“Split-Level” a novel
Sande Boritz Berger | May 7, 2019 | She Writes Press
Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-63152-555-1 | Price: $16.95
Ebook | ISBN: 978-1-63152-556-8 | Price: $9.95
Women’s Fiction
Deborah Hecht Memorial Prize-Winner Sande Boritz Berger Releases New Look at ’70s Women’s Movement
New York City–In Split-Level: A Novel (She Writes Press May 7th, 2019) the sexual revolution enters the Jersey suburbs and shakes up the life of a shy woman coming to terms with her own evolving identity. Sande Boritz Berger provides a breathtaking look at spousal relationships, gaslighting, emotional abuse, and the women's movement– a #MeToo lens turned back on a past era, rife with complicated change.
Split-Level is a literary novel that navigates intimate struggles with unforgettable style. -★★★★★ Clarion Review, Foreword Reviews
For young wife and mother, Alex Pearl, the post-Nixon 1970s offers pot parties, tie-dyed fashions, and the lure of the open marriage her husband wants for the two of them. Alex is a painter, stifled but loyal, and when she realizes just how far her husband's eye has begun to wander, she's faced with difficult choices about what marriage and family mean, and whether an "open" lifestyle mimicking communal living might be for her. Yearning for both greater adventure and intimacy, yet fearful of losing it all, Alex must figure out the truth of love and fidelity—at a pivotal point in American marriage.
My Review
I was given the opportunity to review Split-Level by Sande Boritz Berger and found the description to be interesting as I was newly married in the early '70s. I did not live in a split-level house but I know the kind of house it is. It is the kind of house that Alex Pearl and her family live in in the New Jersey suburbs.
Alex feels that she is missing passion in her life and marriage, she is happily married though with two daughters and a charming husband. She receives a call from her babysitter's mom that Donny has taken her daughter on a midnight ride. Alex is upset by this even though Donny says he was teaching the girl how to drive. Not sure whether to believe him or not she insists that they go to Marriage Mountain, a couples healing sanctuary.
Donny at first is reluctant but once they started going but learns the 'manifesto' a spouse-swapping idea that at first Alex does not want to do but eventually capitulates and they meet a couple that they do the 'swap' with. As you can imagine, this is not always what it is cracked up to be. Problems emerge that can put their marriage at risk.
Like I said, I was newly married in the early '70s and among the free love and smoking pot, a lot of things happened that probably would not happen today. I am sure that there are still couples that 'swap' but you just don't hear about it. This book was not only about marriage but of a woman coming into her own, finding out what she wanted out of life and a dull marriage was not one of the things. She finally came to realize what she wanted and went after it.
At first, I thought I would be bored with the story but that was not the case. I totally enjoyed it. Something a bit different from what I typically read and I really liked it. The author's writing was easy to follow, writing about an open marriage I imagine can be challenging!
Thanks to JKS Communications for my copy of the book, it was for review purposes only.
An Interview with
Sande Boritz Berger
- What inspired you to explore the 1970’s suburbs as the setting of your newest novel?
The post- Nixon era was a time of great change, a shake-up of sorts when people who took their government and maybe even lives for granted and then everything shifted, which created instability and mistrust. During the period of transition, it felt as though people were walking on sand. The changes affected families, marriages, jobs, and our country’s future.
- What similarities and differences do you see Alex’s struggles as a woman in the 70s and the struggles of women today?
The differences are strong mostly because of the support women now feel with other women...making us more cohesive and less fearful to ask for what we want and to express what we can not accept: the unacceptable. Also, women are filling the jobs once had mostly by men...today there are more female lawyers, doctors, professors, and government officials than ever before. In the 70’s we were mostly dreamers I think...waiting to have our special moment of self-fulfillment. Guilt was involved, especially if we had children. Many of us had mothers who had sacrificed their own dreams...we might have asked: what gives me the right to go off and do my own thing?
- Why did you choose the title Split-Level?
To me, having grown up in the suburbs of Long Island, I felt the Split-Level style home symbolized suburbia and the similar home structure that both divided and brought together family members. And the word “split” is often used when couples and relationships go through a break- up.
- What inspired your career switch from scriptwriting and video producing to writing novels?
The truth is...I’d always written, even when I was a producer for 20 years, I’d take workshops hoping to improve my craft, to publish, etc. As I got older the realization that I had these stories to tell began to take up a lot of space in my brain. So, I closed my company and entered an MFA program where luckily I was exposed to amazing writers who encouraged me to write.
- What do you hope readers take away from your novel Split-Level?
I hope they will see that marriage is and has always been challenging as there is so much juggling and for women especially much gets put on hold...sometimes for many years, sometimes, forever. Also, that love and marriage is not a panacea for happiness. As women, we have to make our own happiness. It never comes and taps you on the shoulder.
This takes place in the 70s? Strange it is considered historical fiction, since that's less than 50 years go. I thought the general rule of thumb was 50 years. Oh well...
ReplyDeleteThat was my thought when I read a different book and it was classified as historical fiction. I am really feeling old...lol I grew up in the 70's. Good question though thanks for stopping by!
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