7.6 /10 1 Votes
Language English ISBN 0-312-42040-4 Originally published 1969 Publisher Alfred A. Knopf Genres Fiction, Novel | 3.8/5 Goodreads Publication date 1969 OCLC 49800424 Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Preceded by Eleven Kinds of Loneliness Similar Richard Yates books, Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A Special Providence is a novel by American writer Richard Yates. First published in 1969, Yates' third book concerns the dual exploits of an awkward infantry soldier in World War II and his mother, a deluded sculptor living in New York City.
Contents
Plot summary
Robert Prentice is drafted after graduating high school and enters World War II during its final days. His hopes of glory are dashed by the fact that the fighting is almost all over. He proves to be an incompetent soldier and soon spends time in an infirmary with pneumonia. When he returns to his unit he continues to struggle but finally achieves a kind of acceptance.
This narrative is interspersed with scenes from his childhood viewed from the perspective of his mother, Alice Prentice. She spends Robert's childhood moving from place to place mainly within New York accruing increasingly larger debts as her sculpting earns less and less money. She increasingly slips into despair as the novel ends and Robert decides not to return home.
Reception
Zadie Smith described the novel as being "like Breakfast At Tiffany's spliced with All Quiet On The Western Front. Impossible to paraphrase, wonderful to read."