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    The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
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    The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
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    The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
    Audiobook19 hours

    The Resurrection of Joan Ashby

    Written by Cherise Wolas

    Narrated by Gabra Zackman and Michael Dickes

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    ‘A stunning debut – because there is nothing debut about it’
    A.M. Homes

    Aged 13, Joan Ashby drew up a list of How to Become a Successful Writer:

    1. Do not waste time
    2. Ignore Eleanor Ashby* when she tells me I need friends [*J.A.’s mother]
    3. Read great literature every day
    4. Write every day
    5. Rewrite every day
    6. Avoid crushes and love
    7. Do not entertain any offer of marriage
    8. Never ever have children
    9. Never allow anyone to get in my way

    A decade later her short stories take the literary world by storm. But her failure to fulfil numbers 6 and 7 gets in the way, closely followed by number 8 (twice); some years down the road, she finds herself living a life very different from the one she had envisioned.

    She finally gets back on track with numbers 4 and 5 and her much-anticipated first novel is finally written – and it's a masterpiece, she just knows it. But as she is poised to reclaim the spotlight, a betrayal of Shakespearean proportions is lurking around the corner…

    An audacious and dazzling novel, epic in scope but intimate in its portrayal of one woman’s triumphs and catastrophes.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 7, 2017
    ISBN9780008201180
    Unavailable
    The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
    Author

    Cherise Wolas

    Cherise Wolas’s acclaimed first novel, The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a semi-finalist for the 2018 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction. A native of Los Angeles, she lives in New York City with her husband. The Family Tabor is her second novel.

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    Reviews for The Resurrection of Joan Ashby

    4/5

    52 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      There is a phrase that is constantly tossed around by readers and critics alike, "a modern classic." I never thought I'd come across a book that I would apply that phrase to when it's still fresh off the presses. I believed time would tell, and I was wrong. The Resurrection of Joan Ashby is a modern classic. From start to finish, I found myself deep in the world of Joan Ashby, and was satisfied when I left.
    • 5/5
      What a gem of a book this was! I loved Joan's use of "words" that she uses to describe what is happening around her. I loved how the characters were so well developed throughout the story. This was a wonderfully written debut novel! I am going to look forward to more books by Ms Wolas.

      My thanks to netgalley and Flatiron books for this advanced readers copy.
    • 5/5
      Resurrection was my third ARC in a row, and this was the one that won the day with this reader. The story centers on a female writer and her family. Before she married, she was a bestselling author of wide acclaim, then, as she gave birth to her two sons, she found that so much in her life came before her writing time. The plot is well-constructed and the book is filled with many of the short stories and segments of her other works, making it a wide selection of writings. Other than a long segment on traveling in India, I was always right there with her writing, and even then, it had a great payoff involving smiling.
    • 5/5
      UPDATED REVIEW 9/26/17:
      This is a brilliantly written (debut!) literary novel at 500 pages that reads both like an intimate memoir and a sweeping epic. The language dazzles as we become infatuated with, invested in, and infuriated with Joan Ashby: The Writer. Her craft is the single most important thing to her, and her ambition never wanes as she begrudgingly accepts motherhood. Reading her stories and knowing her sacrifices makes an eventual betrayal that much more painful. I’m halfway convinced that Joan Ashby is the real writer here, and Cherise Wolas is her literary agent. Wolas has an immense talent for storytelling and I will gladly read anything else she writes.


      ORIGINAL REVIEW 8/29/17:
      I received an eGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

      I almost didn't read this book. The description and the cover art definitely grabbed my eye, and I have a weakness for all protagonists named Joan, but I don't read "women's fiction" or much "contemporary family life" at all. Give me gritty realism and raw facts; even my taste in poetry tends to hit hard. I didn't want to read about another woman coming to realize that motherhood was a blessing in disguise, despite her sacrifices along the way.

      I could not be more happy to be entirely wrong about this novel.

