A chameleon, an enigma, all things to all women -- a lifeline to which powerful needs and nameless longings may be attached -- Ken Kimble is revealed through the eyes of the women he seduces: Birdie, his first wife, struggling to hold herself together after his desertion; second wife, Joan, a lonely, tragic heiress who sees her unknowable husband as her last chance for happiness; and Dinah, a beautiful but damaged woman half his age.
Mrs. Kimble (P.S.)
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Sometimes a book can be utterly full of holes and you still can't put it down. In Mrs. Kimble, first-time novelist Jennifer Haigh follows the marital career of Ken Kimble, opportunist, serial husband, and all around schmuck. The first section, set in Virginia in the 1960s, revolves around alcoholic first wife Birdie. As we enter the story, Kimble has already left her alone with two small children she is ill equipped to raise on her own. Kimble's absence in this section sets the tone for the book, which is not so much about Kimble himself as it is about the women he dupes over the years. Next up is Joan, a Newsweek reporter recovering from a mastectomy at her late father's home in Florida. A wealthy, confident woman left unsteady by breast cancer, she falls for Kimble, who now turns up in a hippie-ish incarnation. In the final section, Kimble weds Dinah, who had been his children's babysitter back in Virginia. Their marriage unravels as, at the end of the book, Kimble's secrets are revealed one by one. Unfortunately, the central secret of the book is never laid bare: how did the man get to be such a jerk? Other problems are never dealt with, either: we never believe a whip-smart woman like Joan could be so transparently snow-jobbed. We never understand why Dinah stays with an aging crook. Nevertheless, Mrs. Kimble is still engrossing. Haigh is so gifted at creating vivid scenes and strong characters, we find ourselves surrendering our disbelief despite our better judgment. This isn't the terrific book it might have been, but it's still a superior read. --Claire Dederer
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
The three women who successively marry Ken Kimble all believe they've found the perfect partner, and all are proven wrong in Haigh's uneven debut. Birdie is a student at a Southern Bible college in the early 1960s when she meets Kimble, then a handsome young choir director; they marry less than a year later, a day before she turns 19. After seven unfaithful years of marriage, Ken walks out on Birdie and their two young children, leaving the hard-drinking Birdie impoverished. Ken next surfaces in Florida in 1969, engaged to a formerly ambitious coed who dropped out of college to travel the country with him. He summarily dumps her to court 39-year-old Joan Cohen, a strong-willed Newsweek reporter who is recovering from breast cancer surgery. He marries her (after falsely telling her that he's Jewish) and joins her rich uncle in his real estate business. A few years and one miscarriage later, the marriage has quietly soured, and a few years after that Joan has a recurrence of cancer and dies. Ken's third wife is the much-younger Dinah, who used to be his children's baby-sitter. This marriage survives Ken's rise to prominence in Washington, D.C., as the founder of a successful charity. Haigh's women are believable, if a touch cliched, but Ken is a cipher. Haigh leaves us guessing about his motivations, and his irresistible appeal to these women-especially the tough-minded Joan-also remains murky. The novel has sharply incisive passages, but Haigh's thin characterizations don't quite live up to the promise of the clever, intricate premise.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
OK, yes the book was entertaining, but it always irritates me when I find factual errors. Case in point: Joan and the children travel to Disney World after breakfast and return on the SAME DAY before dinner. It is approx. 4 hours from the Miami area to Disney, 4 hours back. They wouldn't have had time to stand in one line.
By Heather Marshall Negahdar
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
"A neighbour said he'd risen at dawn each day to run on the beach.....on the table next to his bed was a gold wedding band."
Meet the three Kimble wives, all married at some point in time to Ken Kimble, an intangible man, vague and hard to pin down.
The story starts with an introduction to his first wife Birdie Kimble who bore him a son Charles and a daughter Jody, and whom he deserted like a passing breeze. Second wife Joan Kimble recovering from illness, is a woman of means, and though she sees his shortcomings and his lack of proper table etiquette, she keeps her vows for as long as she possibly can.
The last wife Dinah was my favourite wife, a trophy wife and a former babysitter for Birdie who became his wife after he had come into his own and made a name for himself.
There is nothing to jump out at you or to shock the living daylights out of you in this book, but, it is a great work of entertainment with real characters, and ocasionally along the way, your heart is touched in various ways.
Kudos to Jennifer Haigh on her first novel. It is a wonderful gift for any occasion.
Reviewed ny Heather Marshall Negahdar SUGAR-CANE 26/04/05
Meet the three Kimble wives, all married at some point in time to Ken Kimble, an intangible man, vague and hard to pin down.
The story starts with an introduction to his first wife Birdie Kimble who bore him a son Charles and a daughter Jody, and whom he deserted like a passing breeze. Second wife Joan Kimble recovering from illness, is a woman of means, and though she sees his shortcomings and his lack of proper table etiquette, she keeps her vows for as long as she possibly can.
The last wife Dinah was my favourite wife, a trophy wife and a former babysitter for Birdie who became his wife after he had come into his own and made a name for himself.
