Mrs. Kimble audiobook

4.5 starsHow is it that I have been unaware of Jennifer Haigh until now? I really enjoyed this novel and spent every spare minute reading it. Not usually interested in the laments of housewives, somehow I got caught up in the deception and mystery behind Ken Kimble and his three wives.As a serial husband, Ken Kimble moves from wife to wife, always bettering his position and climbing some sort of social ladder. In his wake, we see the destruction of his families and the wives who have to deal with his abandonment and disappearances. Surprisingly, even when he is around, he is absent. He manages to woo each one with his honed salesman tactics but never reveals any truth about himself. What is the allure of such a man and why are women drawn to him?

** spoiler alert ** SPOILER ALERT * Sometimes the people closest to us turn out to be the most unfamiliar of strangers. Jennifer Haigh's heartbreaking and revealing novel takes a bold stand on life and marriage and asks the question: do we really know our better half as well as we think we do? At first glance, Ken Kimble is in every way the epitome of a perfect husband both in looks and in a personality that cracks like a whip with all the women he encounters. He seems too good to be true and he is, revealing himself to be an expert manipulator who cruelly deceives three wives leaving them nothing but a broken heart. Birdie is the first to be tricked into Kimble's empty promises and cold demeanor after he seduces her and puts on a flashy courtship. Marrying her when she is only 18 years-old and he a cool 32, their union produced two children he could care less about and a young wife who had no idea what she was getting herself into. The years fade on as he begins to spend more and more time working late nights "teaching" at his school while Birdie, naive and alone, finds a friendly companion in drinking. Everything collapses when Kimble abandons them all for one of his students. Eventually, however, he even breaks off that relationship for a more appealing one in Joan, a lonely heiress who is immediately captivated by Kimble's dangerous charm. This only lasts a few years due to Joan's second affliction of cancer and conveniently, all of her wealth is passed on to him. Later on, he meets and marries his final wife, Dinah, who had actually been his first two children's babysitter years ago. Being significantly older than her, this relationship takes its toll as well but it can be argued that age has nothing to do with Dinah and Kimble's problems. Kimble is simply far too selfish and cold a man to live with but because of his wealth and their son, Dinah is forced to stay with him and submit to a life of unhappiness. They say what goes around comes around... the memorable climax of the story will leave the reader mesmerized and perhaps a bit relieved, although maybe not fully satisfied. While Kimble does indeed pay some kind of retribution for his cruel and wicked ways, the ugly imprint he has left on the lives of his wives and his children alike will never go away. What is, what could have been, and what should have been are the realities that Birdie, Joan, and Dinah battle with each day of their life because they were unlucky enough to have a man pull the rug right out from beneath their feet.

This book was given to me some time ago by a friend and has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while. I finally pulled it out and started reading it...I read the whole thing in about a 15-hour span (not including sleeping for the night!). This book totally engrossed me...the tale of 3 (sequential) wives of the same man...a man charming to all those he meets, yet a chameleon who seems utterly empty. Each woman he marries seems vulnerable for one reason or another (one is naive, one is recovering from a serious illness, another extremely self-conscious). Each woman struggles for explaining her husband's behavior, even making up excuses for his behavior to others. But Ken made no apologies for his actions. This book was extremely well-written, and got even more engaging the longer I read it. Ken's character seems utterly believable--most women I know have run across someone like him. Why did he do what he did? Who knows. But the book is less about the consistent character--Ken--and more about how each of these women entered into a relationship with him, realized it wasn't as they anticipated, and resigned themself to that life anyway. I found myself wondering what I would have done if I was each Mrs. Kimble. Highly recommended!

