Good Harbor
Overview and Analysis
After great success of her first novel The Red Tent, Diamant went on to writing a new novel about women’s experiences. This novel was called Good Harbor. The novel takes place in present-day Cape Ann, Massachusetts and explores the lives of two emotional mothers, Kathleen Levine and Joyce Tabachnik. Kathleen is a devoted children’s librarian, a convert to Judiasm, who meets Joyce who is a freelance writer. Both women are experiencing turning points in their lives. At 59 years old Kathleen is diagnosed with breast cancer and desperatley needs a friend to share her painful past secrets to. Joyce who is a little younger and energetic at 42 years old is trying to reconnect with an estranged adolescent daughter and trying to hold onto her marriage. Both women are going through difficult times and realize they can depend on one another for support. Kathleen and Joyce rekindle their histories to help heal the wounds during long graceful walks on Harbor Beach. In this novel Diamant takes the reader through these women lives. She gives us passion, love, friendship, traditions, culture, and turmoil.
The plot of Good Harbor comes from true events that have taken place in Diamant’s life and the lifes of women that she knows. Breast cancer is a big fear for many women and Diamant continues to have friends getting the aweful frighting news that they too have the horrifying disease. She spoke to friends who experienced breast cancer and medical professionals in order to write a first-hand detailed description on the life experiences Kathleen would endure will fighting for her life.
I think Good Harbor is an excellent novel to read. Diamant is so descriptive and poetic. She allows you to imagine every detail and to feel as though you are able to experience the actual walks on the beach. She really illustrates how two women can confide in eachother and develop such a strong relationship. Her novel allows women to relate to their friendships with their girlfriends and enable them to open up and share the same trust as these two women shared. The two women discover, as Diamant writes, "an endless supply of things to talk about. Headlines, bathing suits, books, and story by story, themselves." Everyone needs companionship to get through life, whether it’s in a man or a woman. Diamant demonstrated this in her novel that with great friendship comes with support and love.
Good Harbor relates to the short story “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, which we read and discussed in class. This short story and Good Harbor relate to the theme of social construction. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Mrs. Peters and Martha came together as women to cover up a crime that the men did not believe a woman was capable of commiting. Both stories show how much faith women have in eachother in order to survive in a day to day life. For example, my bestfriend and I are extremley close. We have been friends for over 10 years and still continue to hold a strong bond that no man will ever break. Women trust other women to confide into and share their deepest, darkest secrets and feelings. Just like Joyce who was going by a fake pen name because her real name was not sufficient enough for romance novels. After purchasing a cottage on Cape Ann, she finally builds up the courage to write five pages a day and publish a “real” book under her real name. Anita Diamant illustrated that in her novel and made a great connection on the importance of friendship.
Some other themes that relate to what we have discussed in class are motherhood and identity. Diamant’s portrayal of identity was expressed in her characters. In the novel, she labels each character as being Jewish. Diamant takes her own beliefs, Judiaism, her female persepectives and relates them to the characters of Kathleen and Joyce. Kathleen and Joyce both go through a time of depression, sadness, mental exhaustion, and loss of identity. The bond of sisterhood the women find in each other becomes a good harbor in itself. Both characters are mothers who have a troublesome relationship with their children and who want to rebuild that void in their lives. 3
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Alyssa I really liked how you tied in the two stories, "Good Harbor" and, "A Jury of her Peers." I completely agree with you in a sense that women do harbor a certain close bond between one another, one that cannot be broken easily. I think it is through the hardship that we must face at times that unite us and our stories to form these everlasting friendships. "A Jury of Her peers" was one of my favorite stories to read during class and I am glad you integrated this more than worthy story into your blog. Overall your blog is well written well laid out and your language is sophisticated yet easy to understand, I think you did a very good job. But I think I would like to have read a small story from the book that you were describing just to get a little taste of the authors style of writing.
ReplyDelete-Giau
Giau-
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the great comment. I really enjoyed reading this novel by Anita. She puts so much soul into her novels. "Jury of Her Peers" is also one of my favorite articles we have read this semester as well. It definetly relates to her novel very nicely.
Diamant is a very spirtual writer. Her religion is very important to her as you can see from her other books. She not only writes fiction novels but also non-fiction books and self-help books. I have not read any of her self-help books but, I am sure they are just as great. Many people enjoy them and love her writitng, as do I.
I think you did great job of relating themes of the course with Anitas writing. I think what stood out to me what the fact that Anita writes about situations in her life in her novels. She wrote about in her novel Good Harbor about breast cancer since she has had many people around her diagnosed with it. I think that it can be related to identity because when any one is diagnosed with it, it almost takes away a huge part of them, especially for women. The loss of hair, energy and especially her breasts. Great job i can really tell you put a lot of hard work into this!
ReplyDeletesarah horwitz
Sarah-
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all the great post. I think for Anita and also many other women it is hard to talk about your feelings and true emotions on how you feel when a friend or yourself is experiencing something so life threating. One Of my moms best friends died from breast cancer many years back and I still remember her last days with the wigs and saddness in her face. Anita wanted to show readers her thoughts, emotions, and feelings about something so horrifying and damaging. She incorporated her relationships with her girlfriends and how she confides in them for guidance and support. It is a touching novel that will warm everyones hearts.
Great job on writing about her novel Good Harbor. It seems really interesting and touching! I would love to read it sometime. Also, great connection with Jury of Her Peers. Did Anita herself have breast cancer? Your blog is cute too! Love the way it's set up and organized.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how Good Harbor seems to emphasize unity between women. I touched upon this concept in my essay on Sue Monk Kidd in the Secret Life of Bees because it seems all so true that women lose their "sisterhood" with one another due to cattiness or competition that is instilled within them due to the opposite sex. This book sounds really nice in that these older women, that remind me of my mother, who may not have an abundance of friends as they might have when they were younger, can find confidence in a friend that shows quality over anything else. Someone needs a best friend, it is innate, and women may lose this notion. This soudns like a great book.
ReplyDeleteBrittini-
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the nice comment. I really enjoyed this book. Anita did not have breast cancer. She knew many women who either survived, are fighting, or have passed away from the horrific disease. She wanted to write a novel on her experiences with the women she knew/knows who have it. She took her own perspectives and thoughts and wrote this novel.
cwilenchik-
ReplyDeleteI agree completley with what you said in your comment. I also read a students essay on Sue Monk Kidd and would have to agree both women share a bond. Every women needs another women to confide to. Whether that women is their mother, sister, aunt, cousin, or just some random women it is good to have that person to talk to. Me personally, would not be the women I am today without my girl friends.
you really did a great job in relate Good harbor to our class. I like your blog, especially the background. Good Harbor tell us women can be as strong as men, they are not inferior than anyone. This is a story showed women's friendship can be very strong and you showed this in your blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
Guo Junliang
Guo-
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the comment. I really wanted the reader to understand how Good Harbor related to our class. This novel is outstanding if you are missing a friend or a friendship. It is a great summer read!