As We Are Now

by May Sarton

Overview

"I am not mad, only old. . . . I am in a concentration camp for the old."

So begins May Sarton's short, swift blow of a novel, about the powerlessness of the old and the rage it can bring. As We Are Now tells the story of Caroline Spencer, a 76-year-old retired schoolteacher, mentally strong but physically frail, who has been moved by relatives into a "home." Subjected to subtle humiliations and petty cruelties, sustained for too short a time by the love of another person, she fights back with all she has, and in a powerful climax wins a terrible victory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393309577
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/17/1992
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

May Sarton (1912-1995) was an acclaimed poet, novelist, and memoirist.

What People are Saying About This

Brooks Atkinson

"A masterly portrait of a woman's lonliness, helplessness and dispair."

Madeleine L'Engle

"An important, brilliant novel, dealing with the problem we'd all rather close our eyes to. As I read, I shared the anger and the righteous indignation which I felt behind every line. But more than this, the anger and indignation are recontained by compassion, compassion which purges and redeems." - Madeleine L'Engle

Editorial Reviews

"A brief, strong statement. . . . A convincing record of evil done and good intentions gone astray. . . . A powerful indictment."

Ellen Douglas

"May Sarton has never been better than she is in this beautiful, harrowing novel about being old, unwanted, yet refusing to give up. . . . The problems of old age have been detailed by sociologists but only a novel as searching and deeply felt as this one can bring them so close to the bone."

Boston Globe - Margaret Manning