Six Degrees of Separation: From Three Women to The Braid

~ Liz

It’s time for another Six Degrees of Separation post. This is a fun monthly meme hosted by Kate, who picks a starting book from which we can each plot our own unique paths using six more books.

October’s starting place is Three Women by Lisa Taddeo…..

 

Once upon a time, there were Three Women.  But which three could they be?  Were they the aristocratic yet tragic Three Sisters suffering a decline in circumstances in pre-revolutionary Russia, trapped in an endless longing for Moscow?

Perhaps there was some confusion about which high-born women were related – it was certainly the case that Three Sisters, Three Queens were often spoken of as a group, though only two (Margaret and Mary) were kinswomen, albeit kindred spirits with Katharine of Aaragon in their mutual quest for power.

Enmity can forge curiously close relationships, just as friendship can bind through thick and thin, as the Three Daughters of Eve found out when one of them took desperate action to save herself.  And yet a story of betrayal and survival such as this is sadly one for the ages, as the Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China found to their cost across the generations.

Those beautiful swans each lived in different times yet their stories were profoundly linked.  The same can be said of the three women who passed The Hours in their respectively varying ways, each possessing an unknown affinity for the other through their laments for lost beauty in all its forms.

Suffering loss with dignity and hope requires great courage, as the three women linked by The Braid were destined to discover.  They join all the heroines of this tale in deserving our attention across the pages.  Though we cannot necessarily say that they all lived happily ever after, I nevertheless commend them to you. 💜

 

Tune in next month, when we forge our six degrees chains with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as our starting point. 🙂

 

 

Published by Liz

Loving life in Edinburgh, Scotland.

25 thoughts on “Six Degrees of Separation: From Three Women to The Braid”

  7. I love the way you continued the three women theme throughout the chain! Apart from Wild Swans, I haven’t read any of your other books this month, but I think all of them sound interesting.

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    1. Thanks Clare – I’m delighted that you enjoyed it. The Hours is one of those rare creatures where I like both the book and the film – the latter made particularly memorable by the sublime film score by Philip Glass. 😀

      Liked by 1 person

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  12. I wrote a comment on this but the internet ate it before it was posted…. Just to say, I don’t suppose you are likely to be in London on 20 November, but if you are, you might like to sign up for a talk at Daunt Books in Marylebone by Jung Chang, about her most recent book. It’s about…… drumroll….. three sisters, who were powerful in China under Chiang Kai-Shek and Chairman Mao. https://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/events/

    Liked by 1 person

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