A short and compelling read that follows two sisters through the events of their lives. Melancholy in a wonderful way. I really enjoyed the story and immediately went out and purchased Revolutionary Road. Hope it lives up to The Easter Parade. ( )

I saw 'Revolutionary Road' at the cinema, and was impressed as well as mildly depressed by it. 'The Easter Parade' is my first experience of reading Yates, and I have to say that it is an excellent book. Yates has a way of writing about unhappy women that makes them sympathetic but approachable characters.

'The Easter Parade' follows the lives and shifting fortunes of two sisters, and the men they love. Sadly, neither finds true happiness along the way, but then the story would have lost some of itself had that been the case. ( )

Richard Yates has had something of a revival lately. I've wanted to read "The Easter Parade" ever since I heard it mentioned in "Hannah and Her Sisters," where Barbara Hershey's character Lee thanks Michael Caine's character Elliott for lending her the book, mentioning it had real meaning for her. That movie is an upbeat tale (on the surface) of three sisters and their friends and family. All the movie would seem to have in common with The Easter Parade is the boozy old mother.

But underneath, the novel and that movie do share certain themes: what does it mean, for example, to be a sister? How do you choose a life for yourself when you have no model to follow? What happens to women who don't marry, devote themselves to family and children?

"Hannah and Her Sisters" has a happy ending, but "The Easter Parade" most decidedly does *not*. Yates's story of two sisters and their lives is a wrenching tale, even in its brighter moments. What I found most interesting was Yates's keen sensibility in portraying Emily, the main protagonist, the "independent" sister who never marries, who tries to carve out a life for herself. In some sense, this is like a Rona Jaffe novel gone awry--a compliment, because Yates...how to put this?...speaks a woman's language, speaks to her fears, as well as to her hopes.

Yates's writing is very modern, and with the recent interest surrounding "Revolutionary Road" and shows like "Mad Men," readers should have no problem falling right into this story. ( )

Very sparse and horribly depressing. ( )

I won this book through Early Reviewers on LibraryThing but when I got it Revolutionary Road was just playing and I didn't think this book would be for me. After getting a push from the Early Reviewers I read the book. It is the story of two sisters starting in 1930 and progressing through their lives focusing mainly on Emily, the younger of the two. It was quite a depressing book, full of alcohol drinking, sexual experiences and people who are not happy. There is really little plot but Yates does have a crisp writing style that works. While Yates does get some things right about those times as a woman I felt he as a man missed some things about the heart of a woman. I never really liked either of the main characters and couldn't identify with them. The story really doesn't have any hope until the last two pages of the book and that was not soon enough for me. ( )