The Women of Harvard Square: A Novel in Short Stories

A is for Agnes.A is for Adrianna.A is for Abigal. A is for The Women of Harvard Square whose stories emerge and engage the readers of this collection of short stories.These women, the three A’s and their friends, are scientists, scholars, writers—serious professionals with entangled lives and loves. They get into plenty of scrapes and escapades, not to mention intrigues, before they hop out of bed the next morning to do some DNA sequencing, write another best seller, or consider the artistry of Michelangelo. Vivid and vivacious they are. I was fascinated; I had fun. I felt like moving in next door. But later I found myself thinking about these gals—maybe there’s more there. Not many books make me do that. A big ‘yes’ for Michael Lieberman. I look forward to his next book. Dare I hope it’s the 'Houstiliad' hinted at in the final chapter of this one?

The book cover suggest conversations over coffee about “erotic sensibilities” while an unfamiliar metallic object is nearby"Women of Harvard Square", on the surface, is a series of stories about the lives of interconnected (mostly) women –artists and academics, all successful but in a perverse way, more focused on their simmering libido. What becomes evident to my mind is that the story takes on a parody about how people, in this case very knowledgeable people, can be enslaved to their own predispositions and how it can control their lives in ways they could not imagine. Olympia as an example of parody, is the writer whose novels may only be commercial successes without any other significance. In her private life, she is tormented by the proper academic titles she must uphold versus the inward cravings that she has a hard time withholding. Her inability to accept her daughter’s ménage-a-trois while involving herself in a romance with a man who already has a love partner is both ironic and perplexing. She was nearly raped but took umbrage in writing about it, only to seek out her attacker in a sympathetic way, suggests her unresolved desires. The presence of Henrietta reminds us how we may accept evil people in our midst because they are evil, in spite of their continuing violence that we see. What is the captivation behind her twisted novel, “The Lobsterman’s Daughter”? What is the attraction that the writer, A.E. has for her? Diana brings in a mesmerizing effect her artistic works, insignificant as it is, have and give it a significance neither the artist nor the adoring public can comprehend. The writing craft is also treated with an aura of make belief, that anything written will be successful so long as the “network” is in place to publicize it. In the end, the book demands that we reflect on our own “sensibilities” – what is their basis and how do they reflect the reality around us. Do they really mirror the human being or the persona? Can it give us any more satisfaction if we were to start afresh with a brand new face?

I'm a serious reader and I don't waste time. My 5,000 volume hardbound library says so. Michael Lieberman's, THE WOMEN OF HARVARD SQUARE, is not what many might consider a "page turner" in the sense of some adventure thriller. What a pity. I so enjoyed the sculptured "characterization" he so masterfully carved into this novel that I found it a "page turner". For me to say it was a most satisfying read is mundane. Is "spectacular" hyperbole...too much? How about this...the tome is well worth the potential pennies and hours spent on it and with it. Do it...c'mon...buy it and read it!

One doesn't so much read a book by Michael Lieberman as fall irremediably under its spell. In THE WOMEN OF HARVARD SQUARE, we travel from the dark mystery of his previous books into the mythos of eroticism, personified by his vivid contemporary goddesses of science, art, and vitality. One of the book's deep pleasures is moving seamlessly through the intersection of one woman's story with another's, reveling in the profound permutations of desire.