Happy Aloha Friday! I am happy to be today's stop on a new novel by Anne Leigh Parrish, An Open Door. Accompanying my review are links to three favorite deviled eggs recipes, inspired by my reading.
Publisher's Blurb:
It’s 1948 and the freedom granted women by the Second World War is gone. Edith Sloan, earning her doctorate, is told by her law student husband to cancel her academic plans. His bright future requires a certain kind of wife: one in the kitchen making dinner for important guests. Frustrated and defiant, Edith leaves him but returns when his begging letters become too much. Trapped by marriage and her husband’s ambition, Edith struggles to find her footing and the means to her own survival.
Paperback: 270 Pages
Publisher: Unsolicited Press (October 4, 2022)
My Review:
I have reviewed several books by Anne Leigh Parrish over the last few years; poetry, short stories, novellas and enjoy her character-driven stories. I don't always like or even relate always to her characters, but they are always interesting. An Open Door is set in 1948, about three years after WWII, and Edith Sloan is on a "break" from her marriage to husband Walter. Edith has been staying with her aunt in New York City while Walter is getting his law degree at Cambridge. Edith was getting her doctorate when Walter returned from the war and wanted her instead to be a housewife and support him and be the kind of wife a rising young lawyer needs to get ahead. Edith likes the freedom of living with her aunt, working and reading as she pleases but eventually, after a brief affair, she returns to Walter full of guilt. When that life isn't enough for her, she gets involved in owning a bookstore, mostly financed by the husband of a couple in their social orbit.
An Open Door is about being a woman in the time after the war when the men returned and woman were expected to give up jobs and independence and be cast back into the home. Edith fights against this and wants the ability to find her own place in life and it is interesting to watch her grow and find her place. It's a quiet little book but it kept me engaged. Although nothing is really buttoned up at the end, I have hope that Edith is able to carve out a fulfilling life.
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Author Notes: Anne Leigh Parrish lives in a forest in the South Sound Region of Washington State. She is the author of the moon won't be dared; a winter night; what nell dreams; maggie's ruse; the amendment; women within; by the wayside; what is found, what is lost; our love could light the world; and all the roads that lead from home.
Find her online at anneleighparrish.com.
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There is food to be found in An Open Door, but unfortunately I didn't write any of it down! It was a crazy week. I remember spaghetti, and tea sandwiches, nuts, and I believe a roast. For my bookish dish, I decided to make deviled eggs which is something that Edith orders from a local restaurant for her drinks and visit with her aunt, her aunts friend and her son. I always love good deviled eggs so here are three recipes that are perfect for drinks and appetizers any time.
Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs inspired by Good Housekeeping
Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs with Capers and Dill Adapted from D'Lish Deviled Eggs by Kathy Casey
Curried Deviled Eggs By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
Note: A
review copy of "An Open Door" was provided to me by the
author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for
this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.
You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and learn what other reviewers thought about the book below.
