Reply To: TBC: Kate Quinn says she “really wanted to look at a microcosm of the issues that are hitting women in the early 1950s.”

I think most of the women in the book chafe against the societal expectations and strict conservatism (and the misogyny often disguised as morality) of the 1950s—especially the idea that a woman’s only place/role is in the home, raising children and caring for her husband (but I’ll note I in no way denigrate the women who do). My mother, who was a teenager in the early 1950s, struggled with these pressures. She would sometimes tell me about her desire to break free from those expectations and was often wistful that she hadn’t been able to pursue the education she truly wanted when she was younger (money and her mother being roadblocks). I see her story and her struggle reflected in many of the women in the book, especially with Felicity — at home, taking care of the kids, but longing to put her talents to full use.

Reka to me was like the Avant Garde artists of the 1930s of Berlin, Paris, Vienna who shocked the establishment with their music, art, film. Many had to flee to the United States prior to the war or during the war because of the Nazis. Some Berliners became successes in the US – Max Ernst (artist mentioned in the book), Kadinsky, Marlene Dietrich, Billy Wilder, Otto Preminger (I’ll note that Preminger played a big role fighting against the Hollywood blacklist during the Red Scare.) These artists often came under scrutiny by McCarthy (because he liked to target celebrity). They had lived through the hardships of dictators, the war, having to leave their lives and families behind. So I thought Reka’s story spoke to the immigrants who came over having lost their careers, status, and homes in order to save their lives.

Nora and Bea want careers but both seem to know they have to sacrifice their personal lives for them. Nora couldn’t be seen as having any moral impropriety. It’s an injustice, because her brother and Xavier can get away with crime and corruption and it doesn’t affect their careers. Yet, being a woman she faces a moral scrutiny. Bea also faces that double standard having to work twice as hard and be seen as “one of the guys” to pursue her career and knowing that as an athlete she was always seen by men as second tier.

Claire and Grace to me exemplify the women survivors. Those that have endured tremendous hardship – true poverty, starvation and violence. Yet they hide their strength from the world. I don’t know if it’s out of fear or wisdom or a bit of both. But they are pragmatic about the world, Claire maybe being a bit more cynical than Grace. Grace, I feel, is fearless after escaping from an unimaginable repression. All the women are repressed in some way but she has had the most extreme of it, yet she opens her heart. She’s truly resilient, like so many women are or are forced to be by circumstances.

I don’t know if I identify with any one woman in particular but I can recognize their struggles, in the stories the women in my family have shared with me and with some of the experiences I have had in my life. I think Kate Quinn has a talent for drawing out universal women’s issues and experiences through her historical stories. And Jane, Nancy, and Libby thank you for sharing your comments and experiences too.