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Book Review of Isa & May

Isa & May
Isa & May
Author: Margaret Forster
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
maura853 avatar reviewed on + 542 more book reviews


Disappointing.

I didn't buy the grandmothers, Isa(bel) and May, for one minute. I didn't buy the parents or the boyfriend, or the thesis advisor. They all seemed like plot devices, of the purest cardboard, rather than people. But most especially, I didn't buy the insufferable Isamay.

I actually liked the idea of Isamay's thesis: looking at famous women, as grandmothers. Does it help us consider these famous women in a different light? Were their "grandmotherly" personas different from the celebrities or historical figures we think we know? Were they different as mothers and grandmothers?

Don't know why this interesting topic had to be sweetened by the framing device of the trials and tribulations of Isamay ....