and contemplate what i'm doing with my life.
i love that they are now middle-aged, that they are more mature, that they are still soulmates but that the love that they have for each other doesn't invalidate their previous relationships.
brownrigg inspired me to write prose again, and at this point, that's all i'm asking for.
i love them
this made me cry and laugh and squeal, and contemplate what i'm doing with my life.
i love that they are now middle-aged, that they are more mature, that they are still soulmates but that the love that they have for each other doesn't invalidate their previous relationships.
brownrigg inspired me to write prose again, and at this point, that's all i'm asking for.
October 2, 2017
It's been ten years since I spent time with Flannery and Anne and much has changed for them both. This book, like Pages for You, is right up my alley.
November 15, 2018
Why should you read this book?
What first drawn me into Pages for Her by Sylvia Brownrigg was the beautiful cover which has a sixties vibe. After reading the book summary, I knew I had to read the novel. Pages for Her was considered 1 of 100 Best Books of 2017 by the San Francisco Chronicle and One of 2017’s Best Fiction Books by the Kirkus Reviews.
Pages For You is the first novel of this series but I haven’t read that one, therefore I believe Pages for Her can be considered a standalone book. This novel tells the story of Flannery and Anne, both with activities in writing and academia. Twenty years after their brief yet intense affair, they meet again for a conference. However, many years have passed, and with those years, many things changed. Flannery is now married to an artist named Charles and has a child; Anne has been through a difficult break up with her lifelong lover because of a reason that affects the lives of several women.
I enjoyed this book. It certainly explores interesting issues like bisexuality, marriage and motherhood. Marry or not to marry? Breed or not to breed? Those are some of the relevant questions posed by this novel. However, I also think Pages for Her has some weaknesses. The chapters were just too short (3/4 pages each). I could never fully connect to those characters and to the plot. There was always that disruption.
This novel is divided into three parts. While the first part tells the story of Flannery, the second focuses on Anne’s life. Each chapter that composes the last part is told alternately by these two characters and is a depiction of their reunion. In my point of view, Part Three wasn’t as good as the previous parts of the book. In spite of this, I think this is an interesting book that explores the main issues that affect a woman’s life.
I’d like to thank Counterpoint Press for the free copy. If you'd like to read more reviews, follow me on Instagram: @booksturnyouon
What first drawn me into Pages for Her by Sylvia Brownrigg was the beautiful cover which has a sixties vibe. After reading the book summary, I knew I had to read the novel. Pages for Her was considered 1 of 100 Best Books of 2017 by the San Francisco Chronicle and One of 2017’s Best Fiction Books by the Kirkus Reviews.
Pages For You is the first novel of this series but I haven’t read that one, therefore I believe Pages for Her can be considered a standalone book. This novel tells the story of Flannery and Anne, both with activities in writing and academia. Twenty years after their brief yet intense affair, they meet again for a conference. However, many years have passed, and with those years, many things changed. Flannery is now married to an artist named Charles and has a child; Anne has been through a difficult break up with her lifelong lover because of a reason that affects the lives of several women.
I enjoyed this book. It certainly explores interesting issues like bisexuality, marriage and motherhood. Marry or not to marry? Breed or not to breed? Those are some of the relevant questions posed by this novel. However, I also think Pages for Her has some weaknesses. The chapters were just too short (3/4 pages each). I could never fully connect to those characters and to the plot. There was always that disruption.
This novel is divided into three parts. While the first part tells the story of Flannery, the second focuses on Anne’s life. Each chapter that composes the last part is told alternately by these two characters and is a depiction of their reunion. In my point of view, Part Three wasn’t as good as the previous parts of the book. In spite of this, I think this is an interesting book that explores the main issues that affect a woman’s life.
I’d like to thank Counterpoint Press for the free copy. If you'd like to read more reviews, follow me on Instagram: @booksturnyouon
November 27, 2017
I read this book immediately after Pages for You, which was written 16 years earlier. I didn't love Pages for You, finding it somewhat stilted and predictable. I was immediately struck by the beauty in her writing for Pages for Her though. This book is absolutely beautifully written and the storyline and characters are far more complex. I loved Pages for Her and definitely recommend it. It works as a stand alone book as well, with Brownrigg giving enough information about the women's past without simply reliving the entire first book.