      I am besotted with the way Wolas writes. I would read and reread entire paragraphs, languishing in their beauty before I was ready to move onward to the next delicious sentence. I, too, have fallen under Ashby's spell and would be delighted if any of HER writing were published today. I would read anything Ashby wrote, and the same now goes for Cherise Wolas, even if I have to wait 28 years in the meantime. I know it will be worth it.
    • 5/5
      It's not often that halfway through a book I know I will be giving it 5 stars no matter where it goes or how the story ends. It's even less often I will run straight to the Internet to follow the author on social media everywhere.This book and this author are just that good.Don't let the 544-page count fool you. The pages breeze along and the writing feels effortless. It is one of those books that draws you in and makes you feel as though you are a part of the story. Joan Asby is a living, breathing character and I didn't want my time with her to end. Anyone who appreciates character-driven fiction and well-crafted sentences needs to read this book! I'm usually put off by stories within stories, or anything like a dream sequence that takes away from the main narrative, but I even enjoyed those parts – a lot.I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review and I've got to say that this is what I love most about the Goodreads 'first reads' program. Based solely on book description alone I might not have otherwise picked this one up, at least not right away. While the synopsis is fitting, Joan Ashby is just So. Much. More. ...Which brings me to the thing I dislike about the first reads program: having to try to write a review of such a fantastic book. Other readers may be able to describe with more clarity and insight than I can, so I will leave the rehash to those readers. Just know that it is an amazing journey that you don't want to miss!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed reading it but it took me awhile. I am glad to see i am not the only one distracted by the inclusion of her short stories into the 530 plus pages. Several times she refers to her resistance to editing and this tedious at times story line would have benefited with a heavy edit. I get the inclusion was to flesh out her feelings and add depth but it was not needed. I was totally enchanted with Joan. Especially after reading the yellow envelope with the self absorbed protagonist. Joan, with her abundance of talent puts her ambition on hold for her family only to feel cheated and misunderstood and unappreciated. Isn't this what most women feel during a kid life crisis? Despite it losing its way several times an excellent read. Three stars because of the unnecessary short stories which bogged it down.
    • 5/5
      This irresistible novel, also containing short stories, weighing in at 531 pages, is as meta as they come. Renowned young short story author Joan Ashby surrenders her principles and her urge to write her first novel when she marries brilliant eye surgeon Martin and devotes years to him and to their two sons. Asphyxiated between resentment and love, she continues to create what she considers to be minor stories, but does not send them to her publisher. Elder son Daniel writes 99 stories about a squirrel and reads The Painted Bird and The Happy Hooker before he is ten years old. Second son Eric drops out of middle school and starts his own computer software business at age 13. These achievements are not believable but the reader hangs in there because the writing is really, really brilliant, as told in the voices of Joan and Daniel, and because she finally gets started on her novel. But when he reaches his early twenties, Daniel, cowed by the overwhelming success of his parents and brother, betrays his mother in a horribly brutal manner. In the latter half of the novel, Joan flees to an idealized India, where she writes letters to the Dalai Lama and awaits his assent to an audience. This is an also unbelievable India, populated without any poor people, where everyone apparently exists for the sole purpose of leading Joan to the light.There are two main problems here: the transparency of the plot line, none of which could occur IRL; and the inclusion of several of Joan's short stories, which would have been better served by the author as a collection outside the novel. However, the writing is so smooth and compelling that I can still recommend it as a singular and memorable experience.Quotes: "It is a long-borne burden, knowing what you lack, and I knew what I lacked.""They mirrored my life: strong out of the gate, stuck in the middle, failing to find an exit.""She thinks destiny will always win out over second-best, that it's an impossible burden on those left behind."
    • 5/5
      A hefty old school novel with a lot of depth to it. Jean wants to be an author and early in her life she is. Then she gets married to a man who promises that they will not have children which will cut into her career. Two sons come and for the most part the writing stops. The majority of the novel is about her troubled relationships with her kids and ultimately her "resurrection" as a woman later in life. This is an epic novel with four well developed and complex characters. I really liked it.
    • 3/5
      This book was far, far too long and meandering. I think the author thought all the asides with examples of the writing of the protagonist, an essayist and novelist, and that writing's themes of isolation, familial dissolution, and satisfaction and fulfilment in artistic creation would be very clever, since those are also the themes of the main plot. But these asides became very obvious and repetitive, and eventually only served to draw out the story to interminable lengths—if Joan Ashby were a real novelist, I'd stop reading her work pretty quickly.
    • 5/5
