The Road Taken
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4.1 • 19 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
The masterful author of Class Reunion offers this ambitious story of choices, chances and fate, spanning four generations of an unforgettable American family.
Rose Smith is born in the very beginning of 1900, the year that ushered in the most rapidly changing century in history. At the age of ten, Rose loses her mother and must learn to become independent and adaptable. As she grows up and begins a family of her own, she and her three daughters are a vital part of the country’s rapid growth during a turbulent era.
These women—all different, all fiercely-willed—will make courageous, sometimes reckless choices in their lives as they move boldly through a new world. Yet they will be united by an inner strength that will withstand life’s most chaotic demands, helping each to accept tragedy, embrace joy and, ultimately, find redemption.
PRAISE FOR RONA JAFFE
“Reading Rona Jaffe is like being presented with a Cartier watch: you know exactly what you’re getting and it’s exactly what you want.”—Cosmopolitan
“Vivid and trenchant…Wry and very readable…A minor genius.”—New York Times Book Review
“Jaffe has not lost her wit, her keen eye for human frailties and her ear for the small but telling remark.”—Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestselling author Jaffe (Five Women) pulls off an impressive feat, packing most of the major events of the last century into one family saga that starts with Rose Smith, born January 1, 1900. Rose is 10 when the book opens, attending her mother's funeral, and as Jaffe follows the protagonist and her family through the decades, the author skillfully incorporates such sweeping developments as the changing roles of women, new medical discoveries and evolving opinions about war, sexuality and individual rights. Rose is 18 when her first love is killed during WWI, not in battle but by the influenza epidemic. She marries for companionship and moves from her Connecticut hometown to Greenwich Village. Her brother, Hugh--whose childhood penchant for dressing up in women's clothes foreshadows his sexual coming of age--visits Rose and finds his element in the then-underground homosexual world in the Village. Moving in with Rose's family, Hugh acts the role of a carefree bachelor until Rose discovers his secret. Decades later, Hugh becomes an advocate for AIDS awareness. Rose's children offer Jaffe further opportunities to integrate signs of the times into the narrative: Peggy marries her WWII soldier pen pal and lives a suburban life; the independent "Disco" Joan becomes a hip fashion editor; and Ginger contracts polio just before the Salk vaccine is released. Jaffe's compelling use of personal disasters, conflicts and love relationships reveals the broad range of the ways kin relate--the secrets, the interminable feuds, the special closeness. In this uplifting story of how family ultimately provides the vital core for the human experience, Jaffe also convincingly depicts a century of social change. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate selections; audio rights to Dove. FYI: Jaffe established the Rona Jaffe Foundation, which offers awards and funding for women writers.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful
Loved this book. What a wonderful story. Loved the way the story goes through so many decades and generation of family.