Wednesday, October 05, 2005
book forty-six
Mrs. Kimble
by Jennifer Haigh
I have to start by saying that I really didn't like this book. It's well-written and I would definitely try other books by Jennifer Haigh, but I couldn't get over the fact that I hated all the characters. Kind of like the movie "Closer" - it was well-made and the acting was good, but I hated all of those people!
Anyway, "Mrs. Kimble" is about three women who are each married at different times to Ken Kimble, who I thought was a shiftless loser who made his living mooching off of women who didn't know any better. The first is Birdie, a college student who Ken meets when he is her choir director at school. At the beginning of the book, Ken has already abandoned Birdie and their two small children, and she is rapidly spiralling into an alcoholic stupor.
The second Mrs. Kimble is Joan, a Jewish woman in Florida who is recovering from breast cancer. She meets Ken when he shows up as the fiance of one of Joan's friends' daughter, another college student that Ken met on the job. Ken dumps the girl for Joan.
The third Mrs. Kimble is Dinah, who had been his children's babysitter when they were small. She has a large port-wine birthmark on her face and is flattered by Ken's attention.
The thing that drove me nuts, though, is that all three of these women were total suckers. I found it sad and frustrating that they were so desparate for a husband that they were willing to overlook Ken's obvious flaws and the holes in his story. Also, I understand the story is about the women and not about Ken, but I wish we'd gotten some insight into how he turned out to be such a conniving jerk.
by Jennifer Haigh
I have to start by saying that I really didn't like this book. It's well-written and I would definitely try other books by Jennifer Haigh, but I couldn't get over the fact that I hated all the characters. Kind of like the movie "Closer" - it was well-made and the acting was good, but I hated all of those people!
Anyway, "Mrs. Kimble" is about three women who are each married at different times to Ken Kimble, who I thought was a shiftless loser who made his living mooching off of women who didn't know any better. The first is Birdie, a college student who Ken meets when he is her choir director at school. At the beginning of the book, Ken has already abandoned Birdie and their two small children, and she is rapidly spiralling into an alcoholic stupor.
The second Mrs. Kimble is Joan, a Jewish woman in Florida who is recovering from breast cancer. She meets Ken when he shows up as the fiance of one of Joan's friends' daughter, another college student that Ken met on the job. Ken dumps the girl for Joan.
The third Mrs. Kimble is Dinah, who had been his children's babysitter when they were small. She has a large port-wine birthmark on her face and is flattered by Ken's attention.
The thing that drove me nuts, though, is that all three of these women were total suckers. I found it sad and frustrating that they were so desparate for a husband that they were willing to overlook Ken's obvious flaws and the holes in his story. Also, I understand the story is about the women and not about Ken, but I wish we'd gotten some insight into how he turned out to be such a conniving jerk.
Labels: book reports
