A Charmed Life

Last updated
A Charmed Life
Mary McCarthy - A Charmed Life.jpg
First edition
Author Mary McCarthy
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Harcourt
Publication date
1955
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages313 pp

A Charmed Life is a 1955 novel written by the American novelist Mary McCarthy.

Contents

Setting

A Charmed Life takes place in the small New England town of New Leeds (presumably on Cape Cod), where "everyone is artistic, but no one is an artist." [1]

Characters

Plot

The story begins with the simple trials and tribulations of everyday life experienced by John and Martha Sinnott. Their background stories are gradually introduced, especially during their picnic with the Coes in the beginning. One night when John is away, Martha and Miles drunkenly have sex at Martha's house after a party at the Coes'. Martha becomes pregnant, and rather than having a baby whose paternity is ambiguous, she decides to have an abortion. Warren lends Martha the money to have an abortion. The story ends with Martha dying in a car accident on her way home from the Coes' house, with the money for the abortion and the address of the clinic in her pocketbook. [3] [4]

Author

Mary McCarthy (born June 21, 1912, Seattle, Wash., U.S.—died Oct. 25, 1989, New York, N.Y.) was an essayist, author, and critic known for writing on political, moral, and intellectual dilemmas through the use of humor and acerbity. [5] [6]

References

  1. McCarthy, Mary (1995). A charmed life (1st Harvest/HBJ ed.). San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN   0-15-616774-3. OCLC   25281250.
  2. Meyers, Jeffrey (2009). "Racine in Mary McCarthy's A Charmed Life". Style. 43 (4): 461–471 via ProQuest.
  3. "A Charmed Life | Affidavit | Chris Kraus". Affidavit. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  4. Meyers, Jeffrey (2009). "Racine in Mary McCarthy's A Charmed Life". Style. 43 (4): 461–471. JSTOR   10.5325/style.43.4.461.
  5. "Mary McCarthy - American novelist and critic". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  6. "Mary McCarthy". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2020-03-30.