Fullbright Triumphs with The Angry Woman SuiteA Story by BRB PublicityThe Angry Woman Suite is the story of a small American town, the intricately interwoven lives of the Graysons.Reading The Angry Woman Suite is like being caught in the
heat of a Summer afternoon in the South with mint julep drinks, inside the powerful
intrigues of a small American town. The
story takes place in the 1900’s, particularly in the 1930’s and ‘40’s with
World War II and the big band era in the background and unfolding through
generations into the 1960’s. It is well
written, each sentence in cadence and easily draws the reader in. An entangled
story of people and families, the novel unfolds through the first person voice
of 3 people Elyse, her step-father Francis Grayson and a friend of the Grayson
family who is a teacher, Aiden. The
story begins from the point of view of the children (Elyse and Francis as
children) and it is enchanting to see their motivations, their view of the
adults as if they are born into a great mystery and how they grow to
understand, a coming of age story. Elyse’s Papa, her mother’s father-in-law is somewhat
conscious, he tells the child the world is a place of games, people are playing
games, there are winners and losers and how to discern the “game”. This Papa plasters everything ceilings,
walls, and bare spaces with large yellow cabbage roses and besides the children
I found him the most likable character. Francis, the son of Magdalene and a child of
the Grayson household is raised by his grandmother, his mother and her sisters
who take out their angst at love lost on the child, he wishes he could fix them
and then he would live. Born into Biloxi Blues, he is physically abused by one
of his aunts, he finds respite in music and becomes a famous Big Band musician
(who also physically abuses his step-daughter Elyse). Aiden, the school teacher and friend of the
family first helps raise Magdalene and her sisters and then Jamie, Earl and
Francis, particularly helping Francis put the pieces of his life together and
helps Elyse. The plots and characters have many twists and turns, it is
also a story of lost innocence, a story of unconscious violence, as evil as
unconscious and America the dream/the nightmare. In the background is the idea
of war, 2 World Wars, The story is full of intrigue and the brokenness of life, betrayal
in love, the violence this manifests, as if the world never quite possesses
itself. “Stories, history " both are about power. Who gets it who gets to keep it, who loses it.”
And the novel rings with truisms and mystery in psychological drama that is
often unsettling as the characters veer away from their woundedness to either
create more woundedness or more rarely healing. “Which is why I think we so
often play hide and seek with the truth, don’t you think? Choosing to build and
believe in our own castles in the sky instead " I mean, it’s a whole lot less
painful than getting hurt by people who love you and you love back.” It is reminiscent of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, the
small town in America, the story of the 2 families, the Hamilton’s and the
Trask’s " how Adam raises his sons Caleb and Aron, the hidden dialectic of evil
and how Steinbeck draws the line with the words “thou mayest” as if evil is a
choice, when grounded in cultural and spiritual tenets, evil or redemption is a
choice. The Angry Woman Suite never
quite draws this line but instead revers the life of the artist in music, painting
and writing " art as redemption.
Disturbing and brilliant, a fascinating read. © 2013 BRB Publicity |
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Added on May 24, 2013 Last Updated on May 24, 2013 Tags: fiction, women's fiction, amazon, kindle, books AuthorBRB PublicityNew York, NYAboutBook Review Buz is the Premier Author Publicity firm specializing in creating book buz, and getting your book noticed. more..Writing
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