The Optimist's Daughter
Ratings13
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings13
Average rating3.9
The Optimist's Daughter is the story of Laurel McKelva Hand, a young woman who has left the South and returns, years later, to New Orleans, where her father is dying. After his death, she and her silly young stepmother go back still farther, to the small Mississippi town where she grew up. Alone in the old house, Laurel finally comes to an understanding of the past, herself, and her parents.
Reviews with the most likes.
The Optimist's Daughter may well be my first reading of Eudora Welty. It's engrossing because it is so very realistic. I was with Laurel the whole way, even when I questioned her unfailing protectiveness to her parents' memories. I had mad respect for her. The Optimist's Daughter, I feel, is mostly about class- and one's place in a class. That said, it's about real situations and how one might deal with them. A scene that stood out to me was the one in which Laurel's friends and neighbors are in the garden gossiping about Laurel's stepmother. I was saddened by the ending, as it closes the book on three lives, but it had to happen. I'm not sure what the character of Mr. Cheek really stood for, I'm sure some English major has a theory. Laurel is quite the independent woman with a career and a life in a city on her own.
Overall, it's a classic I was able to read in one sitting (not that was the intention) with interesting characters and a unique (to me) setting. Honestly, part of me wishes I lived in a world in which the neighbors were so very close, and part of me is relieved that I don't.
Great read.
Books
7 booksIf you enjoyed this book, then our algorithm says you may also enjoy these.
