7.2 /10 1 Votes
Originally published 1981 Genre Novel | 3.6/5 Goodreads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Awards Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize Nominations National Book Award for Fiction (Paperback) Similar Mary Gordon books, Novels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Company of Women is a novel by Irish-American author Mary Gordon. First published in 1981, it is a coming-of-age story which details the sheltered upbringing of a well-educated Catholic girl named Felicitas, and how her values are challenged and altered by the turbulence of the 1960s protest movement. The book earned Gordon a second Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize.
Plot
Father Cyprian is a Catholic priest whose parishioners include five women. These five form a circle of friendship. Among them is a child, Felicitas Maria Taylor, a serious-minded girl with no use for boys, dating, or fun. Rather, she dreams of the day she can become a great writer like Jane Austen. Felicitas develops as a composite of the older women.
References
The Company of Women (Gordon novel) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA