The Easter Parade

By Richard Yates,

Book cover of The Easter Parade

Book description

In The Easter Parade, first published in 1976, we meet sisters Sarah and Emily Grimes when they are still the children of divorced parents. We observe the sisters over four decades, watching them grow into two very different women. Sarah is stable and stalwart, settling into an unhappy marriage. Emily…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Easter Parade as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Richard Yates' richly nuanced novel from 1976 also became one of my favorite novels upon reading it this year. 

Depicting the early childhood-through-midlife of Emily Grimes, Yates takes us on an uncompromising, unsettling, and moving journey, from Emily's imbalanced upbringing to the challenging relationships between her mother and older sister, as well as the men that enter in and out of her life, and how her search for self becomes somewhat obscured as a result of all, despite her obvious intelligence.

While Yates was primarily known for his first novel, Revolutionary Road, this is very much a work that…

I’m both inspired and depressed by this book. Yes, the book itself is on the depressing side, but what truly saddens me about it is that I’ll never write as well as Richard Yates. He packs so much into this 57,000-word work that it almost defies logic. Still, he’s an inspiration as a writer, and I will always use him as a guidepost. No one’s ever going to confuse me with Michael Jordan, either, but I’m still going to shoot hoops (poorly) in my driveway.

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