Easter Parade is an easy read about two sisters and their very different lives. Sarah Grimes marries quickly and has three children while Emily Grimes focuses on her career. Neither has a happy existence as each sister is deeply flawed. Easter Parade has been described as Yates's most autobiographical novel. Many, if not all, of the characters are loosely based in real people in Yates's lifetime. For some individuals, the veil that separates fiction from reality is spider web thin and they are easily identifiable. Many other details are just as transparent; right down to the name of the house on Long Island.
It has been determined through other documentation that Richard had based the character of Emily on himself. Interesting. I say interesting because I found Emily to be a sad and lonely woman. She bounced from one meaningless sexual encounter to another. Her relationships are shallow and fleeting because she is miserable at picking men or keeping friendships. At times I wanted her to find love while other times I was annoyed by her shrill personality. ( )

The writing was easy to read and the story flowed well but the characters lacked depth for me. The main character was as flat as cardboard, despite her 'promiscuous' nature I felt like she was a robot, devoid of emotion or personality. Her sister had a little more flesh to her but again I just didn't really believe any of them. I'm not sure how they overcame their 'tarnished past' because to me it felt like neither of them really accomplished anything. I'm not sure what the point of this novel was. ( )

8473861094

What a masterpiece. ( )

The plot of this story is heartbreaking. I demanded to be let into the mind of the protagonist, but the author keeps the reader at a distance. This distance really captures the issue of identity for the character and her relationship with herself, her sister, her partners, the world. She lives at a particular distance from everything--and at great cost to happiness. Perhaps the author only intended to tell the story as it unfolded without judgement, which indeed happens. But this kind of distance added, for me, a layer of dissociative tendencies marked by childhood trauma. And for that, it was very well done. ( )