Open House: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
by Elizabeth Berg
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Book Summary Information
Author: Elizabeth BergEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-05-01
ISBN: 0345435168
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Open House: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: (2.5) Trouble in paradise
Summary: 2 Stars
Open House is categorized as "women's fiction" because it is written for a niche audience, life-lite for those who want to read a sad story, but not too sad. One with a happy ending: woman loses self, finds self, meets man, lives happily ever after.
When Sam's husband tells her he wants a divorce, she is devastated and runs out to spend her rich husband's money as a panacea. Then she takes in boarders without checking their references, accepts a series of temporary jobs that pay minimum wage (she has a college degree) and meets lots of nice, friendly folks she never knew existed. On her agonizing journey towards self-discovery, Sam sheds a lot of tears, all for herself, her financial issues apparently addressed by the boarders. If this is a forty one-year old woman, she is living in the wrong century.
I have no real issue with this book except that there is no challenge here for the reader and I believe that readers like to stretch their imaginations and broaden their horizons. My real concern is that the plot perpetuates the stereotype of the helpless damsel in distress, her husband the sole breadwinner (in this case some significant bread) and she just can't get her silly head around the issues she has to face. Of course, the heroine finds a man to save her, a kindly, gentle man to whom she turns for help constantly. A college degree is useless, apparently, for this woman is only willing to entertain temporary employment (giving change at a laundromat, wielding a hammer at a construction site, passing out samples at the supermarket) and rents rooms to strangers.
If this is women's fiction, I'll eat my fairy tales. Most divorced women don't enjoy any of the luxuries of this lady. Most divorced women care for their children and hold fulltime jobs. This helpless victim serves no one's interests and doesn't reflect reality (except in those happily-ever-after fairy tales). I have nothing against escape fiction, but why not offer a protagonist with some guts, instead of this insipid, helpless female? No wonder women aren't taken seriously. What is Rapunzel to do? Luan Gaines/ 2005.
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