Synopses & Reviews
In her darkest yet most redeeming novel, Gibbons scorches us with a firestorm of despair and then resurrects love and hope from its very ashes.
Autumn 1918: Rumors of peace are spreading across America, but spreading even faster are the first cases of Spanish influenza, whispering of the epidemic to come. Maureen Ross, well past a safe childbearing age, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Her husband, Troop cold and careless of her condition is an emotional cripple who has battered her spirit throughout their marriage. As Maureen's time grows near, she becomes convinced she will die in childbirth. Into this loveless ménage arrives Mary Oliver, Troop's niece. The sheltered child of a well-to-do, freethinking Washington family, Mary comes to help Maureen in the last weeks of her confinement. Horrified by Troop's bullying, she soon discovers that her true duty is to protect her aunt.
As the influenza spreads and the death toll grows, Troop's spiteful behaviors worsen. Tormenting his wife, taunting her for her "low birth," hiding her mother's letters, Troop terrorizes the household. But when Mary fights back, he begins to go over the edge, and Maureen rallies, releasing a stunning thunderstorm of confrontation and, ultimately, finding spiritual renewal.
The Boston Globe hailed On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon as "another gift from Kaye Gibbons to the literature celebrating strong women of every age and era." Much the same can be said of Divining Women.
Review
"Gibbons shrewdly subverts [the tradition of southern gothic melodramas] as she divines the true nature of feminine power and points the way toward justice in this gorgeously moody and piquant fairy tale." Donna Seaman, Booklist
Review
"[A] rather stilted novel of female oppression and liberation....Erratic storytelling weakens the novel, but Gibbons's tale is atmospheric and unsettling, narrated in hushed Victorian tones and ornamented with period flourishes." Publishers Weekly
Review
"[R]eading Kaye Gibbons invariably provides pleasures....It's always entertaining to tag along on her journeys, and when she follows her quirkiest impulses, she is a great literary companion." Valerie Sayers, The Washington Post Book World
Review
"Simplistic and underplotted; the most interesting characters (Mary's mother, the eccentric grandparents) are confined to the margins." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"A harrowing and explicit declaration....A testament to the passionate and avenging power of female instinct." Carrie Brown, Chicago Tribune
Review
"Beautifully crafted and intense, Gibbons's novels are marked by an emotional authenticity that never falters." People
Review
"Potentially interesting personalities seldom develop beyond stock characterizations, most notably the villainous Troop and Mary's loopy, if loving, immediate family. Not the writer's best work..." Library Journal
Synopsis
It's the fall of 1918 and, faced with a difficult pregnancy and even more difficult husband, Maureen Ross must find the strength to confront her tormentor, survive childbirth and, ultimately, find spiritual renewal.
About the Author
Kaye Gibbons is the author of Ellen Foster, A Virtuous Woman, A Cure for Dreams, Charms for the Easy Life, and Sights Unseen. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.