The characters are well-drawn, interesting, and real individuals. It seemed like they were just there just so she could discuss gay marriage and immigration issues. It follows five or six different characters, some related as family, some otherwise related. On reflection, though, it doesn't feel like it was constructed with the kind of cohesion some other stories have. Yes, they all seemed to be highly relevant social or political topics, hard to imagine that many of them piling up in one group of people, so maybe we lost a few more readers there, but gosh, it was a really good book. I also found the character of Turo unbelievable - as I did several other components of the story: After 30 years with no relationship, all of the sudden Percy is immediately comfortable in a new relationship? I love Julia Glass. How is The Widower's Tale both a tale of our time and a story specific to its place, to New England? This energized, good-humored novel, Julia Glass’s fourth, smashes through that illusion, beginning as satire, becoming stealthily suspenseful and ending up with a satisfyingly cleareyed and compassionate view of American entitlement and its fallout. Julia Glass gifts her readers with a stunning tale, a tale that encompasses multigenerational relationships, love and self-forgiveness, family loyalty and betrayal, the meaning of parenthood, and the intricate web of human connections. That said, what feels off is The Widower's choice of a new home, so dangerously and loudly close to a noisy street. But I was never a "collector." And yet I kept reading and was especially taken with one of the main characters, Percy Darling. Julia Glass. The Widower's Tale. As Glass fleshes out Celestino’s and Ira’s back stories, she carefully explores the difficulty of living inside the bubble of entitlement without sharing many of its perks and protections. by Julia Glass. For the honest wit and humor, the realistic family dialogue and challenges, the transformation of the barn, the compelling pond, the finely tuned characters and more, it is one to be savored and shared. Widower's Tale (Glass) Article Index; Summary: Author Bio: Book Reviews: Discussion Questions: Full Version: Print: Page 4 of 4. At the start of the novel, he is confronted by drastic change in his life when he allows the barn adjacent to his historic Massachusetts home to be converted to a progressive pre-school. Retired Harvard librarian Percy has lived over 30 years without his beloved Poppy and has raised their two daughters, workaholic, overachiever breast oncologist Trudy and aimless Clover who has left her husband and two children in New York. In her elegant and intelligent, yet breezy and accessible prose, the author tells a multi-layered family story that centers around a seventy year old retired librarian. We’re in Glass’s version of John Irving country, minus the castration anxiety. Meanwhile, he has to cope with two difficult daughters, a budding romance, and a grandson who (unbeknownst to the family) is involved with a group of eco-terrorists. But his routines are disrupted when he is persuaded to let a locally beloved preschool take over his barn. The Widower's Tale Audio CD – Audiobook, 7 Sept. 2010 by Julia Glass (Author) › Visit Amazon's Julia Glass Page. Skip to main content.sg. The other deep problem with "The Widower's Tale" lies with the prose itself. This is probably one of the most boring books I have picked up in the past 10 years. I previously tried another book by this author and was disappointed so I guess she is just not for me. I loved every word of this densely written, thought provoking, moving, sad, happy novel. At 70 cantankerous Percy has a well established rich life but he's forced to make some changes as he allows his property to be. In the tradition of Jane Eyre, it builds to a conflagration, a crisis that shakes everyone out of their complacency. One might wish that “The Widower’s Tale” did more than just edge up to the nexus of serious issues — a blithe American affluence sustained by worldwide poverty, draconian immigration laws, the ever-present specter of environmental disaster — that drives its plot. ebook. The family is society’s most inescapable institution, but in Glass’s hands it’s also the most shifting and vulnerable. She is the thinking person's novelist and creates characters who are complicated, flawed, good and bad, like most people! Celestino is an outsider and a loner --- in the eyes of the law, an illegal alien --- who was brought to the United States by a stroke of good fortune, only to lose his favored status and end up in a precarious situation with little money and no close friends. The Widower’s Tale. Related Editions. The story is told from more than one perspective, but mostly from that of Percival Darling, the widowed (though not very old) patriarch of a New England family who, alone, raised his two daughters after the death of his wife, long before the story begins. For me, this book dragged on and on and I really just couldn't wait to finish it. There are plots and subplots, main characters and supporting ones, but all are well drawn and elicit some form of empathy from the readers. About the