Goodbye Without Leaving

What a fun novel. It tells a familiar story of a woman who becomes a wife and mother and feels like she's lost her own identity. But Corwin provides such an interesting back story for Geraldine that it feels fresh. I loved the inclusion of her work with African-Americans and a German-Jewish group, as well as the wry humor throughout the story. The audio, read by Renata Friedman, is excellent.

4 stars

About a woman, Geraldine, trying to find out where she belongs. (M)others try and tell her but she rejects what they say. Sometimes her very rejection looks like a place to belong. While we enjoy searching with her, rooting for her to succeed, we understand that her search is misguided.

Her friend Mary appears to know where she herself belongs (and eventually goes there). Her husband finds that Geraldine is where he belongs--paradoxical since Geraldine thinks she's nowhere at all. She understands that her son will need a heritage or share her fate and attempts to learn one for him while we and the others just shrug our shoulders at this.

Her best bet, those closest to her often tell her, is to accept her role of rock singer. She is (sort show more of) convinced that to do so would at best be to co-opt Black music, and yet, maybe this dishonorable role (though her Black colleagues are only encouraging) is what she needs to embrace.

The reader himself should not have to feel lost in the end, even if the main character doesn't succeed in finding herself. Or should he? Is that need for closure nothing but a lie that other novels pander to their readers to supply? show less

Une auteure dite "mineure", que j'ai découvert par pur hasard et qui est "majeure" dans un style de charme délicat(elle est hélas morte récemment, très jeune). Je conseille "Comment se dire adieu", (horrible traduction du titre anglais, comme d'hab): l'histoire d'une étudiante américaine qui se retrouve soudain l'unique choriste blanche d'un groupe pop noir dans les années 70 et partage avec eux quelques années de tournées sur les routes. Avec sa mini- jupe à paillettes et la batterie qui tappe juste derrière elle, sur la scène, elle vit ses meilleures années. Mais après la dissolution du groupe, il y a le mariage, l'enfant, et la difficulté de se réinsérer dans une vie toute simple et très blanche.