- Paperback: 544 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (25 May 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140250077
- ISBN-13: 978-0140250077
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 915,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The three women in this book are a Boston academic with special interest in child abuse, her cleaning lady and a young woman who has been accused of murdering her husband and lover. The cleaning lady is, in fact, homeless - using her employers' houses while they are away.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having recentely re read a lot of Marge Piercey's work I was interested to discover a book I hadn't yet read, and was not dissappointed. Although the expostiion was handled clumsily, as is often the case with Piercy, I found the characters to be instantely recognisable if a little 2-d. The book is the stories of three very diffenrent women, young, middle aged and an older woman, from very different walks of life. The younger woman's story is one of a desperate clawing up from her humble roots as one of the many children of a fisherman, only for her attempts to end in tragedy. The older womans life has gone the opposite way, from a middle class background she is now living on the streets, trying desperately to retain some dignity and pride. Her life is also tinged with tragic events. The third woman is the lynchpin of the book in the middle of a marriage breakup she is trying to help those arauond her as best she can. She is one of Piercey's stock characters, the femminist with the good job and errant husband. All the women are let down by the men in their lives but manage to make the best of they're talents, whatever they may be. A lot of the speech in the book is quite forced but if you are already a fan of Piercey you will enjoy this book.
Format:Hardcover
This is the third time I've read this book, and it gets better!
Don't be put off by the title, the story is amazing and works today as it did 12 or so years ago when I first read it.
the book is hardback and apart from a funny old book smell, was in good condition, sleeve was perfect.
Delivery was fine ( I was away) but it took 4/5 days.
Read it in the same time..loved it and will put it away, to get out in another few years.
Don't be put off by the title, the story is amazing and works today as it did 12 or so years ago when I first read it.
the book is hardback and apart from a funny old book smell, was in good condition, sleeve was perfect.
Delivery was fine ( I was away) but it took 4/5 days.
Read it in the same time..loved it and will put it away, to get out in another few years.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
I will never look at a homeless woman the same way again...
10 Dec 2003
This is not a perfect book. But, again, as always with Marge Piercy, she has a way of putting you right inside the characters. Especially Mary, the homeless woman. Fascinating to read about a woman who lives like a mouse, hidden inside the homes of the people for whom she cleans! And so gut-wrenching to feel what Mary has to go through. Leila, of course, is supposed to be the one most readers can relate to, the one "most like me." And Becky - I can't get with her program - and I am sure we are not supposed to.
The longings of women - obviously Piercy presents what we want as a home of our own. And she writes so well about how easily we can lose "our" homes. Married women - husbands die or we split up with them. Working women - we lose a job and are out on the street. As long as we are dependent on the men in our lives, we are vulnerable. This is not "man-hating", this is reality. Though I am married, and happily, this book makes me want to make sure I have money put away and my name on the deed of the house. And a way to make a living and keep my home if my husband is suddenly gone one day...this could happen to any of us.
The longings of women - obviously Piercy presents what we want as a home of our own. And she writes so well about how easily we can lose "our" homes. Married women - husbands die or we split up with them. Working women - we lose a job and are out on the street. As long as we are dependent on the men in our lives, we are vulnerable. This is not "man-hating", this is reality. Though I am married, and happily, this book makes me want to make sure I have money put away and my name on the deed of the house. And a way to make a living and keep my home if my husband is suddenly gone one day...this could happen to any of us.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Assured and Entertaining
23 April 2005
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Marge Piercy's compassion and understanding of our human nature is at the forefront of this novel and is its greatest strength. Anyone who defines this generous writer as a Feminist based on "The Longings of Women" has given it a most superficial reading. Three women's stories, each spotlighting a male cad who defines the arc of the women's lives, yet the book is so thoroughly the stories of those women that the men function to move the plot but not to provide easy scapegoats. Piercy doesn't stack the deck for either Leila or Becky as they maneuver their lives' choices around their loutish husbands, so as the book neared its conclusion I found it very exciting. The way Piercy reveals the character of Becky in particular is masterful. Of course, the story of Mary Burke is quite a singular exploration of the homeless, very specific and hard to shake.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
obviously written by a feminist!
5 Nov 1997
Format:Hardcover
And I am a feminist (so, I can be critical!) Marge Piercy's books are too pat. The women are all serious and dedicated, the men are all bad, and no one has a sense of humor. She makes her point, albiet in a very preachy manner. Her best books consist of her vision of the future. Read the book, He, She and It for her best.
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