Mrs. Everything: A NovelA NEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2019 SELECTION ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF 2019 THE WASHINGTON POST’S 50 NOTABLE WORKS OF FICTION IN 2019 GOOD HOUSEKEEPING’S 50 BEST BOOKS OF 2019 An instant New York Times bestseller “A multigenerational narrative that’s nothing short of brilliant.” —People “Simply unputdownable.” —Good Housekeeping “The perfect book club pick.” —SheReads Named a Best Book of Summer by Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, PopSugar, HelloGiggles, and Refinery29 From Jennifer Weiner, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Who Do You Love and In Her Shoes comes a smart, thoughtful, and timely exploration of two sisters’ lives from the 1950s to the present as they struggle to find their places—and be true to themselves—in a rapidly evolving world. Do we change or does the world change us? Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise. Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life. But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after? In her most ambitious novel yet, Jennifer Weiner tells a story of two sisters who, with their different dreams and different paths, offer answers to the question: How should a woman be in the world? |
Contents
Section 1 | 1 |
Section 2 | 7 |
Section 3 | 12 |
Section 4 | 20 |
Section 5 | 31 |
Section 6 | 38 |
Section 7 | 51 |
Section 8 | 79 |
Section 17 | 247 |
Section 18 | 270 |
Section 19 | 304 |
Section 20 | 320 |
Section 21 | 326 |
Section 22 | 343 |
Section 23 | 350 |
Section 24 | 357 |
Section 9 | 88 |
Section 10 | 101 |
Section 11 | 127 |
Section 12 | 146 |
Section 13 | 166 |
Section 14 | 189 |
Section 15 | 209 |
Section 16 | 225 |
Section 25 | 379 |
Section 26 | 398 |
Section 27 | 411 |
Section 28 | 439 |
Section 29 | 449 |
Section 30 | 463 |
Section 31 | 465 |
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Common terms and phrases
Ann Arbor arms baby bedroom bell-bottom Bethie asked Bethie felt Bethie knew Bethie thought Bethie's Blue Hill Farm breath called cheeks chest dark daughter Dave Devon dinner door dress eyes face father feel feet fingers Finkelbein fitness trail floor Flora friends front gave girls glass going gotten grabbed hair hairspray hand Harold Jell-O Jo asked Jo thought Jo's kids kiss kitchen laugh legs Lila Lila say Lila's lips looked Lynnette Lynnette's morning mother mouth never night nodded Nonie okay Phil Ochs pulled remember Ronnie Sarah Shabbat she'd Shelley Shelley's shirt shook her head shoulders sighed sister skin smelled smile someone sorry sound stared stood talk tell things told took trying turkey turned Uncle Mel underneath voice waiting walked watched whispered who'd woman women wondered York City