The Magnificent Spinster: A Novel - Softcover

Sarton, May

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393312496 ISBN 13: 9780393312492

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1988

Synopsis

“Absolutely compelling . . . . A monument to love, to friendship, and to the certainty that wisdom and goodness can still exist in a deeply troubled world.” ―Eugenia Thornton, Cleveland Plain Dealer

The “magnificent spinster” is Jane Reid, a teacher who became not only a revered role model but a dear friend to Cam, the narrator of this novel within a novel. After Jane’s death, the accidental discovery of poems written by Cam in her youth to Jane prompts a flood of recollections―and frees Cam to imagine in fiction Jane’s passionately vibrant life.

About this title

About the Author:

May Sarton (1912-1995) was an acclaimed poet, novelist, and memoirist.

Review:

The life story of The Magnificent Spinsier, Jane Reid, is told by Cam, a seventy-year-old retired historian and Jane's friend for fifty years. Born before World War I and raised on an island off the Maine coast, Jane grows up with her extended family - her parents, five sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, close family friends - in a world of rustic white-anglo-saxon-protestant elegance. The children's main excitements center around "escaping the grown-ups," especially their nanny, Snooker: "Jane's world was running off with her sister Alix to pick blueberries, lying for hours in the soft warm grass, filling their baskets, or simply sneaking off to explore, if possible get lost, and frighten themselves with imaginary dangers, and frighten Snooker by being late for lunch." As Jane becomes an adult, her gentle persistence and intelligent strength steer her clear of conventional expectations. She remains single, becomes a well-loved teacher, does what she can for the war-wounded world, and moves easily into the role of family mentor as the elders pass on. Written in lovely and compelling prose, this is a long and spacious novel about a kind of life and love rarely acknowledged. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0393312496
• ISBN 13: 9780393312492
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384