Gloria
by Keith Maillard
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Description
Light in the Company of Women glittered with turn-of-the-century romance. Hazard Zones resonated with a contemporary exploration of a man's past. Now Gloria -- the newest novel in Keith Maillard's acclaimed Raysburg series -- transports us deep into the 1950s and straight into the heart of a young woman struggling to find her true self.Her rich father calls his beautiful, brainy daughter "Princess". Her glamorous -- and often jealous -- mother calls her "Princess Priss". Her Big Man On show more Campus boyfriend calls her his fiancee, until, inexplicably, she calls off the engagement. Only Gloria seems unsure of her true identity. She sees only a dark, rat-faced, neurotic intellectual hiding behind the facade of a clothes-horse debutante.In this stylish literary novel, richly infused with the mood, mores and fashions of the 1950s, Gloria finds her carefully constructed world beginning to unravel the summer after she graduates from college. In her country club society, women wear girdles, three-inch heels and their boyfriends' fraternity pins, talk endlessly about boys and clothes, but seldom about books or ideas -- Gloria's passions in life. Gloria has become a reluctant expert at preening and pretending her way through this claustrophobic, closeted community, but she must confront darker realities: the smoke-spewing mills that are the source of her father's wealth, the avuncular navy buddy of her father's who stalks her, and her own nightmares. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This is a credible and fascinating glimpse into a world that probably no longer exists. The innocence of the '50s juxtaposed with the "sophisticated" main character is compelling. I found her mother to be equally interesting in her love/hate relationship with her daughter. Intelligence was evidently not a desirable attribute in a southern girl at that time, and Gloria's struggles with that make this an aborbing read. Gloria's conflicts with her inner and outer self and "the secret watcher" are worth a few second thoughts. Maillard is a very talented author.
One of the best books I've ever read. Gloria's voice & world are wholly absorbing & I felt everything she did. I was sad when it ended but I know I'll enjoy visiting her again one day.
SPOILER! i love this book. i started skimming over parts of thanksgiving with susie, and just couldn't handle the last scene with bill, skipped there too. i suppose it made sense that she ended the book in writing feverishly, i think, i skipped here too. i love the plain symbolism of the heat, the great storm, the nemesis bill, the last scene bringing gloria full circle again with boarding school.
i'm very fond of gloria. i like the secret watcher. and gloria is intensely likable, unperfect and yet, she is.
i'm very fond of gloria. i like the secret watcher. and gloria is intensely likable, unperfect and yet, she is.
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Author Information
17 Works 365 Members
Keith Maillard teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Gloria
- Original publication date
- 1999
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PR9199.3 .M345 .G57 — Language and Literature English English Literature English literature: Provincial, local, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 132
- Popularity
- 248,781
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.90)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 4
