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Abandoned by Booklikes
Government drone by day and book lover and geek girl by night!
Currently reading
This Time Next Year
An Extraordinary Union
A Princess in Theory: Reluctant Royals
Burn for Me
Nocturnes
After I'm Gone
The Black Angel
The Ballad of Black Tom
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Mrs. Kimble
I had never heard of Jennifer Haigh before but a friend recommended that I read "News from Heaven" The Bakerton Stories." After devouring that book in less than a day I promptly bought Mrs. Kimble."Mrs. Kimble" focuses on three women, Birdie, Joan, and Dinah who all marry the same man, Mr. Ken Kimble during different points of the novel that goes from the 1960s up until the present day.
I want to first of all applaud Jennifer Haigh for writing such an engaging novel that takes place in different periods and places and still manages to evoke authenticity throughout the novel with describing the uber traditional marriage and family in the 1960s, to the free love of the 1970s, and women gaining ground in the workplace in the 1980s.
One thing that I am always worried about is that when a novel has different protagonists throughout the novel is that either all of the characters sound the same, or it is very confusing to tell who is speaking at different parts of the novel. However, none of those things occurred in this novel. Ms. Haigh manages to write these three different women, with different backgrounds, stories, with such distinct voices I was loathe to end the novel since I wanted to know how they all ended up.
The one thing that I really wished that Haigh had done (and did not deduct any stars from my rating) was to allow the readers into Ken's head a little bit. He remained a cipher through the whole novel and I know that the novel was supposed to focus on his wives but I really do wish we had been given a glimpse into his machinations a bit more.
I highly recommend this novel!