Family Values

Well isn't that cover appalling? :)

Trust me, the book is so much better than any of the covers.*

This was a beautiful revelation of a book. Franken captures, I think, perfectly so many of the transformative moments in life-- from love, to death, faith, loss, growth and (I'm blinding trusting in this one) birth. Some may complain that Claudia is flawed and David is perfect... I didn't read it that way. In fact, David is remarkably flawed and I saw so much of myself in their newly-married relationship-- the well-meaning misunderstandings, the first disagreements, the worry, the absentminded lack of communication (because you didn't have to communicate these things before you were married).

Claudia's grief, in particular, struck home for me. Don't we all wonder, at some point, why those who have so much to do are taken before those who have seemingly have so little to do and do it for so long. It was a realistic reaction that all of us childishly have at some point in our lives. While I found her rather naive in first chapters, life, as it does with all of us, realistically rounded her out into a multi-faceted character.

Some may squirm at the lack of ingenuity in their family roles... but I found that it was pretty forward for its day. David, after all, is okay with Claudia leaving and pursuing an acting career. He wants her to feel fulfilled. It is the culture of the day (you can't act while pregnant) rather than David and an over-attachment to old-fashioned roles that keeps her from following her dream.

* For once, and in spite of the mega-talented Dorothy Maguire, the book was better than the film. ( )

321. Claudia The Story of a Marriage, by Rose Franken (read 1 Apr 1947) This was a book I read on the train as I was going home from college for Easter in 1947. I did not have any particular feeling one way or the other about the book ( )