The Margarets

Tepper's works often demand close attention from the reader. The Margarets will lose you if you don't keep careful track. I don't mind getting lost, if there are things to admire on route. This book has many admirable things.

Tepper is often faulted for her preachiness, and there's a whole herd of political and social high horses being ridden here. But although I don't go along with all of the author's choices in these matters, I have to agree that her themes are important and in need of airing. We don't think enough about the environmental crises that we have unleashed upon ourselves. We don't take violence against women and children as seriously as we should do. Tepper keeps these things front and center - which is where they need to be. Some readers find her solutions to these problems morally disgusting, but it is likely that we have gone well beyond the point at which we can avoid some pretty nasty shocks.

I found the overall plotting of 'The Margarets' somewhat bizarre. There's some magico-mystical hand-waving about having to walk a road, and this leads to the central character splitting into seven different versions of herself. This gives the author a set of pegs upon which to hang seven different worlds. Several of these are interesting, intriguing, and colourful, although some of the details are overloaded (for example, there's a story of several pairs of conjoined twins, of which one is always good, the other bad. This seems to have no bearing on the main plot).

Tepper once said that there are two kinds of writers: one who is interested in the writing itself, and the other who is mainly interested in the story. She seemingly classified herself among the latter, but while she is sometimes hurried - and poorly edited - she had a wonderful way with words on occasion. This shines through quite often in this book: moments of invention, insight and poetry kept this reader going up to and through the end - despite the moments of confusion.