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Crossing Washington Square (2009)

by Joanne Rendell(Favorite Author)

3.32 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0451227840 (ISBN13: 9780451227843)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

NAL Trade

review 1: I gave this novel 5 stars because it was so much more than a typical chick lit novel. I was really impressed by references to Jane Austen, the Howard Duffy lobotomy, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, and the novel "The Bell Jar." The author has a PHD in literature and it shows, but incorporates all the charm of a modern day "Bridget Jones Diary". That accomplishment in and of itself is the central theme of the novel, and how women should and can work together and support each other in a male dominated field. A truly feminist novel and a lot of fun.
review 2: Interesting characters. Talented author with a good writing style. Good debate about popular fiction vs. classic literature.STORY BRIEF:The main characters are literature professors. Rachel is 31. Her spec... moreialty is contemporary fiction including romance novels and chick lit. She has just been hired to teach at (fictional) Manhattan University. She is frustrated with apathetic students and lack of friendship and respect from her peers (other professors). Rachel broke up with her boyfriend before coming to New York. She is energetic, passionate, and shows her feelings.Diana is 41. Her husband Graham left her five years ago for a younger woman. She has been seeing Mikey who is a computer technician at the university. Mikey adores her. Diana is embarrassed to have a relationship with him. She is a tenured professor specializing in the poet Sylvia Plath. She looks down her nose at romance novels calling them “soft porn for desperate housewives, poorly written, littered with adverbs, and recycled trite stories about heroines swooning over devilishly handsome men.” From the beginning she dislikes Rachel who reminds her of the woman who stole her husband. Diana criticizes Rachel in front of others. Diana is rigid and respected by her peers. She is also loved by her students.Carson is a visiting professor from Harvard, spending one term at Manhattan University. He is extremely handsome and independently wealthy. He is a big flirt – with both Diana and Rachel. Rachel would love to have a relationship with him. He and Diana were friends years ago when they were students together.REVIEWER’S OPINION:I’m a lover of romance novels, so my opinion comes from that angle. This was a good story. The characters were well done. I enjoyed the debates and discussions about romance novels vs. classic literature. I liked Rachel’s definition of chick lit as “popular women’s fiction…fiction by women, about women, and for women.” The best part was seeing how the conflicts and dislike between the two women changed. I liked the happy endings for both Diana and Rachel. There were a few books mentioned by the characters that I plan to read. The author writes well which makes sense since she has a PhD in English literature. Whether you like the plot or not, she brings the characters to life and tells the story in an engaging way.At the end of the book is a four-page “Conversation With Joanne Rendell” – very worthwhile. She talks more about the debate between the study of the classics and “high” literature vs. popular fiction. She talks about other things as well.REVIEWER’S OPINION ABOUT ADVERBS:The character Diana criticized romance novels as being “littered with adverbs.” A few times I’ve heard other fiction authors talk about cutting adverbs from their writing which mystifies me. I didn’t notice many adverbs in this book, so I’m guessing the author made an effort to avoid them or to remove them. By cutting adverbs she ends up with something that feels more cerebral and less emotionally engaging. Three top selling authors come to mind who use adverbs “a lot.” The number one selling fiction author “in the world” is JK Rowling. John Grisham is a top selling author for legal/crime suspense. Georgette Heyer is a top selling romance author. Following are some examples from their novels that show how engaging and descriptive adverbs can be.From Rowling’s first Harry Potter book: whispering excitedly, eyed them angrily, acting oddly today, fell asleep quickly, appeared so suddenly and silently.From Grishams “The Client:” the passenger door suddenly flew open, slowly looked at Ricky, he exhaled calmly, Mark carefully picked a cigarette from his shirt pocket, Mark suddenly remembered.From Heyer’s “Venetia:” she added shyly smiling, clasping her hands loosely in her lap, fanned herself idly, he surveyed his youthful foe sardonically, an oddly disquieting smile in his eyes, he was still smiling but not pleasantly.I don’t know who is telling authors to cut adverbs, but I wish they would stop. The public obviously loves adverbs because that’s what they buy. I wonder what this author would be like if she used more adverbs the way these other authors do.OTHER BOOKS:To date this author has written three books. My ratings are:4 stars. The Professors’ Wives’ Club. Copyright 20084 stars. Crossing Washington Square. Copyright 2009(to read soon) Out of the Shadows. Copyright: 2010DATA:Story length: 308 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: maybe two or three, but they are referred to not shown. Setting: current day New York City, NY, London and a small town in England. Copyright: 2009. Genre: women’s relationship fiction, chick lit. less

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