Historical fiction about the life of a woman, Margaret Mayfield Early. Born in the 1870’s in Missouri, she is very much a woman of her era. She quiet and submissive, and appears to be on her way to being, at 27, what was then called a spinster. She meets Andrew Early, an intellectual astronomer who espouses theories of the universe, marries, and accompanies him to an island off the coast of California. Her husband’s actions, at first, seem reasonable to her, but she eventually begins to question his mental stability.

This is a “slice of life” character-driven novel. It develops slowly. Smiley’s writing is evocative. I especially liked her description the bicycle ride of Margaret's youth and the experience of new motherhood. We meet several colorful characters, including Dora, a rare-for-the-time single woman with a job, Pete, the lovable rogue, Mr. Kimura, an artist, Naoko and Mrs. Kimura, midwives, and Len Scanlan, a sycophantic biographer that feeds Andrew’s ego. The historic panorama is almost a character unto itself, as we see the major events in both Missouri and the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 4th of July Parade, 1906 earthquake, the Preparedness Parade, and the internment of the Japanese in WWII, through Margaret’s perspective. One glaring omission was the lack of a radio in the home, which was a predominant method of obtaining news in the 1920’s through 1940’s, and surely Andrew would have had one due to his interest in science and inventions.

Options for women at the time were restricted, especially when a marriage was not working out. Divorce was limited to grounds of adultery, abandonment, or battery. Jobs for women were few. Unless a woman was from a wealthy family, like Dora, she needed to marry to be “provided for.” These days, couples can get to know each other much more deeply than back then when chaperones were required for an unmarried woman, and there was very little opportunity to be alone together without impacting the woman’s reputation. Margaret had no idea what she was getting into when she married Andrew. She did not have an idea of what constituted a “happy family,” as her own family had experienced a series of tragedies. Her lack of exposure to mature males in early life made it difficult for her to question her husband. It made me glad to be born in current times!

The audiobook was eloquently read by Kate Reading. She did a great job of the various male and female voices, and Russian and Japanese accents. I think listening to this book made it even more enjoyable than it would have been to read it.

Margaret’s journey to finding her voice and an ability to stand up to her husband is a major part of the storyline. The book’s first half was more eventful than the second, so if you like lots of action, this is not the book for you. Recommended to those who appreciate in-depth character studies and don’t mind slowly-developing storylines with lots of detailed descriptions. ( )

A repressed woman, Margaret early, whose character reminds me of Isabel Archer in Henry James' novel, "Portrait of a Lady", her husband, Captain Early, a self- prescribed genius, and in some ways similar to Gilbert Osmond of the aforementioned book, and in contrast to Margaret is Dora, a female novelist, whose character is similar to Henrietta Stackpole of Portrait of a Lady.

Am I the only one who sees these parallels in between the books? Yes, the story lines differ, as do the settings, but the theme of conflict between the protagonist desire for individual freedom and social custom are the same.

I enjoyed the book immensely. The plot of the book unfolds like an onion, although a bit slowly. The focus on minute details adds to the feeling of the mundaneness of Margaret's life, but this adds to the sense of frustration she feels as a human being stuck within a marriage that she eventually sees as daily torture.
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In a fit of desperation, Margaret Mayfield weds an eccentric scientist. As her husband's obsessions with science take a darker turn on the eve of World War II, Margaret is forced to consider the life she has so carefully constructed.

This book is the story of Margaret Mayfield who as an older woman (27) marries Andrew Early a peculiar man who is an astronomer and Navy captain. It is set during the time of approximately 1883 to 1942. The marriage takes her from St. Louis, Missouri to California. Her life is certainly one of private thoughts and she never becomes her own person until the end of the book. It seems that from the time of her marriage and throughout her life she is too accepting of everything. This type of life could be typical of the woman of that time period.
It seemed to be well researched for historical accuracy and touched on many of the issues facing the populace during that time period. I personally didn't care for the pace of the book. And I found it difficult to relate to Margaret's demure character. ( )

Again, this is probably one I would've given a 3.5 stars. I'm getting a little tired of these measly three...

Anyway, this book was...sort of odd. Very slow paced, character-driven novel about one women in the late 19th century and the bigger-than-life man she married. My biggest beef with the story was that I never really got a feel for the woman until the last quarter of the book. Granted, that was probably the point. The story was really about Margaret and Andrew's marriage, and all the restrictions placed on her by the culture, family expectations, and even what she let herself fall victim to. The husband, Andrew, is never abusive, but his personality dominates everything, including the story itself. And it ends so abruptly. Really extraordinary writing, though. Not sure I really liked the characters. ( )