Terms of Endearment (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Larry McMurtry
- First Published: 1975
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Domestic realism
- Time of Work: The 1960’s and 1970’s
- Setting: Houston, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; and Kearney and Omaha, Nebraska
- Genres: Long fiction, Domestic realism
- Subjects: 1960’s, 1970’s, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Mothers, Parents and children, Midwest, West, U.S., Cancer, Adultery, Servants, Terminal illness or terminally ill, Texas, Nebraska
- Locales: Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Des Moines, IA, Houston, TX, Kearney, NE, Omaha, NE
Characters Discussed
Aurora Greenway, a middle-aged, fairly prosperous widow in Houston, Texas. Aurora is incurably selfish but charming. She spends her time encouraging and then terrifying a host of middle-aged beaus. Her principal vanities are her lovely head of auburn hair, her vocabulary, and her authentic Renoir. Her principal disappointment—in addition to the suitors, who always fall short of her expectations—is her daughter, Emma, who is as ordinary as Aurora is eccentric. She bullies Emma and her suitors to make the most of themselves, to be more alive, and to seize...
[The entire page is 746 words long]
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