The Three Weissmanns of Westport - Cathleen Schine

Thèmes abordés

The Three Weissmanns of Westport, Cathleen Schine, book review

Résumé du document

Joseph (Joe/Josie) Weissmann divorced his wife. Joseph has got another woman, Felicity. Betty, his wife was surprised. They travelled to Tuscany. It was as if she was a maid (femme de chambre) and she was being fired.
Joseph will give the apartment to Betty. Felicity liked this apartment. Finally Joe will keep the apartment because it needs upkeep and taxes are so expensive. Betty never worked a day in her life.
Betty had been married before she met Joseph Weissmann. She had got two girls, Annie and Miranda. Annie and Miranda had got Betty's news and there decided speak to Joseph at his office. He cried. He is entitled to his life. But Joseph did not change the idea.

Extraits

[...] Annie thought that it was not the moment because they are “broke” but her mother was wounded and Annie tried to say nicely. Betty and Joseph's housekeeper was a Brazilian woman named Jocasta. Betty named her daughters “girls” again. They recreate their childhood but it lacks a man. Weissmanns' neighbours think they are Russians because Betty said that. She said they had all lost her husbands. Betty went to see Joseph for a meeting with their lawyers. Joseph coldness and distance made she felt sad. “My client is a generous man” Joseph's lawyer was saying. [...]

[...] He introduced his children: Gwen and Evan (description of them). Frederick invited Annie for a dinner but his son wanted he came back early (children: tyrants). Felicity had come to the reading to hear her brother. Finally, Frederick leaved and Annie was alone. She thought about her children. Frederick came back to say thank you and to kiss her. Betty watched Annie. Annie had a good heart. Betty was glad Annie seemed happy with Frederick Barrow. After, Betty watched Miranda. [...]

[...] It is the beginning of the trek in the fields of Westport, Connecticut. Betty had never paid for anything when living with Joseph. They were among upper middle class. But now, Annie advised Betty take care of it. Annie was worried about money. But Annie was worried in general (Nick/Charlie, her sons). She was a successful woman in her early fifties. Annie found a letter from her grandmother, Betty's mother. Chapter 4 They made their exodus from New York to Westport on a beautiful August day. [...]

[...] He is an estate developer. When Cousin Lou knew for the divorce, he invited Betty to come and stay in Westport, as long as she liked, in a cottage he owned at Compo Beach. Cousin Lou was very generous (Not like Joseph Betty decided to emigrate to Cousin Lou's cottage. Chapter 3 Miranda liked the happy end. Miranda is caustic and kindhearted. Sometimes she was very hard with her assistants and sometimes she spoiled them. Miranda is renamed “a wild woman, a nightmare ” but she is really loyal and goodwill. [...]

[...] However she did not hear from him. Annie was not surprised. From the point of view of Annie, Frederick Barrow was an important person and she was not. She always felt inferior. Annie was used to being alone, she felt alive when she was surrounded by silence. Miranda was the opposite. There were more people around her, she was most happy. Annie was used to being left alone by the world, Miranda was not. Kit and Miranda had been together almost constantly. [...]