June

by Mary Sanders Smith

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0931642299
• ISBN13: 9780931642296
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Lintel
• Length: 317 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A woman on the verge

Enjoyable read about June Ventler, a woman out of place emotionally and spiritually, who transforms herself within the confines of a restrictive 1940 rural farm community on the verge of dramatic changes. The author creates a very accessible vision of June's world, with many poignant scenes that a contemporary reader can relate to. Provides a look at the political, social and economic environment in rural America on the eve of World War II, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright's importance at the time.June is a prisoner of her time, unhappy with her uncommunicative, unromantic husband Ed, resistant to the traditional role she is expected to play, obsessed with her failure to produce an heir as her society demands, and disheartened by her thwarted dream of building her ideal farm house.Through the catalyst character, an itinerant farmhand named Mac, June begins to notice that she is her own worst enemy, and to realize that she can empower herself. When she takes the risk to take charge of her own destiny, transformation occurs. This progression from victim of circumstances to exercise of free will is valid across time and cultural differences, and will appeal to all who dream of empowering themselves.

Read This Summer

Read this book for a beautiful story that will make you feel as though you were there in rural Illinois in the late 30s with June, struggling as a farm wife to believe in herself as she sorts through fascination with Frank Lloyd Wright and a new farm hand, difficulties of an uncommunicative husband, and yearning for a child. Mary Sanders Smith catches well and richly the feel, pace, and language of that time.

A Compelling but Gentle Tale

From the first page I stepped into June's life and her feelings. The book leads you gently through the life-changing period of a 1940's farm wife who struggles to find herself in a world that she feels at odds with. The writing wonderfully places you within the tale -- at every moment I could "see" and "hear" and even "smell" this long-ago world. External historical events keep you firmly in the moment and place. A great read!

1940s Midwest Farm Wife Yearns to Breathe Free

In "June", Mary Sanders Smith's flowing prose tells the story of a 1940s farm wife with a hidden creative, architectural dream, and a host of thoughts more common to current times. Stunning metaphors such as June's secret, almost sterile get-away room in the old Victorian, stifling farm house and the personal life and architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright suit the story well without becoming obvious or overdrawn. The 1940s era and small-town farm community psyche also provide excellant and natural counterpoints to June's dreams. "June" contains a wealth of original characters the reader will remember, the frustrating, often hypocritical Mother Ventler and Gertrude, and the tempting farmhand that awakens June's passions. And the husband, who holds a promise of passion he either will not or cannot recognize, and is certainly loath to express. After June wins a Frank Lloyd Wright tour amateur architectural contest (scenes that are both factually accurate and interesting), June returns with determination tempered by fear of the old ways -- the town's epectations of a farmer's wife, the neighbors, the relatives, the stodgy husband -- and the tempting farm hand. Mary Sanders Smith tells a story that avoids cliches; the character resolutions, themes, and final ending are not expected, but neither do they defy reality. And the reader is finally satisfied, with a final twist on the last page, and the reader will close the book, thinking of "June" and the people within the pages.