Virginia

Before reading Ellen Glasgow's fiction, I recommend that you read her autobiography 'Woman Within'. It will add much to the enjoyment of reading 'Virginia'. In Glasgow's autobiography, Glasgow was the 'other woman'. The main character, Virginia Treadwell, is the wronged wife in this story. I see other parallels as well. The playwright traveled to New York City to get his writing noticed. Cyrus Treadwell was portrayed in a way that resembled Ellen's own father. There is plenty of suffering for Virginia during her married life. In fact, the book goes on and on and on about that. Ellen Glasgow went on and on and on about her suffering from losses of loved ones, etc. In fact I was rather irritated about that characteristic of both the autobiography and this novel. But, after all, you cannot deny that women of that time suffered greatly again and again and again. I enjoyed the book for its historical content. This novel allowed me to travel back to an earlier time in the Virginian South and see how people lived then. I am particularly interested in the post-civil war Virginia right now. I got a glimpse of the green shoots of women's attitudes toward equality during the 1880's - 1930's. The characters in the book seemed very real to me. I found it an enjoyable read and plan to go check out more of Glasgow's fiction from our local library. You probably won't find her books in most libraries even though she was a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1945. But here in Virginia her books do have historic value and human interest so they are easier to borrow.