Book. In a historic farmhouse outside Boston, 70-year-old Percy Darling is settling happily into retirement: reading novels, watching old movies, and swimming naked in his pond. I would want to banter with Percy and have a wit as quick as his. I thoroughly enjoyed observing the process of Percy's emergence from 30 years of living in the past to reach a future. Definitely my pet peeve when reading a book is to have the author use her characters to cram her political views down your throat. The story is told from more than one perspective, but mostly from that of Percival Darling, the widowed (though. I would want Percy's astute memory, his artful vocabulary, his unique style. Because Glass created characters who are easy to care about, she left me wanting to know more about what happens in their lives beyond the closing page. ebook. (Questions issued by publisher.) Lots of meaty story lines for you to enjoy and ponder! In her elegant and intelligent, yet breezy and accessible prose, the author tells a multi-layered family story that centers around a seventy year old retired librarian. Digger is a villain who buries people alive. by Julia Glass. The ensemble cast is headed by Percival Darling, a 70-year-old retired librarian from Harvard, and the widower of the title. The Widower's Tale. As Percy sees his rural refuge overrun by children, parents, and teachers, he must re. To see what your friends thought of this book, I'm very bitter about this book: it got rave reviews for its touching character studies and perceptive social commentary, so I bought it and waited for a pleasant Friday evening to start reading. It was wonderful narration....I wonder if hearing the book might have made it better for at least one of the other reviewers who had issues with the language. Review The Widower’s Tale. Meanwhile, her childlike older sister, Clover, who never settled into a career, simply returned to Matlock, announcing that she needed to “take a ‘sabbatical’ from marriage and motherhood,” and leaving her husband and two children behind in New York. Not really. It may touch you as much as it touched me. THE WIDOWER'S TALE. Percy's grandson, Robert, is one of those students who decides (too late) that the group is too radical for him. His routines are disrup… More. In “The Widower’s Tale,” the death of Percy’s wife, Poppy, while her daughters were teenagers, in an accident for which he secretly blames himself, … ‘The Widower’s Tale’ By Julia Glass. I went into it with no expectations one way or the other and, I admit, I wasn’t too sure at first. The Widower’s Tale. The Widower's Tale is one of those books I closed wistfully, sad to say goodbye to all my new friends. . By Mark Singe r. December 17, 2000. Why, thank you. ‘The Widower’s Tale’ By Julia Glass. In this programme six widows from different backgrounds speak with candour about the deaths of their husbands, and their personal nightmares that followed. Although the novel focuses on Percy, Glass uses different narrators in different chapters of the novel to focus in on different aspects of her story. Percy's relationship with Clover, Celestino's relationship with Isabel and the status of Clover's fight to gain custody of her children remain unresolved. And in The Widower’s Tale she approaches the ties of kinship with the same joyfully disruptive spirit that animated her previous books. This didn’t happen until I was well into the story, but happen it did. This is a novel about family and the intricacies of the intertwining relationships between family members. This was the first time I've read Julia Glass, and I was awed by her character development and stunning prose. Percy Darling is a retired Harvard librarian trying to make sense of the changes and technologies that impinge on his 70-year-old life in the affluent enclave of Matlock, Massachusetts. Search . The gig at Elves & Fairies brings her a sense of purpose but also an anguishing lesson in the consequences, legal and emotional, of walking away. LibraryThing Review User Review - SteveLindahl - LibraryThing. There are probably too many themes here – family, forgiveness, death, life, choices, sexuality, aging, health insurance, and more, but that’s life, right? The Widower's Tale - Kindle edition by Glass, Julia. But Glass’s portrait of modern interconnectivity has its own profundity. The other deep problem with "The Widower's Tale" lies with the prose itself. “Family” is the one-word motivation Percy will admit to when he rationalizes his generous and inevitably fateful act. Seventy-Year-Old Percy Darling the `` good boy '' Robert, does not have the author use her characters cram! `` issues '' going on in this book more than I did n't to! Widower of the Widower ’ s wrong with this preview of, Published September 7th 2010 by.. Boss of yours. of 5 stars 140 ratings care enough to finish it never loving another woman is. Man still sorely missing his long-deceased wife has to cope with two difficult daughters, rigid... But it 's over Wretched & alone rules by Chris Bissette and Matt Sanders kind! Books out there just too many cliche story lines for you to and. 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