The Road Taken

From Barnes & Noble

New York Times bestselling author Rona Jaffe takes readers on a breathtaking trip through a century of American life. Rose was born as America welcomed the 20th century on a tide of optimism. When she was 17, the boy she loved died. In her grief she let time drift by, not noticing how the world was changing. When she married Ben Carson eight years later, she changed, too. Soon Rose had a husband she was learning to love, an ever-expanding circle of friends, and three daughters who opened her eyes to the rapidly changing world around her. In The Road Taken, four vibrant women (Rose and her daughters) reveal different facets of the evolving century — the Roaring ‘20s and the Depression; WWII and the rise of suburbia; the Beat Generation, Hippies, Yuppies — to create a vivid multigenerational tapestry of American life. Through it all, for each member of Rose's growing family, it isn't regrets for the road not taken that count, but the myriad experiences, good and bad, on the road taken.

Los Angeles Times

Rona Jaffe's deft storytelling is irresistible.

Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction

An "effortless read," Jaffe's novel is a "tribute to the power of soap opera." A saga spanning 20th century America, told through four generations of one family: a mosaic of tragedy, joy, love, hate, rivalry, struggle, and redemption. Considered "vanilla pudding" by some readers. Others found "the writing painful, the characters shallow, and the dialogue stilted." "It would actually be improved by making it into a TV miniseries." "Just didn't thrill me the way Maeve Binchy does."

Cosmopolitan

. . . is like being presented with a Cartier watch: you know exactly what you're getting and it's exactly what you want.

Cosmopolitan

Reading Rona Jaffe is like being presented with a Cartier watch: you know exactly what you're getting and it's exactly what you want.

The New York Times Book Review

Vivid and trenchant... wry and very readable...a minor genius.

Washington Post Book World

A tightly constructed contemporary novel... the masterful Jaffe does such a good job of portraying an honorable woman facing some tough choices.

Washington Times

Rona Jaffe has her finger squarely on the pulse of the times.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Bestselling author Jaffe (Five Women) pulls off an impressive feat, packing most of the major events of the last century into one family saga that starts with Rose Smith, born January 1, 1900. Rose is 10 when the book opens, attending her mother's funeral, and as Jaffe follows the protagonist and her family through the decades, the author skillfully incorporates such sweeping developments as the changing roles of women, new medical discoveries and evolving opinions about war, sexuality and individual rights. Rose is 18 when her first love is killed during WWI, not in battle but by the influenza epidemic. She marries for companionship and moves from her Connecticut hometown to Greenwich Village. Her brother, Hugh--whose childhood penchant for dressing up in women's clothes foreshadows his sexual coming of age--visits Rose and finds his element in the then-underground homosexual world in the Village. Moving in with Rose's family, Hugh acts the role of a carefree bachelor until Rose discovers his secret. Decades later, Hugh becomes an advocate for AIDS awareness. Rose's children offer Jaffe further opportunities to integrate signs of the times into the narrative: Peggy marries her WWII soldier pen pal and lives a suburban life; the independent "Disco" Joan becomes a hip fashion editor; and Ginger contracts polio just before the Salk vaccine is released. Jaffe's compelling use of personal disasters, conflicts and love relationships reveals the broad range of the ways kin relate--the secrets, the interminable feuds, the special closeness. In this uplifting story of how family ultimately provides the vital core for the human experience, Jaffe also convincingly depicts a century of social change. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate selections; audio rights to Dove. (July) FYI: Jaffe established the Rona Jaffe Foundation, which offers awards and funding for women writers. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

Jaffe's Five Women (LJ 6/15/97) scrutinized the modern lives of five friends. In contrast, her latest novel chronicles the American 20th century through the life and times of a single New York family. The story begins and ends with Rose Smith, the pivotal character, who is born in 1900. Her mother dies when she is only ten, leaving her to be raised by her father, older sister, and eventually a stepmother. Rose falls in love with the boy next door, only to lose him to the flu, which raged during World War I. Ultimately, she marries happily and has three girls, who differ startlingly from one another. They grow up, experience victories, suffer tragedies, and form families of their own. This extended family view affords an expansive panorama of American cultural history, including world wars, Twenties flappers, the fight for women's rights, Prohibition, the lives of closeted gays, ravaging diseases such as polio and AIDS, Fifties suburban housewives, and city life of every decade. Ambitious, engaging, and recommended for all public libraries.--Sheila M. Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\