I read this because it is the first selection in the new Netflix book club. I'm not really sure what to say about it or even how to rate it. It has such a violent, shocking and abrupt ending that I felt shocked and violated. "Wait. What just happened?" I'll have to think on this one for awhile,. The thing is, no matter how long I think on it, I'll never know for sure. That was the author's intention.
Aside from the ending, the rest of the novella was taut, well-crafted prose. This author conveys more in her little 99 page novella than Ken Follet does in his 1,000 page sagas.
The film will be released in the US on Nov. 10th. I just hope they don't ruin the story as is so often the case when adapting a story for the screen.

"Did she just....No, surely not. But what about....?" ( )

Like a lot of modern american the end is the best part!!!! kinda reminiscent of ethan frome ( )

This is a book I will want to reread when I’m not overwhelmed with teaching and my own school. I rushed through it to get done, some of this short classic dragging along. I was mad Clare didn’t stand up for herself against her husband but also couldn’t imagine being in her shoes. I would never want to hide my history even though I’m so called “passing”. ( )

An interesting book but with no likable characters, which I'm sure was intentional. Passing as white is not the only kind of passing going on here. The novel presents a point of view we don't usually get, but still this is a book obsessed with class and appearances. ( )

At the beginning of Part 2, when Irene is processing her visit in Chicago with Clare and her husband... I notice that Irene seems more critical of Clare than of the husband. I'm torn between interpreting this as a woman being more judgmental of a woman than of a man... and interpreting it as, "Well, that's what you can expect from a white man. Clare should know better." And she judges herself for standing by Clare and not telling off Clare's bigoted husband.

Since this book was originally published in 1929, it's not surprising that the dialogue reminds me of films from the 1930s and 40s. Sometimes I'm picturing it as a black and white film (urgh, no pun intended).

Page 72: Women in 18th century France included Bluestockings who hosted literary salons--not just women who fluttered fans and flirted with swains. And who started the French Revolution? Peasant women furious at the outrageous expense of bread. ( )