Rhoda: A Life in Stories Tag: Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

The first few stories in this book, which chronicle the character Rhoda as she goes through adolescence, are captivating. However, Rhoda`s character dims slightly as she enters adulthood. She gets married, divorces, and has sex; all for a couple hundred pages that aren`t particularly inspired. The last two stories, however, make up for the lapse, as we see Rhoda finally matured.Overall, I reccomend this book. It is a page turner, and the complex character of Rhoda is enchanting and memorable.

I first discovered Rhoda Manning in Gilchrist's book, Net of Jewels, from there I was captivated. What happened to Rhoda...what made Rhoda the complex character that she is? This book explains it all from when she was a small child to her adult years.I was particulary impressed with her teenage years leading up to her tumultuous, first marriage. Gilchrist has vivid and colorful descriptions for all of her characters, and will not leave you disapointed.

Rhoda Manning is easily my favorite Gilchrist character and this book contains all the Rhoda stories from all Gilchrist's other published short story collections. That makes this the book to own for Rhoda fans, in my opinion.The author has written before how she is/is not like Rhoda, but regardless of how much Rhoda's character may be autobiographical, Rhoda sparkles and comes to life in these stories.Recommended also is "Net of Jewels", a novel starring Rhoda, but Gilchrist does much better at short stories than novels, in my opinion.