MacArthur Park

A Novel

By: Judith Freeman

Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky

Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

A captivating, emotionally taut novel about the complexities of a friendship between two women - and how it shapes, and reshapes, both of their lives.

"Filled with gorgeous prose and deep emotion.... Explores what it means to be an artist, delves into the vicissitudes of life and death, and takes us on journey through the splendor (and sometimes ugliness) of the American West - with dollops of Flaubert, Faulkner, Chekhov, Collette, and Chandler along the way." (Lisa See, author of The Island of Sea Women)

Jolene and Verna share complicated ties that have crystallized over time. Beginning when they were girls discovering their needs and desires, their ongoing stories have been inextricably linked. But when Verna marries Vincent, Jolene’s ex-husband, their paths may have finally, permanently diverged.

A successful and provocative feminist artist, Jolene travels the world, attracting attention wherever she goes. Verna, a writer, works from her home near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, where she and Vincent plan to spend the rest of their lives in a contemplative, intimate routine. Then Jolene asks one more favor of Verna - to take a road trip with her to their small hometown in Utah. It’s a journey that will force them to confront both the truths and falsehoods of their memories of each other and of the very beginnings of their friendship, and to reckon with the meaning of love, of time itself, of the bonds that matter most to us, and with what we owe one another.

©2021 Judith Freeman (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Intelligent, challenging fiction [with] bravura descriptions of diverse American landscapes.... Freeman asks us to understand that committed relationships necessarily involve conflict and compromise.” (Kirkus Reviews)

"Judith Freeman has long been one of our wisest and wiliest radicals. She's never written a book more daring than MacArthur Park, an audacious novel that is several books in one: a revealing piece of auto-fiction, a story about an alter-egoing female friendship, a portrait of a tricky marriage, a vivid road trip along little known Western highways, a debate between different visions of art (and womanhood!), and a rumination on the importance of finding somewhere to call home. As scrupulous and beautifully observed as all her work, this is one of those books that gets better and better as you go along." (John Powers, critic at large, Fresh Air with Terry Gross)

“A wonderful and revealing book about the bond between two strong American women involved in a lifelong triangle and the different, sometimes conflicting, paths they take across time - and across the country - toward intimacy and real self-knowledge. Eccentric, readable, and beautifully crafted, this novel shows us what it means to be an artist and what it means to love other people, and a stream of bracing fun and wit burbles behind the book’s powerful, contemporary American story. Freeman, as always, captures nuance and character in swift, evocative strokes, and never flinches from taking a hard look at what the dark future holds and how we are to face it.” (Amy Wilentz, author of The Rainy Season)

An Outstanding Performance by Writer and Narrator

Here's the modern West, at least from Salt lake to L.A. from the introspective of two childhood friends, now long estranged and one now married to the other's former husband. Freeman's novel, written masterfully in her always personal style, and narrated with delightful passion by the talented, multi-voice Kaminsky, accompanied me recently as I drove through Red Rock country of Utah and Nevada for 17 hours, or more. How lovely to have these two female characters as "passengers" on one of the most beautiful drives of my life. Highly entertaining, I stayed eager not only to be on my journey, but to have these three (including their mutual spouse, Vincent) with me for every mile. I wish the journey had been longer....