Divining Women

Written by Kaye Gibbons

Narrated by Kaye Gibbons

A powerful new novel from the bestselling author of Ellen Foster
Autumn, 1918: Rumors of peace are spreading across America, but spreading even faster are the first cases of Spanish influenza, whispering of the epidemic to come. Maureen Ross, well past a safe childbearing age, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Her husband, Troop -- cold and careless of her condition -- is an emotional cripple who has battered her spirit throughout their marriage. As Maureen's time grows near, she becomes convinced she will die in childbirth. Into this loveless ménage comes Mary Oliver, Troop's niece. The sheltered child of a well-to-do freethinking Washington family, Mary arrives to help Maureen in the last weeks of her confinement. Horrified by Troop's bullying, she soon discovers that her true duty is to protect her aunt.
As influenza spreads and the death toll grows, Troop's spiteful behaviors worsen. Tormenting his wife, taunting her for her "low birth," Troop terrorizes the household. When Mary fights back, he goes over the edge. Maureen rallies with a stunning confrontation and, ultimately, finds spiritual renewal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Apr 1, 2004
• ISBN: 9780743539371

Kaye Gibbons

Kaye Gibbons was born in 1960 in Nash County, North Carolina, on Bend of the River Road. She attended North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying American and English literature. At twenty-six years old, she wrote her first novel, Ellen Foster. She is also the author of A Virtuous Woman, Charms for the Easy Life, On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon, A Cure for Dreams, Sights Unseen, and Divining Women.

Reviews for Divining Women

[shesinplainview · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although this was not as good as Gibbon's other books, I did still enjoy it. The parts about the parents and grandparents were pretty kooky but the meat of the story, a girl helping her aunt who is abused by her husband redeemed it.

[joririchardson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this tale of marriage gone very wrong, a girl inspires in her tragic aunt the courage and motivation to challenge and leave her abusive husband, despite the fact that she is pregnant with their first child.I wanted to like this book, because the sensitive topic of abused women and hurtful relationships was quite realistic. I felt sympathetic for Maureen, the wife.However, I felt that nothing here was anything beyond average (and that's at best). The whole book felt estranged from the reader, despite the tender topics introduced. The book was unfocused and at most times, dull and boring. Many of the things the author went on for chapters about seemed trivial, while bigger and more important events did not get so much attention.The influenza epidemic, which was supposed to have a large role to play, never really came to anything. It certainly fell short of being any memorable aspect of the book.The only portions of this book that made me feel anything except boredom were the rare little moments between Maureen and her spiteful husband, Troop. The abused wife and the abusing husband were two roles that the author knew how to write, and for that I am giving it another half star that came very close to making this book a 3.However, I can honestly say that I didn't enjoy it, and I will be getting rid of it. A disappointment.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Audiobook read by the author. 3.5*** In 1918 Mary Oliver, the child of well-to-do and somewhat liberal parents and raised in Washington DC, goes to spend time with her uncle Troop Ross, and his wife Maureen, who is expecting her first child. They live in small town in North Carolina, on a property a little out of town. Mary quickly learns that Troop is a bully, keeping his wife isolated, belittling her concerns, and threatening to put her in an asylum if she doesn’t shape up. The Spanish influenza epidemic further isolates the women, but also strengthens their resolve.I have been a fan of Gibbons’ writing since the 1990s. For a time, I was devouring every one of her books; and I’ve read several of them more than once. But somehow, I missed this book until now.I like the way Gibbons writes her characters. There are some very unpleasant goings on, and much of it makes me in turns uncomfortable, despairing, and angry. I was rather irritated with Mary for a time, feeling that she was butting in where she had no business. But as it became clear how much control Troop exerted over Maureen, I began to cheer for Mary’s involvement. This is at a time when women had few rights on their own, and yet Mary refused to be cowed by her uncle. And her strength empowered Maureen to fight for the freedom and respect she was due. Brava, ladies!Gibbons narrates the audiobook herself. I really did not like her performance at all. She showed little emotion and it seemed like a student reading aloud because she was required to do so. Only 1 star for her performance on the audio. I think I’ll pick this up again at a later date and read it in text format.

[reinadecopiaypega · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Yet another winner by Kaye Gibbons !

[lucybrown_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Talk about incohesive & improbable. In the same vein as Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall or Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Divining Women is the story of a woman's victory over her emotionally sadistic husband. Maureen, an expectant mother, is all but a reclusive and seeming hysteric after years of emotional battery and isolation, but awareness of her options enters when her young niece comes to be a companion to her in her last trimester.

First, what this book gets right. The setting with the backdrop of returning WWI vets and the Spanish flu epidemic is well done. Mary, the niece is a spunky character, but a bit hard to believe in.

The story is told through Mary's narration, but at times it goes off into preachy rambles about what a woman needs. This would have an excellent place for showing, not telling. In fact, the author had already done that through letters from self-realized women. But even those were on the preachy side and felt false. Here is where my incohesive verdict comes in.

As for improbable, Mary's free-thinking Washington family with their ghost hostel was a real stretch. All four of her grandparents live together, which of course reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Unlike Charlie's ancients though, Mary's are rich, but thrifty, a trait which incenses her brother who eventually kills himself because he can't have his every wish and first class tickets. The point of including this brother mystfies me. Is he there as a shadow for the abusive Troop Ross, indication of a family evil streak? But framed in Troop's study is a school report card which shows him as having more in common with his father than his mother, at least before is mother leaves his father because of his free-wheeling ways, free love and nudist retreats included.
Throughout the author paints Troop as a man emotionally crippled by his mother's hatefulness and control, so what is the point of the brother? And, come on, people do not kill themselves because they aren't granted every luxury. Okay, maybe they do, but really? Really? The snarky side of me says he is there to garner extra Southern gothic points.

The last two books I have read by Kaye Gibbons have been huge disappointments. She has an undeniable talent for telling the stories of women and girls who endure, and then overcome difficult situations, usually situations caused by a sadistic father or husband. In Ellen Foster and A Virtuous Woman she shows remarkable adeptness in establishing an enduring and authentic narrative voice. Sights Unseen is a powerful account as seen through the eyes of a daughter of the effect of a mother's bipolar disorder on her loving, but suffering family. However, Divining Women and The Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster have such reaches into the unlikely and so many womens studies rambles that they lose their narrative power.

[robindawson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’m a big fan of Kaye Gibbs novels – I love her feisty women and their sharp witted humour, but this one was rather a disappointment.In the first third of the novel left me a little confused about the family connections – had trouble keeping track of relationships across the three generations. More importantly, I felt the novel’s ‘message’ (that the psychological abuse of women is never to be tolerated) was too obvious and too heavy handed. I agree entirely with the sentiment but it dominated to the detriment of the novel. The novel is set in 1918 when the war is ending and the community is gripped with fear and panic about the influenza epidemic – a situation we can identify with today as Swine flu spreads around the world.