Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh

Well, I've just finished the novel above. It's my third time reading this author (Baker Towers and The Condition) which means I obviously like her. This one was no different...probably my favorite of the three.

Mrs. Kimble is a novel that revolves around three women (Birdie, Joan and Dinah), all of whom made the mistake of marrying the same opportunistic jackass, Ken Kimble. The novel spans a 25 year period (1969-1994) and follows, in three parts, the wooing and then heartbreak that Ken Kimble creates for his current target. This is Haigh's first novel and she does a great job creating the epitome of scum in her male character. You find in the first few pages what happens to Kimble in the end (so this next bit of info ruins nothing) and knowing that someone so despicable gets his comeuppance certainly makes reading much easier - except, of course that I wished his ending had been a tad more painful!

I certainly recommend this novel. There are some reviews that say there are several "holes" in Haigh's debut but I don't feel that to be the case. It grabbed me right away and kept me reading, non-stop with anticipation.

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh

I'm now on to The Condition by Jennifer Haigh (she wrote Baker Towers). This novel is about the McKotches, a family living in New England with three kids. During the summer of 1976, the father, Frank realizes that there's something terribly wrong with his youngest daughter, Gwen. She seems infantile and childlike in comparison to other kids her age. Eventually she is diagnosed with Turner's Syndrome - a genetic condition that doesn't allow her to mature, leaving her trapped in the body of a child. As the years pass, the novel follows the family (including Gwen's older brothers and mother) as they deal with the fallout of Gwen's diagnosis. I'm only on page 10 but I like it so far and find it to be an easy read. I'll let you know.

Update:  Okay, so I finished The Condition by Jennifer Haigh. I really, really liked it! Good, developed characters; an easy read - quick but not a piece of fluff. Jennifer Haigh really does a good job developing her character (this is the second book I've read by her) and really making you feel you are a part of the families she's writing about or at least feel their angst. The dynamics of the family in The Condition are believable and probably very familiar to many of us out there. A definite recommendation.

Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh

I am now on to a novel that, interestingly has this on the cover: "Effortlessly haunting...like Richard Russo's Empire Falls...utterly, entrancingly alive on the page" (from the NY Times). I guess if I liked my last novel, I better like this one. It takes place in the 1940s in a Pennsylvania mining town and features the Novak family. Specifically, Italian Rose Novak who broke with tradition by marrying a Polish man, who happens to die in the book's first chapter. Following that, the story is about Rose and her five children as they struggle through the years that follow. I look forward to this one as the author has consistently written acclaimed novels. Her first - Mrs. Kimble - won the PEN/Hemingway Award. I'll let you know.

Update:  So I finished Baker Towers - it was really good! I wasn't thrilled about the ending - it just seemed to end sort of abruptly. Other than that, however, it was a quick, enjoyable read. I think anyone who grew up in small towns - especially small mining towns - will appreciate it. Interesting too was the description of this town (based, I'm sure on towns like it) made up of a mishmash of ethnic groups - Polish, Italian, Irish etc. - separated into ethnic "districts" after WWII. By the end of the book - about a 25 year span - the groups had all become interwoven and those invisible yet obvious lines once drawn, were no longer noticeable. I can't imagine living the life of a coal miner nor a coal miners daughter or wife. The lifespan itself is deplorable just with breathing all that coal dust, not to mention the risks of collapse that the miners dealt with every day. Anyway another recommended book.