      Joan Ashby is a celebrated author at the peak of her career. She’s been open about avoiding love and motherhood and wanting to give all to her creativity. But then love finds her heart but she makes it very clear to her soon-to-be husband that there will be no children in their future. When Joan finds herself pregnant and her husband is ecstatic at the news, Joan decides to devote herself to her family with all intentions of resuming her career at some point. However, the future holds a betrayal that is a very grievous one.This author is so very talented. I can’t say that I agreed with her character’s assessment of motherhood and her reluctance to embrace it over her career. I’ve always thought that being a mother was the highest honor a woman could have. But then again, I’ve never been a celebrity or in the limelight due to any particular talent of mine so I may have felt differently in her shoes. Despite our differences, the author gave me a clear understanding of where Joan was coming from and I was immediately pulled into her world. This is a fascinating portrayal of a woman who selflessly chooses motherhood and pays a heavy price. The betrayal that I don’t want to give a hint of a spoiler about was truly a shocking one.As an added bonus in this book, it includes short stories written by Joan which are as entertaining as the main story. Her stories before motherhood are quite dark. Some of them have a connection with Joan’s story, some not as much, but all are engrossing.I couldn’t be more impressed with this debut novel and am looking forward to more of this author’s work. This is an intelligent look at not only motherhood but all aspects of being a woman. Each of the characters in this book will stay with me for a long time to come.Most highly recommended.I won this book in a contest given by the publisher and am under no obligation to give a review.
    • 4/5
      When I was nine years old my best friend asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told her I wanted to be an author. In a few years, I was writing stories and then poetry. I tried to get published for a while, then didn't try but kept writing. Then the poems dried up.What happened? Life. Marriage, jobs because we needed money, a child. "If I told you the whole story it would never end...What's happened to me has happened to a thousand woman."--Ferderico Garcia Lorca, Dona Rosita la Soltera: The Language of FlowersThis quote appears at the beginning of The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, along with a quote from Olive Schreiner advising "live for that one thing" which is your aim in life. I recognized the story. I am one of the thousands who did not 'live for one thing.' But I do not regret my decision to put love first.Joan Ashby, the heroine of Cherise Wolas' novel, was sidetracked away from her 'one thing,' that which she was born to be, which she had single-mindedly worked for and achieved before she allowed her life to be claimed by others and their needs. This is the story of how Joan allowed love to determine who she was, and how love betrayed her, and the journey that brought her back to herself.Within pages, I was mesmerized by Wolas' writing. The beginning of the novel recalled to mind an old movie, like Citizen Kane, with clips of news stories giving one an idea of the person they are going to explore. The novel begins with an article in Literature Magazine entitled "(Re)Introducing Joan Ashby" in which we learn that Joan was a prize-winning writer in her early twenties, a genius, but that it has been three decades since she last published. Next, we read several of Ashby's stories and excerpts from an interview with Joan."Love was more than simply inconvenient; it's consumptive nature always a threat to serious women." Joan Ashby When Joan meets Martin Manning she tells him right away that her writing will always come first and that she has no need to be a mother. Martin is smitten and appears to support her wholeheartedly. But when two months after their marriage Joan finds she is pregnant, Martin tells her, "I've never been so happy." Martin makes her happy. Does Joan grant him this baby, which obviously will lead to another child? Or should she hold fast to her commitment and dedication to her art, have an abortion, even if it means losing her newly wed husband?The decisions Joan makes over the next thirty years put her husband and children's needs before her own artistic life. She does love them, but they take everything she has and offer back little. She feels a kinship with quiet Daniel and his love of books and story telling, but who opts for an unsuitable career. Eric is brilliant, testing the limits, achieving early success which he cannot handle. She is drained by their need, while longing to return to the one thing she wanted and needed above all else: the solitude of the creative life.After a horrible betrayal, Joan packs up and leaves her life behind to find out who she is and what it is she wants. In India, practicing yoga, Joan contemplates her marriage and her children, and the role of motherhood in all its manifestations, slowly growing into an understanding of how she wants to spend the rest of her life. The 500+ page book, for me, slows in this last third as Joan goes on an internal journey, including sections of the novel she is writing.Joan's passivity and inability to carve out what she needed is a great part of her failed life. She is not completely a likable character when she accuses her husband of selfishness, for she did not stand up for herself and give him a chance to accommodate her needs. Their lack of communication indicates a flawed marriage. And Joan's need for secrecy about her writing life, novels and stories written in hours when she was alone, ends up harmful. The Resurrection of Joan Ashby is an outstanding debut. I adored the nontraditional story telling which incorporated Joan's stories. The theme of the female artist's struggle to combine love and work will appeal to many women. I will be thinking about this book for a long time, and expect I will return to read portions as I grapple with my understanding of Joan.I thank the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.