A Scarcity of Virgins, JoAnn Catania
A Scarcity of Virgins, JoAnn Catania
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A Scarcity of Virgins
A woman's journey from dependence to self-fulfillment.

Author: JoAnn Catania

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 11 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Iguana Books

Published: 02/07/2022


Synopsis

  A heart-wrenching story of love and infidelity seen through the eyes of a woman blinded by love.
Rita, the main character in A Scarcity of Virgins, resembles a modern day Emma from Flaubert's Madame Bovary or Nora from Ibsen's A Doll's House. It is a novel that will appeal to readers of Karma Brown's, Recipe for a Perfect Wife, Joyce Maynard's, Count the Ways, and Miranda Cowely Heller's, The Paper Palace. 
It is 1986 and Rita McEachern's routine life is about to change--drastically. Eighteen years of being a stay-at-home wife and mother have turned her into a borderline agoraphobic, afraid to venture more than a few blocks from her home. If she is stuck in an emotionally abusive and loveless marriage, she is not aware of it, devoting all her attention to domesticity and her four children.
An unexpected confrontation with Valentin, a ruggedly handsome Spanish immigrant from Barcelona, shakes up her life both physically and emotionally. Although twelve years younger than Rita, he is intrigued by her innocence and naivete. Unable to resist his enthusiastic overtures, Rita falls passionately in love with him, sending her on a spiraling road to destruction, forcing her to make some hard decisions in order to save herself and her children.
 A Scarcity of Virgins is a period romantic drama which explores the full emotional palette of a woman caught between worlds. It explores the complexity of the mind of a woman caught in obsession and delusion, until events force her to reckon with her dependence on the men in her life.  

Reviews

Goodreads review by Yvonne on September 27, 2021

I read this entire book in one-go. Barely putting it down for a moment since I felt drawn to the characters and wondering how things would unfold. Having been set in the mid to late 80s I could relate to exact incidents that the author described in so much detail that even I could recall from my tee......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on December 06, 2021

A Scarcity of Virgins is not for the faint of heart. Author JoAnn Catania presents a stark and, at times, shocking tale of a woman’s struggle to break free of the gender roles placed on her by society. It’s not a violent narrative, nor is it as racy as a Barbara Cartland. However, the claustrophobic......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on March 23, 2022

This book is wonderful. The writing is exquisite, and the story unfolds beautifully. I loved the Sicilian-Canadian culture, the sheltered wife stuck in a marriage in the 1980s who struggles to break free of the confines of her life, and the themes of adultery and infidelity. It is raw and revealing,......more

Goodreads review by Kimberly on November 26, 2021

The year is 1986 and thirty-eight-year-old Rita lives in the suburbs of Toronto with her husband and four kids. While her husband is a good provider to Rita and their children, there is no passion there. Lovemaking is perfunctory and scheduled in twice a week – always on the same days – without fail......more

Goodreads review by Tom on February 06, 2022

The plot is fairly simple and the narrative is revealed in a straightforward manner. But there’s nothing simplistic, superficial or stereotypical about JoAnn Catania’s first novel, A Scarcity of Virgins. Rita McEachern, trapped in a loveless marriage and stultifying routine, gradually comes to reali......more