The Quickening by, Michelle Hoover

The Quickening by, Michelle Hoover 7/2/2010
Description-A debut novel of an epic feud, marked by violence and retribution, between two neighboring farm matriarchs during the Great Depression.

Enidina Current and Mary Morrow live on neighboring farms in the flat, hard country of the upper Midwest during the early 1900's. This hard-scrabble life comes easy to some, like Eddie, who has never wanted more than the land she works and the animals she raises on it with her husband Frank. But for the deeply religious Mary, farming is an awkward living and at odds with her more cosmopolitan inclinations. Still, Mary creates a clean and orderly home life for her stormy husband Jack and her sons, while she adapts to the isolation of a rural town through the inspiration of a local preacher. She is the first to befriend Eddie in a relationship that will prove rugged. Despite having little in common, Eddie and Mary need one another for survival and companionship more than they let on. But as the Great Depression threatens, the delicate balance of their reliance on one another tips, pitting neighbor against neighbor, exposing the secrets they hide from one another, and triggering a series of disquieting events that threaten to unravel not only their friendship but their families as well

My Review-
This not a happy book it is dark and thought provoking. It is beautifully written and almost has a gothic feel to it. It is set somewhere in the Midwest (I am from North Dakota so in my mind that is where this took place) and spans from 1913-1950 and tells the story of Enidina & Mary neighbors on the plains yet different in every way. I don’t think these women were ever friends. Enidina is a hardworking farmer‘s wife who grew up with brothers on her family farm so is no stranger to hard work. Mary is a soft woman who really does not know who she is and I didn’t like her very much. I liked Enidina she had a good character and she was a good person. The story goes through their lives from children, to the great depression to all the major things that happen in the span of a life.

I liked this book, though it is a dark study into the human character. There were times when it had the same feel as The Reliable Wife which is a book that really stays with you after you’re done and this book is definitely one of those books. I liked the two different viewpoints because it really showed you how different these women are, which I don’t think it would have been as good with only one persons point of view.
Highly Recommend!
4 Stars
Full Disclosure I recieved this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program