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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dawn Powells "Time to be Born", 28 Jun 2005
Dawn Powell (1896 --1965) is an American novelist whose works have captured some attention in recent years. Powell grew up in a small town in Ohio but spent most of her life in New York City. Her 15 novels are autobiographical. They feature characters who move from the constraints of small-town America to attempt to make their way in New York City. The earlier novels focus on small town life while Powell's later novels are sharp, satiric pictures of New York.Powell's "A Time to be Born" (1942) takes place in New York City just as the United States is preparing to enter WW II. It is a mixture of cutting satire, a coming-of-age novel, and a comedy of manners. The two major characters are two women who have left the same small Ohio town to come to New York and their varying and interrelated fortunes. The first, Amanda Keeler Evans, has become the wife of a powerful publisher, has written a novel, participates in highly-publicised war relief efforts, and is a syndicated columnist on world affairs (which are written for her). Her childhood friend, Vickie Haven, comes to New York after a failed love affair, and her life becomes intertwined with Amanda. In the complex plot, both women share an apartment, which Amanda uses for an affair with Kenneth Saunders, a lover from the days before her marriage. A triangle develops among Saunders, Amanda, and Vickie. The book tells the story of Vickie Haven's coming-of-age as she gradually weans herself from dependence on her family in Ohio and from Amanda. She begins to act independently when she takes her own apartment and leaves the situation into which Amanda has manipulated her. As with all Powell's writings, the awakening is only partial and bittersweet. This book presents an unforgettably picture of a bygone New York City as the United States prepares to enter the war. The story is sharply and wittily told, but there is an undercurrent of sympathy, compassion, worldly-wisdom and perhaps hope. This novel will interest readers of American literature willing to be adventurous and to explore little-known works of the mid-20th Century.
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