I picked this up at a library sale for $0.25 based solely on the cover art and back cover blurb. I didn't have high expectations but I ended up devouring the book in about 2 days, and I would read more by this author.Mrs. Kimble is a novel in 4 parts revolving around Ken Kimble, a lying, cheating minister-turned-real-estate-mogul and his 3 wives. Ken was born in 1929; the book begins and ends with his death in 1995.Alcoholic Birdie (b. 1942, m. 1961, 2 children, divorced 1969) and Newsweek foreign correspondent Joan (b. 1930, m. 1969, no children, died 1975?) each have one section and chef Dinah (b. 1954, m. 1979, 1 child, widowed 1995) has two sections. Through their stories you can see the progression of not only Ken's selfish, greedy, a**holish personality, but also of American family values and race relations.Haigh did a good job ending this book (high praise from me!) by giving Birdie and Dinah appropriate resolution to their conflicts, and by leaving Joan's death largely unmentioned, which given Ken's affinity for sneaking off in the night to start fresh in a new state, fits the book to a T. Dinah mentions once that in 15 years of marriage she never heard him laugh. The question Haigh wants the reader to contemplate, I'm sure, is why did each woman marry Ken, given his obvious faults? How did society/their background/ages impact their decisions and expectations of him? How did it impact the way they each responded when they discovered his lies?Excellent writing, a good plot and difficult questions left to the reader give this book a solid "recommended" rating. Done right, it would make a great movie.

The compelling story of three women who were manipulated by one man. A con artist and a chameleon, Ken Kimble is a despicable character. The women he preyed upon were all very different yet all fell under his spell. Spanning 25 years, Mrs. Kimble is an intriguing page-turner that satisfyingly comes full circle.

Very much enjoyed the book - the story, the writer and the clever writing. The narrative unfolds beautifully and we are treated to some exquisite, gently developed characterisation and a storyline that gradually builds and layers weaving between the past and present enigma that is Ken Kimble. Haigh works greatly in female characterisation and through her narrative of his three main 'love' affairs she explains the crumbling and disjointed world of a broken, selfish and quite mysterious man. Kimble will never be more than a whispering shadow in the story despite his 'role' being of fundamental importance to its development. We don't really hear his voice and we never explicitly learn of his hopes, fears and dreams yet we learn about psychological and social distruction caused by one man's indifference and ego. The book is secretly scathing about the very ideas of romance, marriage and ideals and of what society and individuals expect love and relationships to be and mean. After reading Haigh's first novel I am impressed at her fluidity and genius as a writer who is able to weave and knit ideas seemingly effortlessly. Brilliant book for appreciative readers of good writing linked to immaculate story development. Bravo!

I had some trouble warming to this story - it was not until the second half, when Ken Kimble's third wife is introduced, that I really enjoyed reading & wanted to know what would happen to the characters. Ken is a user who appeals to flawed women ripe for being used. Wives 1 & 2 are sad, insecure women - it is not easy to like them but it is very easy to feel sorry for them. Were it not for Ken's son, Charlie, I'm not sure I would have kept reading - but Charlie is strong and acts more adult than any of the actual adults, until Dinah, wife number 3 enters the story. Dinah becomes the focal point that brings all of the characters, and all of the stories, together. Like all of the other women in the book, Dinah falls for Ken's false charm. Unlike the others tho, she comes to understand Ken - something Charlie understood even as a child. Dinah & Charlie are the survivors. The ending is quiet & simple with Ken getting the ending he deserved all along.

How much is a woman willing to give -- or give up -- for love? That is the question at the center of this book. The tale of the three wives of a handsome sociopath, Mrs. Kimble traces the wreckage Ken Kimble leaves in his wake. Each woman is distinctly different, yet each is willing to sacrifice everything for the man she loves. While it is at times unavoidably depressing -- like watching a train smash into a car stalled on the tracks -- the resolution is, indeed, a tale of just rewards and redemption. The characters are finely drawn and all too real. The occasional plot clunker (Cohen's brother showing up on Dinah's doorstep???) keeps this from being a five-star novel. But I look forward to more books from Haigh in the future.

Well that Mr. Kimble was bit of a one, wasn’t he. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Split into 3 sections telling each wife’s story of how they met Ken & how he left them. Good stuff - 4-4.5 stars.

