The Quickening

‘The Quickening’ was hard to put down. Michelle Hoover’s lyrical writing, compelling characters, and dramatic setting create a palpable tension. It is a story about two families struggling to survive on the isolated Midwest plains. As the families begin to rely on one another, mutual resentments accumulate. Using language as sparse as the plains, Hoover’s emotionally charged novel transports us to a time, place, and dialect that no longer exists.

In 1913 Mary Morrow walked the mile to meet her new neighbor. She longed for a friend. She had been raised in a city. It was where she met her abusive husband, Jack. On this vast prairie, only one friendship option exists. Her name is Edinan Current. Edina and Mary’s temperaments couldn’t be different. Edinan is content farming alone or with her gentle husband, Frank. Except for a church that plays a part in the story, these folks could be living on the moon. The book explores Edwina and Mary’s internal worlds and reveals their different fortitudes, attitudes, and character. Life proceeds over the years, and they help one another through miscarriages, hurt children, sick animals, failed crops, the Great Depression, a fire, encroaching poverty, and more isolation. Edinia and Mary have secrets; some are known to the other but never acknowledged. These families are intertwined not out of mutual admiration but by circumstance. Eventually, betrayal rears its ugly head. These two women make decisions that affect their families and the next generation.

The book is an homage to the families that farmed in isolation their 180 acres thanks to the Homestead Act. Feelings are not shared. People are tight-lipped and private. Hoover’s use of metaphors, simile, and allegories are breathtaking. Words are not wasted, and meaning exists in the words not written. This powerful story is about the emotional toll of hard work and heartache on two farmwives and their families as they toil on the Midwest plains. 4.5/5