The Bleeding Heart cover art

The Bleeding Heart

A Novel

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The Bleeding Heart

By: Marilyn French
Narrated by: Reay Kaplan
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About this listen

By the author of the groundbreaking feminist novel The Women's Room, this audiobook is a compelling novel about the devastating power of marriage - and the unexpected power of love. A love story for and about adults, it speaks to the hearts and minds of women and men everywhere.

Dolores and Victor are both successful, both Americans living alone in England. They meet and fall instantly in love, only to discover they agree on nothing. From the start they know they have only one year together. Their affair is sometimes bitter, always passionate, and, in the end, an extraordinary revelation for them both.

©1980 Marilyn French (P)2013 Audible, Inc. Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Women's Fiction

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Not so much a story, more a discourse on the place of women in the world. Very thought provoking. The author struggles with her very strong feminist views when swept up in the highs of being in love, and wanting to be loved. One can understand why she blames men for many of the terrible events that have befallen her and her people she knows, however this is tied up with strong feeling such as anti-capitalism, abusing the planet's resources etc. So she is not only angry at men but also the human condition. Victor is very patient listening to her many "rants' and as a result re-assesses the selfish course his own life has taken. Both of the two main character's tales are very honest and poignant. The reader gets to feel sympathy for the struggle of both men and women to 'fit' into a world which is full of inequalities and expectations for both sexes. I admit that by the end of the book however, I was left with the feeling that the main character should accept that men and women do think differently about alot of things, rightly or wrongly, and surely communication rather than condemnation is the way to go in an effort to enlighten. A very honest and excellent book. If you have an interest in feminism or relationship dynamics, you will find this a rewarding listen.

An essential listen for women age 30's upwards

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I loved this as an audiobook, I loved it so much that I will have to also get the hard copy book because it is so full of gut-punching insights and I need the quotes! I really wish there were more Marilyn French audiobooks.

The audiobook is gripping because of its emotional honesty. The awful, unspoken values and expectations of women in relationships under patriarchy are exposed. At one point, Dolores is telling Victor about the end of her marriage to Anthony and she recounts that he said something to her like: “you never loved me like I love you” and without missing a beat, her response (which she doesn’t articulate) is “I never hated you like you hate me”.

This audiobook blew me away. One of my favourites ever. I will have to listen again and will recommend to every woman who I think will appreciate it. Such an extraordinary piece of work.

This has to be one of the greatest works of feminist literature of all time

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Excellent book, but jarring that narrator mispronounced numerous English place names. Also, ending seems sudden.

Involving and authentic read.

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Captivating novel. Bitter and biting. It drew me in and made me feel deeply.

I didn't really believe Victor as a character though. Mostly because he took all Dolores' hurt and anger and blame and came back for more every time.
While much of what Dolores said was absolutely right, I found her to be too single minded - She couldn't think of or talk about anything else other than the patriarchy. I mean I know it comes into everything but to literally talk about nothing else is just too much!

This didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book though as it was less about telling a story and more about examining their feelings, motivations and behaviours.

The narration was very good too. Really brought it to life.

I want to read more by this author so I was disappointed to find that Audible doesn't appear to have her book "The Women's Room" in their catalogue so I have bought it on Kindle. I would like to see Audible doing a reading of it though.

The Bleeding Heart

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I read The Women’s Room 3 times, and a few others by French. Her observations of life, seen as a women, and really only as a woman can, resonate deeply, and even though her style is easy to absorb, it is still cavernous and rich, luscious and painfully sharp. I always feel as if I have the lived the life of her characters, my heart has broken and soared with theirs, empathic response is so easy with her writing.. I am left with the line ‘she was a Priestess of Pain’, and my heartbreaks nodded to the description, and understood. Beautiful

Her sharp observations of such subtleties

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The narrator gets better - or perhaps I just got used to her. Bear with it if you have a similar experience. The honest frank portrayal of thoughts, feelings and motivations between two people had me riveted.

What an emotional roller coaster

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such a shame. this could have been a good book, but then they choose a horrible narrator, so I had to stop listening.
(she sounds like somebody who's reading a list of ingredients and is bored)

Awful performance

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I got half way through & gave up. I didn’t care about the characters or what happened to them. It was just tedious to listen to.

Gave up

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