This was a great quick read book.. At first I thought that the characters, where not that great and development of the characters was poor. Then I got into the heart of the book, and the revolving main character Ken Kimble. Ken Kimble is a casanova character, that is seen as an opportunist and pries of younger women and almost accidently falls into their lives... reminds me of the quote loves them & then leaves them." Intertwined throughout the whole story is the story of Charlie Kimble, it starts when the boy is 6 years old and takes you to when he is 30. He witnesses and struggles with the role of his father, abadonment and loss of the marriage of his parents. Only towards the end do we see some interaction and anger from son to father.The women characters are interwined throughout the book and have relationships with each other. Its almost as if Ken Kimble accidently and purposely picks these women and may or may not fall in love with them. The women are often seen as easy pry for an opportunist, such as Kimble. I would recommend this book for someone who is looking for a summer or vacation book.. it is fast moving and easily gripping!

I've had this book for quite a while, but finally found the right time to read it! I really enjoyed this story of a man who touches (and not usually in a very good way) so many lives. He can turn on the charm initially and draw women in only to leave them empty and wondering what went wrong. I particularly enjoyed the journey each woman took to reflect on the relationship with Ken and see the progression that they didn't realize was happening at the time. It raises questions about the importance of how the other person makes you feel both in the short and long term. Ken really seemed to be quite immature, only really able to connect with much younger women. I was intrigued by the character of Brendan the most, though he was only in the very end of the book. He seemed to embody the way we are shaped by our home environment and the potential we all have to rise out of our circumstances.I'm glad I finally got around to reading this one. It raises so many questions in my mind about relationships and what draws us to others. This is truly great book, especially given that it is the author's first novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Jennifer Haigh did an excellent job of taking three small stories and tying them together in one large story. She was effectively able to get me emotionally involved...I often found myself angry/annoyed with Ken Kimble and, at times, his wives also. She claims she did not write Ken Kimble to be a sociopath...but I can't see him as anything else. With each of his wives, he has the same personality and habits...just uses them in different ways to get what he needs/wants. He fed off their vulnerabilities to lure them in...and for whatever reason they found him irresistible...which was most likely their desperation for a partner. It was written beautifully, a story that quite possibly could have been choppy and all over the place. Everything flowed well and she did a great job of tying things together. We'll never know exactly what Ken's motivations were...but I think that if we got definite answers, things would have been tied together too neatly.

Samo ću reći da mi je žao što mi je trebalo ovoliko vremena da je konačno nabavim i pročitam, a postoji već nekih 19 godina. Ovakve knjige baš volim. Jedna je od rijetkih koje jednostavno ne mogu ispustiti iz ruku i kad vidim koliko je sati a moram sutra poraniti na posao, tačno mi bude žao da je ostavim nepročitanu istu veče. Ovo je jedna od knjiga koja je puna psihologije, što ja, kao psiholog, baš volim, natjera te da razmišljaš i kao psiholog i kao privatno lice. Takođe stil pisanja je odličan, rečenice su savršene dužine i bez nepotrebne pretencioznosti. I nema puno likova čija imena uvijek teško popamtim, pogotovo ako počinju istim slovom. Da se mene pita, nazvala bih knjigu „Gospođe Kimbl“ (u množini) ali pretpostavljam da na drugim jezicima ipak to drugačije zvuči. Na koricama vidite sliku tri haljine koje vise na ofingerima (vješalicama) i koje simbolično predstavljaju svaku od žena koje su u jednom dijelu svog života bile udate za istog čovjeka, Kena, prezime Kimbl. Tu su Berdi, Džoana i Dina... Zatim dvoje djece iz Kenovog prvog braka i jedno dijete iz trećeg braka: Čarli, Džodi i Brendon. Ne želim da pravim spojlere, ali moram reći da tokom čitanja knjige počnete razmišljati o svojim vezama i odnosima u kojim se nalazite sa drugim ljudima, kao i o tome ko ste zapravo vi sami i kakvi ste u svakoj od njih (vezi). Čitajući kako Ken, tipičan predator kojem je stalo samo do njega samoga, beznačajnog izgleda i ne baš finih manira, uspješno zavodi žene ne samo svoje supruge, nego i ljubavnice koje je pored njih imao, zapitate se koliko ljudi zapravo laže, izostavljaju istinu ili bitne podatke, glume dok im nešto treba. Zapitate se da li je gore prepoznati pojavu ili biti naivan, sav pozitivan, ali onda se svako malo razočarati zbog svega preko čega prelazite. Zapitate se i šta je to u čovjeku, ili u ovom slučaju, u ženi, da, bez obzira na postignuća, čitav svoj svijet i kompletan svoj život uporno gradi oko jedne osobe koja to, kako se kasnije ispostavi, uopšte i ne zaslužuje, niti se uopšte trudi, kada već jednom postigne svoj cilj... I da dozvoli sebi da je to psihički, a često i fizički uništi. Kraj je takođe baš dobar, kao i početak. Moja preporuka za čitanje, ocjena 5 zvjezdica. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Uggggg, I don't like endings like this! I need an epilogue!

