Praise for A Cowardly Woman No More
Publishers Weekly, "Best Books of 2023"
“This elegant and off-kilter upending of the office novel sings.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“The book unspools, with grace, humor, and perceptive depth, over the course of a single ordinary, extraordinary day. It is, in part, an office novel, and Cooney nails the soul-dulling absurdity of certain working lives. And it is, in part, a much stranger and more magical thing. . . . Cooney’s great skill as we press against the limits of the real is that we are with her in every moment; her language is unshowy, matter-of-fact, human, and she is also open—and opens us—to the inexplicable, the wild magic, the stuff we can’t make sense of all the way.” —Nina MacLaughin, The Boston Globe
“Cooney is remarkably adept at capturing minute inner crises within an individual and the imperfect but real connections between people. . . . A shining exploration of human frailty and endurance.” —Kirkus
“The novel’s memorable effects derive from Trisha’s voice, attitude and values. . . . For Trisha, not being ‘a cowardly woman’ involves something more than specifying her displeasures. The engaging directness of her narrative—its spokenness, sharpness of vision and recall, and willingness to place an exclamation point at the end of a sentence when she amazes herself—comprises her bravery.” —Ron Slate, On the Seawall
“A Cowardly Woman No More is a feminist novel, but it’s more than a Me Too tale on gender equity and equality. It asks us to look closely at ourselves and wonder if we’ve let daily living take the joy out of life. . . . Trisha speaks from one woman’s soul to another.” —Lorraine Kleinwaks, Enchanted Prose
“A truly lovely read, funny at times, poignant, and an interesting portrait of a type of person I’m sure we all have met, or maybe actually are.” —Davida Chazan, TCL Review
“I have been a fan of Ellen Cooney’s for years, and she is in undeniably brilliant form once again here. Masterfully told, full of surprise, built from unforgettable sentences that sing, whisper, or shout, A Cowardly Woman No More is utterly compelling from its first fiery comet of a page to its last.” —Laird Hunt
Selected praise for One Night Two Souls Went Walking
NPR, “Favorite Books of 2020”
Newsweek, “Must-Read Fall Books”
Kirkus, “Best Fiction of 2020”
Bustle, “Best Books of Fall 2020”
The Millions, “Most Anticipated: Fall 2020”
“Shimmering, remarkable. . . . A triumph of a novel, and one that arrives at the perfect time.” —Michael Schaub, NPR
“Cooney's warm and hopeful novel is a salve for these times.” —Juliana Rose Pignataro, Newsweek
“Wise and warm. . . . This is a quiet book, steady, gentle, present, one that grapples with the matter-of-fact here and now, and wades, with bravery and wonder, into the mysteries that make us human.” —Nina MacLaughlin, The Boston Globe
“The perfect novel to combat pandemic angst. ” —Kirkus, starred review
“Cooney’s novel expands the concept of what’s possible, imagining hope where there is none and pointing always toward the light.” —Mari Carlson, BookPage, starred review
“Takes place over the course of a night shift at an urban medical center whose cavernous immensity—‘steel and glass and stone, lights muted in the deep surround of the dark’—gives it the feel of a modern-day cathedral. . . . The word ‘soul’ is a frequent presence in this novel, a kind of familiar spirit.” —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“Now, more than ever, we need to be reminded that hope prevails—and this novel does exactly that.” —Carolyn Quimby, The Millions
2023-04-12
A 44-year-old woman comes to terms with her life while attending an annual corporate banquet.
Software analyst Trisha Donahue always relished the annual boozy parties thrown at the Rose & Emerald restaurant in central Massachusetts by the Boston company where she’s worked for eight years. But new management runs the company with a more corporate ethos, and speechifying has replaced drinking alcohol, no longer allowed, at the now unofficially mandatory banquets. Having learned that she’s been passed over for a promotion she was all but promised, Trisha is a reluctant attendee this year. Then she’s stunned, not in a good way, when management announces to the crowd that she’s the first woman “Employee of the Year.” Trisha flees within the passageways of the almost magically charming Rose & Emerald, located (perhaps too) coincidentally in the community where she grew up “on the wrong side of the tracks.” While Cooney effectively draws peripheral characters like Trisha’s privileged yet self-aware husband and her stoic, ailing boss, the only character that truly matters here is Trisha. As she struggles through this one crazy day, she reviews her evolution from a working-class girl with brains and ambition to a woman afraid to rock the status quo. The depiction of Trisha’s middle-class financial anxiety is spot-on, but Cooney lays on the sociopolitical critique with a heavy hand. Trisha so relentlessly complains about blockheaded bosses and bemoans turning “corporate” that the good reasons she’s angry become boring. The novel’s explorations of class inequality and corporate mentality seldom reach beyond the obvious, and its perspective on society’s unfair treatment of women seems dated—Trisha has no awareness of the #MeToo movement, and her thoughts on what clothes a successful woman needs, including pantyhose, feel anachronistic. But Cooney is remarkably adept at capturing minute inner crises within an individual and the imperfect but real connections between people. While the writing can be pessimistic, even cynical, neither Cooney nor her central character is afraid to look kindness in the face when it arises. No mean feat.
A shining exploration of human frailty and endurance falters when it attempts social analysis.
