The Women's Room

by Marilyn French

Book Overview

The classic feminist novel that awakened both men and women, The Women's Room follows the transformation of Mira Ward and her circle as the women's movement begins to have an impact on their lives. A... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067140010X
• ISBN13: 9780671400101
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Summit Books
• Length: 471 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Feminist treatise, powerful novel, and great read

I'm not sure I could (or would want to) put aside the feminist message of this book. Even though I'm in my 20s and come from a different generation, I was able to empathize Mira's struggles of trying to be a good wife in the 50s and 60s, and then rebelling in the 70s to reclaim her identity and role. At the time this was published, these ideas were probably more revolutionary than they are today, but I still think they are just as important. There were many moments in this book that were happy, many more that were sad, and it was always touching. I recommend this book to many of my women friends of all ages, and always consider it to be one of the best books to read if you're frustrated with your life and need to think about going in a new direction.

Life!

Putting aside the anti-male aspects of the book (I didn't know it was an "important feminist work" when I started), I'd sooner describe it as an epic novel, a story of intelligent people encountering different stages, events, structures in their lives--perhaps a bit of a soap opera. The book went surprisingly quickly; the narrator's voice drew me in, and the plot stayed interesting throughout, since each section brought radical changes in Mira's life and cast of friends. It starts with her growing up in the 40's, getting married, having kids and becoming a (miserable) suburban housewife, but is punctuated with passages of the narrator philosophizing, and framed by a group of thoughtful, "modern" women sitting around in 1968, interrupting with "but how could you have lived like that?"--"well, my house wasn't so different really"--"it had its good points too"--"aren't you glad all our relationships are more equal than those?" [heh]. Plenty of reflection, along with close up individual perspectives. The high points glowed, parts forced me to put down the book for feeling sick or depressed, and there was no lack of wit and strong characters. A compelling story. Then there's the recurring theme of how women keep getting screwed over. The author's got a point, and it's actually a little hard not to hate men while reading the book, but she takes it too far. Somehow despite characters being round and believable, men always turn out to be insensitive, to put it mildly, and women a classic "oppressed people". Real life is (I hope!) more fair. (These days, anyway. I'm also immeasurably grateful for the almost 50(!) years of societal change separating her birth and mine.)The evolution of the group of grad student friends struck a particular chord with me, as a recent college graduate. People change unexpectedly, relationships change, friends come together and fall apart, and when you look back there's no real pattern or meaning. As she put it, "No, it's the little things that matter. But when you're dealing with a lot of insignificant lives, how do you put things together?" It's trite at parts, and with an axe to grind, yes, but this book's got life.

A must read for all women

Excellent book!!! Couldn't put it down through the first two-thirds of the book (it dragged a bit at the end). I believe that woman reading this book will be able to relate to many of the difficulties encountered by its characters. Mira's feelings as a child brought back memories I had buried of how young girls who feel they can "do anything" learn otherwise from society as they grow up. While some of the character's habits (all the drinking and smoking) can be tedious, I have been recommending this book to all my female friends.

If you're not a Feminist, read it anyway.

French's work is a maddening, beautiful, horrific, and eloquent work of artistry that truthfully tells of women's lives. I recently read it at college (yes, I am Feminist, we'll get that out of the way) and this novel allowed me to find the words to connect the thoughts that had been floating in my own head for years. The point of this novel is not even in its compelling, wonderful plot, it is in the ideas expressed and the intelligence of French's work. I am certainly not a 1950's suburban wife with two children, yet I found pieces of my life in every one of the characters of "The Women's Room." If you can get past the insipid idea that French is claiming all men are oppressive, all women meek or radical, and relationships between the genders are doomed, you'll be a different person, emotionally and intellectually by the time you turn the final page. Read it slowly, savour the language, get angry, cry, laugh, become empowered, and find your own voice with the help of this remarkable novel.

One of the most influential books I have ever read.

I am a very fortunate human being. I'm a 32 year old woman engineer. My parents are from India - and they always encouraged me towards the maths and sciences. Now - I am in a happy marriage to a man 4 years my junior, and we enjoy a sense of equality. I also get that same sense of equality (equal pay, opportunity) in the workplace. And yet even for someone as young as I, this book has such powerful meaning. I think it is a must read for all women - especially those of us who were raised during a time where it was easy to feel 'equal' and easy to scornfully cast disparaging remarks at 'those feminists'. Many of my contemporaries make such comments, and scornfully respond to my observations as being outdated "feminist claptrap". We need to keep the memory of the way things were, in order to prevent them from ever getting that way again. We need to remember, and honor our foremothers, and those who continue the 'fight'. If we fail to do these things, it is easy to conceive of a future where we fall back into the old cycles of opression.