Question for the author: When did the bar for "ordinary men" get so low?This book starts out with a brief story about a man who had a heart attack and died in his car while waiting for a drawbridge to go down. He had half a million dollars in the bank. No one came to claim the body."Mrs. Kimble" is a book about three women, Birdie, Joan, and Dinah, who all married a man named Ken Kimble. And it's about a self-centered, amoral chameleon named Ken Kimble.Birdie met Reverend Ken Kimble in the early '60's during her first year at Bible college, where he was the choir director. She was eighteen and he in his early thirties when she became pregnant and they got married. Birdie couldn't help but be secretly overjoyed, knowing all the other female students were envious of her.Fast forward seven years. Birdie now has two young children, no money, no job, and no husband. Ken Kimble ran off with one of his students, and Birdie has no idea how to take care of herself, let alone her children. She finds solace in a wine bottle. Her six year old son is more mature and responsible then she is. Fast forward to the early '70's. Joan, a successful career woman who has had an exciting life and a succession of lovers, had never felt the need to settle down. But now she's nearing forty. She's a wealthy woman, but has no husband and no children, and an ugly scar where one of her breasts used to be. She wonders what man could possibly want her now. Then an aging hippy named Ken Kimble comes into her life. He tells her he's Jewish (because Joan is). Ken cuts his hair, shaves his beard, starts dressing in expensive suits, and pretty soon is running the real estate business started by Joan's father and uncle. She feels so fortunate to have met Ken Kimble, so when he asks her to marry him, of course she accepts. After the marriage, Joan doesn't feel so fortunate.Fast forward to the late '70's. Dinah, who went to culinary school, works in a restaurant. She would be a beautiful young woman if it wasn't for the big red birthmark on one side of her face that looks like a map of Minnesota. Her life changes when a man named Ken Kimble runs into her (literally).Fast forward to 1994. Dinah is attending yet another black tie dinner to honor her husband for the charitable foundation he set up to help low-income people buy homes. Dinah has been married to Ken Kimble for 15 years. She didn't know that after he paid for plastic surgery to remove her birthmark, she would become his trophy wife. She also didn't know that there is nothing "charitable" about Ken Kimble. The only other thing I'll say about Dinah is that her life is about to get better. Ken Kimble is about to leave wife No. 3.I loved this book. It's not for everybody, but it's a perfect example of a perfect book for me to get lost in. I devoured it, and I can't wait to read something else by this author. However, I do take issue with something author Jennifer Haight wrote in the Author's Notes, indicating that Ken Kimble isn't such a bad guy. In her own words, "He is, in fact, a very ordinary man; he simply takes what is given to him." I would like to ask Ms. Haight, "When did the bar for men get that low?"Five stars for the book. Another five stars for the book cover. And a minus five stars for "ordinary men" like Ken Kimble.