UK author Fay Weldon has compiled quite a resume of stories, novels, plays, screenplays and tv episodes in her lifetime, earning numerous accolades and ultimately being presented a prestigious PEN award in 1996. Splitting explores the anatomy of one woman's engagement, marriage, divorce and subsequent descent into madness after the fact.
Despite her youth, 17-year-old Angelica White is in love with Edwin Rice who, at 21, is equally passionate about Angelica. So they get married. Unlike such other young lovers, both are quite well-to-do; Angelica having had a brief stint as a teen idol when her band "Kinky Virgin" recorded a hit single and Edwin being a member of the nobility and heir to a large estate. Things are great for the first few years, and even 10 years into the--still childless--marriage, it's not so bad; dinner parties, home renovations, and gossip about the couple's clique of friends allowing both to live adequately comfortable lives. But when, after 15 years of marriage, Edwin accuses Angelica of infidelity and files for divorce, Angelica's world shatters to pieces--literally.
Her life, and more specifically her mind, gradually "splits" into four, and ultimately five separate personalities, each a distinct representation of herself. Having well established her present identity at the time of the divorce as "Lady Rice", the refined, dutiful wife of Sir Edwin, Angelica further develops the alter egoes of "Jelly White", a practical working girl and nubile "Angelica", the former teen rocker still swooning over Edwin. Fourth and fifth personalities emerge in the forms of "Angel", a pleasure-seeker only out to fulfill her wanton desires and "Ajax", a violent, rage-filled hellion bent solely on personal vengeance. Angelica's body ultimately falls victim to her conflicting identities as each seek to live out their primal desires and subconscious objectives. A humorously scathing take on modern matrimony, Splitting immediately grabs your attention with its acrid, punchy writing style and strong emphasis on dialogue. With each competing personality, Weldon satirically, but authoritatively exhibits the dynamics of emotional breakdowns and identity crisis'--symptoms all too synonomous with grief over a divorce or breakup. Psychoanalysis not withstanding, the book is well worth it for Weldon's sublimely clever prose and masterfully parodied caricatures of domestic life. (FIC WELDON)
Despite her youth, 17-year-old Angelica White is in love with Edwin Rice who, at 21, is equally passionate about Angelica. So they get married. Unlike such other young lovers, both are quite well-to-do; Angelica having had a brief stint as a teen idol when her band "Kinky Virgin" recorded a hit single and Edwin being a member of the nobility and heir to a large estate. Things are great for the first few years, and even 10 years into the--still childless--marriage, it's not so bad; dinner parties, home renovations, and gossip about the couple's clique of friends allowing both to live adequately comfortable lives. But when, after 15 years of marriage, Edwin accuses Angelica of infidelity and files for divorce, Angelica's world shatters to pieces--literally.
Her life, and more specifically her mind, gradually "splits" into four, and ultimately five separate personalities, each a distinct representation of herself. Having well established her present identity at the time of the divorce as "Lady Rice", the refined, dutiful wife of Sir Edwin, Angelica further develops the alter egoes of "Jelly White", a practical working girl and nubile "Angelica", the former teen rocker still swooning over Edwin. Fourth and fifth personalities emerge in the forms of "Angel", a pleasure-seeker only out to fulfill her wanton desires and "Ajax", a violent, rage-filled hellion bent solely on personal vengeance. Angelica's body ultimately falls victim to her conflicting identities as each seek to live out their primal desires and subconscious objectives. A humorously scathing take on modern matrimony, Splitting immediately grabs your attention with its acrid, punchy writing style and strong emphasis on dialogue. With each competing personality, Weldon satirically, but authoritatively exhibits the dynamics of emotional breakdowns and identity crisis'--symptoms all too synonomous with grief over a divorce or breakup. Psychoanalysis not withstanding, the book is well worth it for Weldon's sublimely clever prose and masterfully parodied caricatures of domestic life. (FIC WELDON)
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