Reviews for Hilda and Pearl

The average rating for Hilda and Pearl based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-05-22 00:00:00 Alan Hanson When I was at the University of Mississippi, I had the wonderful experience of hearing Alice Mattison read. I had read a few of stories before, as Sharon Dilworth included them in her fiction workshops at Carnegie Mellon University, but hearing Mattison read them brought out the subtle humor and irony of the stories even more. Hilda and Pearl is typical of Mattison's work in that it jumps through time, includes the points of view of several characters, and reveals the nuances of relationships that change your understanding of what you have already read. Hilda and Pearl are married to two different brothers, thrown together by their choice of spouse, and made friends through their own efforts. Hilda is older, slightly more world weary, and not always easy to get along with. Pearl has a more difficult time masking her emotions, has a softer personality in general, and often defers to Hilda. These are the personalities we see of the two women, as shaped by the perceptions of Hilda's daughter, Frances. As Frances understands her world, her mother and Pearl have a curious and close relationship, her cousin, Simon, has a knack for disappearing, and her father is very little like his brother, Mike. What Frances does not understand, she makes up. As the novel progresses, the reader begins to understand how little Frances knows of Hilda and Pearl's complex lives and relationships. Hilda and Pearl is safely set in the past, during the McCarthy era, but both the political sentiments and the emotional responses ring true for today. Mattison creates a hauntingly true world for the reader to turn around and around in, weaving the story together from the shared moments of the characters.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-04-10 00:00:00 Goroon V Munroe This book was a little slow and boring to me. I think the author did a good job showing the complexities of a loving friendship between sisters-in-law. I enjoyed some parts of the story. The story took place before, during, and after World War II. The characters worried about the stressful times, but their lives were not as impacted as most people's lives during that time. The characters did have many personal problems, but these were mostly caused by their own actions. I was a little disappointed that there weren't more events in the book.