Mrs Everything, Jennifer Weiner, Atria Books, 2019, 416 pp
My second only Jennifer Weiner novel was a good experience. I read In Her Shoes, her second novel, in 2007 because it was coming out as a movie. Ms Weiner has been emphatic about chick lit being a valid genre and that's fine. It is just not my favorite genre and since that is what she writes I never read more.
The buzz about Mrs Everything led me to believe she had gone further or deeper or something this time. I read it, I had a good time, it's historical to a degree (1950s Detroit) but it is still chick lit.
Two sisters, a Jewish family in Detroit, father dies, mother is strict. One sister doesn't fit the mold. The reader can tell before she can that she is gay. The other sister is "perfect," beautiful, good, mom likes her better. She goes wild at University of Michigan in the 60s (so did I!)
Neither sister gets the life she wanted and the irony of how far women have supposedly come but not really is brought home with not too heavy a hand.
As I said, I had a good time, I get what she intended to do. Now back to my usual heavy stuff!
Too bad that there were shortcomings to this. Based on your description it did have some substance and tackles some worthy issues.
ReplyDeleteAll you say is true, Brian!
DeleteIt's good to throw in a light one every once in awhile, but maybe I don't need to go for this one now since you already did, ha. I don't read chick lit much either, but she sounds sincere with this one.
ReplyDeleteI do not doubt her sincerity and it was a smooth easy read. But yeah, you don't NEED to read it.
DeleteYou know, I never had a wild period. I've just always been boring lol. Sorry to hear this wasn't the best read but it still sounds like a decent read.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I get the idea that your childhood was wild enough to last your lifetime. I don't however find you boring! It was for sure a decent read.
DeleteI had never read Weiner, had no preconceptions about her, and had no idea of what genre she had been assigned to (or had assigned herself to), so I read this book simply because it had been recommended to me as a good read. And I found the recommendation to be true. I quite enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI remember your review. In fact, it made me decide to read the book. I am not sorry I did.
DeleteDoesn't sound like a good read. I'm not a chick lit fan either.
ReplyDeleteWell there you go!
DeleteJust finished this last week and agree with your assessment. It was my first time reading Jennifer Weiner... an entertaining beach/summer read with a little substance. Overall an enjoyable diversion. This morning I started The Nickel Boys. Quite a contrast!
ReplyDeleteI feel like you get me! I am starting Nickel Boys soon. Colson Whitehead is an amazing writer I think.
DeleteI haven't read anything of hers but I loved the movie In Her Shoes.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Carmen. That was a good movie.
DeleteI am not much for chick lit either, even when I need a palette cleanser after the heavier stuff I usually read. I do enjoy a good cozy mystery though, which can sometimes have chick lit elements. I'll pass on this one.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that genres cross. What would we do without palette cleaners?
DeleteWe'd be stuck in perpetual reading slumps and have to power through them, which in turn would make us dislike everything we read, then we would give up reading and blogging, and diiiiiieeeeeeee.
DeleteExactly
DeleteI don't usually read chick lits a lot. But this sounds like something I'd try!
ReplyDeleteI would say it is worth a try.
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