Such a beautiful story about the many challenges women face growing up.
Rating: 4/5
It took me much longer than I had anticipated to finally finish this book. I originally read about a third of this back in June 2019 because it was that months Barnes and Noble book club pick. With waiting so long to finish it, I ended up just starting over and man... I wish I finished it back then!
This book is such a beautiful story about the many challenges women face growing up. Even though the book is focused on two sisters and their lives, we see multiple generations of women and how they ended up living their lives. Throughout the book we follow sisters, Jo and Bethie and the obstacles they face growing up. However, we also get to see the obstacles their mother, their children and grandchildren face as well.
"Mrs. Everything" plays with the concept of "misses everything"
Throughout the book I couldn't help but think of Juniper from A Good Neighborhood which I recently read as well. How she also struggled in society with what was expected of her and what she wanted to do with her life as a woman.
One thing this book shows beautifully even though its sad, is this idea of being the perfect woman and mother. No matter how hard any woman tries, nothing they do is never enough in the eyes of others. Women are always judged by the things they didn't do instead of what they did do.
Even the name of the book "Mrs. Everything" plays with the concept of "misses everything" that every choice you make you still miss the other opportunity.
Overall, I very much enjoyed reading this book. I think all women should read this to know that no matter your path, each path is different and unique and none of them should be considered the "right" path