Divining Women

This is another of Kaye Gibbons' simply but eloquently written novels about the American South in the early part of the 20th century. World War 1 is ending but an influenza epidemic is sweeping the US. The women in this novel are strong and good, as are the Negroes. Men, not so much. Mary, a young woman at loose ends after finishing school, leaves Washington for North Carolina to care for her uncle's wife who is expecting a baby. Mary comes from a freethinking family and speaks her mind when she sees her uncle Troop bullying and belittling his wife, Maureen. Throughout, Mary has the support of her mother who forwards letters from her own friend, Judith Stafford, who found strength within herself to make a fine new life after the breakup of her marriage. These letters are meant to encourage Maureen to find the strength within herself to move beyond her destructive relationship with Troop. It's a little book with a kind of quiet power.