Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner – 416 pages
Book Blurb:
Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.
But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?
My Review: 4 stars
Mrs. Everything was an engaging read about mothers, daughters and finding how you fit into the realm of womanhood as a whole. This is the author’s first book that didn’t fall straight into the chick-lit genre. The story offered much more depth, added more potent issues that women often confront and dove deeper into their relationships.
The two sisters, Jo and Bethie, and yes, the names are purposely reminiscent of Little Women, have a see-saw relationship. They fiercely love one another but each hold grudges, regrets, anger and just a bit of spite to the game, especially when together. They manage to stay supportive of each other although there is always that elephant in the room that just wants to roar. Their mother, another great character, was caught in the time period that felt if she ignored their “issues” they’d go away. She just wanted to box them into her image of perfect daughters.
Throughout the book there are so many themes and an equal number of triggers. The book deals with family, sudden death, sexual abuse, sisterhood, mother-daughter relationships, homosexuality, eating disorders, the roles of women in a man’s world, rebellion, interracial relationships, interfaith relationships, drug-abuse, infertility and communal living in the seventies. I’m telling you; the book holds a lot of emotion!
I am happy to note that it reads quickly because I felt it dragged on a bit too long, landing at over four-hundred pages. I never shy for lengthy books, but this one could definitely have been thinned out. If you’re interested, the author’s note does comment on why she chose to name the sisters Jo and Beth.
Quotes I liked:
Would the day ever come when simply doing your best would be enough?”
“A girl named Jo once had a life / But that’s gone now; she’s only wife.”
“You’re allowed to want to use your education. You’re allowed to want to be more than a mother.”
“A body was just a body, just a vessel for her soul, and she was under no obligation to keep her body looking any certain way, no more than she was obliged to do anything just because it was customary, or traditional, or expected of women in America. She didn’t have to get married, she didn’t have to have kids, and she didn’t have to be thin.”
“She loved them. More than that, she admired them. They would be better than she was; stronger and smarter, more capable and less afraid, and if the world displeased them, they would change it, cracking it open, reshaping it, instead of bending themselves to its demands.”
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