There is nothing to jump out at you or to shock the living daylights out of you in this book, but, it is a great work of entertainment with real characters, and ocasionally along the way, your heart is touched in various ways.
Kudos to Jennifer Haigh on her first novel. It is a wonderful gift for any occasion.
Reviewed ny Heather Marshall Negahdar SUGAR-CANE 26/04/05
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Given the premise of this novel, I expected much more from it than just an enjoyable, quick read. And it IS highly readable--Haigh is a good storyteller and her pacing is fast (short episodes, crisp sentences). And yes, you do keep turning the pages, even though the novel begins a bit slowly with Birdie, the least engaging of the three Kimble wives (maybe partly because you never get to see Kimble with her or relating to her, except a snippet long after they're divorced).
However, I wished for more than just a story--I like novels that make you think, and in which you really identify with or come to love the characters, novels which have detail and some complexity to them. This one has little of any of the above, in my opinion. I know some readers felt the three Mrs. Kimbles were really well-developed, but I felt just the opposite. All of them seemed a bit like stick caricatures to me--there just wasn't enough there. Dinah, the last wife, is perhaps better drawn, simply because more pages and time are spent on her, and therefore I felt I knew her a little better than the other two--but not as well as I'd have liked to.
Ken Kimble--the selfish, opportunistic and supposedly chameleon husband who we see solely through his three wives' eyes--was a real disappointment (and not only to his wives, but to me as well!). I was married for a number of years to a man who, while not a criminal 'con' man like Kimble, is definitely someone who changes a great deal in relation to whoever he's with. However, my ex is highly complex and very interesting, and Kimble is neither. Haigh loses a chance to help us understand this kind of personality, I felt, as Kimble is presented so one-dimensionally, so simplistically, really. And I don't buy it that the wives couldn't have given us at least some of this information, that they didn't know him themselves, so thus we readers don't know him either.
In the years I was married to him, I spent a great deal of time trying to understand my narcissistic, chameleon husband--and I do feel I came to understand him maybe better than he understood himself (I made it a point to learn about his family, asked many questions about his background, for heaven's sake, read his old childhood diaries, made it a point to meet his old friends and girlfriends). Maybe Kimble's young wife, Birdie, wouldn't have done these sorts of things, but certainly smart, savvy Joan could have (why she was ever attracted to him for very long didn't wash for me--and we never do see how Ken copes with her dying, which must have been pretty interesting...). And Dinah, who did know deep down that her husband had some pretty big flaws, also was capable, I think, of presenting us with a more complex picture of this man, especially since she was married to him for many years.
The ending of the novel jives with the rest of it--it will make those of you who like a basically entertaining read happy. Well, I didn't mind the ending, as I'd long before realized I wasn't reading a novel that I found in the least bit thought-provoking, and so just took it for the satisfying ending that it was.
I can see why this novel appeals to many readers--it's a good, light 'mainstream' novel; it's just that I'd longed for a little more meat, a little more substance. If you're just looking for a quick summer read, though, you no doubt will love this book as much as many others have.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best of its kind
A rich compilation of thought and insight, MRS. KIMBLE is one of the best things I've read in years. Read more
Published on Mar 10 2005 by BethDeHart
3.0 out of 5 stars
Better than most debuts, but still lacking in parts...
I'm still in the middle of this novel, but I wanted to write a quick review before I forgot. Basically, Haigh has chosen an interesting twist on American domestic suburbia. Read more
Published on May 12 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful young writer of this first novel!
Conceptually, Haigh has plotted a compelling tale of the three women who marry Ken Kimble. We see the story through the passage of time. Read more
Published on Mar 29 2004 by L. Quido
5.0 out of 5 stars
Which Mrs. Kimble will you like the best?
I loved the book! It is a fascinating character study and story that I just didn't want to put down. Read more
Published on Mar 19 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some holes, but a captivating debut novel
I loved the premise of this book - to follow this one man through the lives of his three wives. It is true, as other readers here say, there are some holes, but the story is just... Read more
Published on Mar 14 2004 by Danielle
4.0 out of 5 stars
A surprising premise and a gripping first novel
This is a fascinating novel by a very gifted young woman. Even with the "holes" in the story that others point out in their reviews, it is a terrific one- or two-day... Read more
Published on Feb 29 2004 by Just Visiting
3.0 out of 5 stars
A reader from Olympia
Mrs. Kimble is a compelling readable novel about a chameleon of a man who seduces and marries three very different women. Read more
Published on Feb 24 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
Original Ideas, Intriguing Characters
Mrs. Kimble is full of intrigue and originality. We are able to witness the same man, a man who is best described as uncommon, through the eyes of each of his three wives. Read more
Published on Feb 14 2004
3.0 out of 5 stars
Engrossing despite flaws
I read this novel in one day....just couldn't put it down.When I'd finished it, I realized that though I enjoyed it very much, the novel was full of holes. Read more
Published on Jan 31 2004 by phyllis savin
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mrs. Kimble
Yes this book was well written, but I really don't enjoy reading about down-trodden women. I found this book very depressing.
Published on Jan 25 2004
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