Review of MRS. EVERYTHING by Jennifer Weiner (New Release)

3 Stars

This lengthy novel tells the story of two sisters, Jo and Bethie Kaufman, from the 1950s to 2016. Growing up in Detroit, Jo is the tomboy who dreams of being a writer while Bethie is pretty and popular and believes her destiny is to be a star.  Of course, their lives take unexpected turns.  The book is actually a journey through American social history, focusing on the role/status of women in society during this period, so the names of the protagonists are surely an allusion to Little Women.

The book references many historical events including the civil rights movement, Woodstock, the Vietnam War, the women’s rights movement, and even the #MeToo movement.  The assassination of JFK, the moon landing, and the 2016 Democratic National Convention are mentioned.  Cultural allusions to music and film abound. 

The emphasis is on the experience of women in a male-dominated society, and the major characters or their female family members experience virtually everything:  rape, sexual harassment in the workplace, sexual assault, abortion, romantic heartbreak, eating disorders, body image issues, traditional marriage, commune living, same-sex relationship, bi-racial relationship, motherhood, unwanted pregnancy, single parenthood, unfaithful spouse, promiscuity, divorce, widowhood, stay-at-home parenting, balancing of career and family obligations, conflicts with parents and siblings, economic hardship, career success and failure, drug use, cancer. 

My problem with the book is that the writer tried too hard to touch on all possible experiences a woman might have.  At one point, Jo wonders “whether [women] would ever not try to have it all and do it all” and this is the feeling I had about the author:  while bemoaning women being Mrs. Everything, the author becomes Mrs. Everything Writer.  It’s as if she had a list of female trials, traumas and tragedies which she had to check off one by one. 

The theme is that things for women have changed but they haven’t changed enough.  In the mid-20^th-century, women were told that the most important role for a woman was to be married and to be a mother so a woman who did not marry or a married woman who did not have children was regarded with suspicion.  On the other hand, a woman living in the 21^st century is expected to have a career so any woman who wants only to be a mother is considered unambitious:  “’You can say you want to be a mom and something else.  Or you can be a mom after you’ve done something else.  But that, just by itself, that’s not enough.’”  Appropriately, the book ends with Hillary Clinton’s nomination as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate but we know how that election turned out.  Perhaps, the author suggests, stories “about brave little girls and happy endings [can only begin with] ‘Once upon a time’.”

The message for women is that “women should forgive themselves . . . [and] take care of themselves with kindness.  The world was hard enough, would beat them up enough without them adding to the pain.”  In other words, they should not try to be everything to everyone and should focus on finding happiness by being true to themselves. 

The pace is slow at times so that the book felt overly long.  I also had issues with virtually all the men being portrayed as either weak or bad.  At the beginning, the author addresses her readers and acknowledges that this book is her longest and “the most ambitious work I’ve ever attempted.”  I applaud her efforts but think that perhaps a less-ambitious novel might have been more compelling.

Note:  I received a digital galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.