The Women by T. C. Boyle

Dr. Phil would have a field day with these people.  Or, I just had this thought, maybe Jerry Springer.  I can just see the fun Springer, or even Maury Povich, would have with the whole Miriam/Frank/Olgivanna triangle.  So many neuroses and psychoses in one book not set at a mental hospital.

• Frank Lloyd Wright – Sociopathic narcissist with a mother complex.
• Olgivanna – A father complex, hence her fixation for older men and the supposed security they would bring.
• Miriam – I can’t figure out if her moods were caused entirely by the morphine, or if she was also bi-polar, with more than a little Narcissism and sociopathy thrown in for good measure.
• Mamah – Also a little sociopathic, though not to the degree of Miriam or  Frank, but, still, oblivious, or uncaring, of the effect of her actions on others.  I also don’t understand how someone could abandon their children like that.  Are women like that just cold, or is there some kind of hormone imbalance?  It’s probably not a case of either/or, I suppose.
• Carleton – In this novel anyway, he was a schizophrenic.

And these are just the obvious ones. I can only imagine the dozens more than could be seen and identified by a psychologist.

The only normal woman Frank was attracted to in the whole debacle of his love-life was Kitty.  Then again, she didn’t get much page time, so she could have been as full of complexes and neuroses as the rest of them for all I know.

I wonder what it says about me that the character who fascinated me the most in the entire novel was Miriam.  She was just so vivid.  The abruptness in the changes of her moods between extremities was breathtaking. 

This was an interesting, thought provoking read. 

Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars

You might also want to try Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, which I read last year and adored.