(spoilers below, I will do the spoiler formatting thing, but I don't think that works on mobile devices...so you've been warned!)
(spoilers below, I will do the spoiler formatting thing, but I don't think that works on mobile devices...so you've been warned!)
July 12, 2017
Not every book needs to be a master work of literature. However, the book should have some redeeming features to it-at a minimum it should be engaging or entertaining. In my opinion , this story falls woefully short in many respects and leaves the reader thinking surely he or she has something better to do with his or her time.
The story focuses on two women, Flannery and Anne. Anne is a bit older than Flannery and has served as her mentor when Flannery was at college developing as a writer. They become lovers and then abruptly separate with each returning to a heterosexual relationship. It seems inevitable that both of them will reunite at some point in the future and that opportunity presents itself at a writers conference.
Just because a story is set in academia doesn't make it well written. Just because every second page the author inserts a complex word or phrase does not make it well written.
Two stars.
The story focuses on two women, Flannery and Anne. Anne is a bit older than Flannery and has served as her mentor when Flannery was at college developing as a writer. They become lovers and then abruptly separate with each returning to a heterosexual relationship. It seems inevitable that both of them will reunite at some point in the future and that opportunity presents itself at a writers conference.
Just because a story is set in academia doesn't make it well written. Just because every second page the author inserts a complex word or phrase does not make it well written.
Two stars.
November 10, 2019
I fell in love with these women when I was in college. Pages for you was one of the first literary lesbian love stories I ever read and while there was a part of me that knew that book would not have a Hollywood ending, I was still rooting for a positive representation of lesbian love outside of lesbian publishing houses.
I was ecstatic when I read about the sequel. The characters had matured—as have I—and I took longer reading this one. Brownrigg’s writing style still captivated me and revisiting Flannery and Anne was, much like their own storyline, like reconnecting with old friends. Finishing the book was bittersweet as I was once again forced to say goodbye to characters that meant a lot to me—even if I was now seeing them with new eyes.
I was ecstatic when I read about the sequel. The characters had matured—as have I—and I took longer reading this one. Brownrigg’s writing style still captivated me and revisiting Flannery and Anne was, much like their own storyline, like reconnecting with old friends. Finishing the book was bittersweet as I was once again forced to say goodbye to characters that meant a lot to me—even if I was now seeing them with new eyes.
August 4, 2017
I enjoyed this more than the first of this "duet". I think the reason was the dual perspectives and setting the characters in their lives rather than a supercharged first love story.
Struggled with the men in the narrative. Flannery's caveman (albeit an artist) husband seemed rather too stereotypical, maybe not improbable. Anne's long term partner, Jasper, also falls into a similarly probable yet stereotypical role of "realising" after 20 years of enjoying agreed childnessness, that he wants to be a father, inevitably with someone young.
Creativity of every sort weaves its way through this novel.
Struggled with the men in the narrative. Flannery's caveman (albeit an artist) husband seemed rather too stereotypical, maybe not improbable. Anne's long term partner, Jasper, also falls into a similarly probable yet stereotypical role of "realising" after 20 years of enjoying agreed childnessness, that he wants to be a father, inevitably with someone young.
Creativity of every sort weaves its way through this novel.
July 17, 2017
Anne and Flannery are both experiencing a loss of self - Anne through the end of a long term relationship and Flannery through existing within a relationship in which she finds herself subservient, eclipsed. The women are also former lovers. This is a beautiful book about the hiatuses of lostness one can experience in a life, love and writing.
April 27, 2019
"Sometimes, if it had been too long since she had settled into a book, she started to feel faint and hollow."
If books were seasons, Pages for Her would be an idyllic autumn. Though I found it a bit difficult at the beginning, the arrival of Anne's voice made it all fall back into place.
If books were seasons, Pages for Her would be an idyllic autumn. Though I found it a bit difficult at the beginning, the arrival of Anne's voice made it all fall back into place.
August 2, 2017
I've fallen head over heels for Sylvia Brownrigg. Utterly besotted. Mesmerising.
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