A Short History of Women

A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert was named one of the top 10 best books of 2009 by the New York Times Book Review, so I had high hopes.

Sadly, I think the book should be retitled to A Short History of Miserable Women. The novel chronicles five generations of women beginning in 1914 with Dorothy Trevor Townsend, a suffragette who is dying of starvation for her cause. She leaves behind two children who are now orphans - Thomas and Evelyn (Evie).

The novel jumps to Thomas' daughter Dorothy Townsend Barrett in Delaware who is in her 70s and is creating a revolution of her own by photographing the coffins of dead soldiers returning from what we assume is the war in Iraq illegally and being arrested.

We also meet Dorothy's daughter's Caroline and Liz toward the end of the novel who are struggling with the definition of motherhood in the early 21st century.

In the end, that is what the novel is really about. Women as mothers. Women as figures in history - or not. And the desire to have something more. The unfortunate part is that in the five generations of Townsend women, you never find a woman who is even partially satisfied with her life. It is depressing to think that as women being unhappy and dissatisfied is our lot in life.