MORE GREAT READS FOR JANUARY, 2017
Commonwealth,
by Ann Patchett
For Albert Cousins cannot bear to go home; his wife and he have had three children in
very quick succession, and Teresa is now hugely pregnant with a fourth. His reckless statement when courting Teresa
that he would love to have kids – ‘lots of them!’ is now coming to grim
fruition, and he finds that he would rather work himself into the ground than
spend any more time than he has to in the chaos and mayhem created by small
children. And the gilt has definitely
worn off the gingerbread for his poor wife, who might as well be a solo mother
for all the assistance she gets from her absentee husband: she would feel even more fury if she knew
that instead of coming home he has secreted himself at a party to which he
wasn’t even invited, just so that he can kill time until after the yelling,
disgusting, slobbering wee ones are in bed.
To add insult to painful injury, Bert meets Fix’s wife
Beverly whipping up a storm of drinks in the kitchen. He cannot believe that a perfectly ordinary
looking guy like Fix (short for Frances Xavier) could be wed to such a
beautiful woman. HE should be her
knight; her champion; her lover.
Beverly thinks so too, and both embark on an affair that breaks up both
families, and the hearts of all.
They eventually marry, but not for keeps – spitefully,
Bert makes life as hard as possible for Teresa (he is a legal eagle, after
all), tying up their finances in drawn-out, complicated exchanges – then, when
he is successful in having his four children stay with him for the entire
summer vacation, palms them off onto his new bride. Beverly didn’t bargain for a job as nanny to
six children, all of whom have ‘issues’ caused by the divorces. Both her daughters live with her – again, clever
legal representation – and Fix is only allowed to see his daughters for two
weeks in the summer break. In her mind,
this is entirely fair. But four extra
kids? And such weird ones? And where is their father, when he should be
on deck being a strong, firm role model?
Hiding in his office, pretending to work; repeating the behaviour that wrecked his
first marriage. Divorce # two coming up.
Ms Patchett’s Dramedy of family life is one that every
family can recognise, especially for those with new Stepsiblings they are
supposed to blend seamlessly with so that they are all One Big Happy Family –
which is what the new Stepmums and Stepdads always hope for but seldom occurs,
as is proven by Frannie, whose christening party it was twenty-four years ago.
In the first flush of a wonderful love affair with a
famous novelist, she recounts to him her summer vacations with her
stepsiblings, their secrets and their faults and their view of their respective
parents’ ill-starred union, never dreaming that her lover would weave her
family’s travails into a best-seller, with future movie rights up for
grabs. The ructions caused by her
indiscretion reverberate throughout the family.
Their lives – and loyalties - will never be the same again.
Ms Patchett effortlessly demonstrates yet again her
superior gift to transform what she sees and feels into a chronicle of lives
wasted, lost – and celebrated. What a pleasure she is to read. FIVE
STARS
Those
Who Leave, and Those Who Stay, and
The
Story of the Lost Child, by Elena Ferrante, Books four and five
Of
The Neopolitan Novels.
Elena Ferrante is justly famous for her quartet of novels
recounting the lifelong friendship of two girls born in Naples in the same
month of the same year, August 1944:
Raffaella (Lila) Cerullo and Elena (Lenu) Greco have travelled far from
the violence and mean streets of their childhood – though Lila, whose mighty
intelligence and beauty could have endowed her with a future of her choice,
elects to stay in the neighbourhood, despite the breakup of her marriage and
the end of her affair with Nino Sarratore, Elena’s great, unrequited love.
Yes, it is time to go and Elena is fortunate to gain a
scholarship to a university in Pisa: for
the first time in her life, she is exposed on a semi-permanent basis to a
completely different lifestyle;
different accents, manners, fashions and ways of learning. The southern bumpkin has to transform herself
as quickly as possible, or become an object of fun to her more sophisticated
class mates. Desperation to fit in, and her
own academic excellence pave the way for a new Elena, one who discovers
politics and socialism in particular, thanks to her new boyfriend Franco: it is the late 60’s and the time of student
unrest, particularly in Paris – she and Franco even travel to Paris (her first
time out of Italy – could this really be happening to Elena Greco from the
neighbourhood?). Life’s boundaries have
suddenly disappeared, and Elena cannot believe the intellectual, social – and
sexual freedom that now exists. And she
begins work on her first novel.
By this time, Franco is a figure from the past; he failed his exams and after sporadic
correspondence disappeared who knows where;
Elena is now seeing Pietro Airota, a young professor with a glowing future. His mother is very encouraging of her work
and through her many contacts arranges to have it published, much to Elena’s
joy – and apprehension, for the story is about a secret, something she did
entirely for revenge and self-disgust, and wrote originally as a cathartic
exercise. In the way of these things,
her little book takes on a life of its own.
It becomes a success.
And her marriage to Pietro is not. After the birth of two daughters, the daily
grind of domesticity and looking after a man whose head is always somewhere
else, plus the absolute lack of enough inspiration to start another book means
that Elena is more than ready for another titanic change in her circumstances.
Suddenly, Elena is assailed – pursued by her god, he who had never shown any romantic or sexual
interest in her before now finds her irresistible.
Nino has also advanced his
own academic career prospects by marrying into a wealthy and influential
Neopolitan family but, afire with his huge passion for Elena, swears to leave
his wife (‘I never loved her!’) and child – if only Elena will join him in
Naples – what a life they will have, together at last, always.
It takes some time for Elena to realise that her idol has
feet of clay: after persuading her to burn
all her boats and end her marriage to move south to join him she is deeply hurt
to find that he is not prepared to jettison his own ties to his wife; instead he maintains two households – well,
why not when he has access to so much money?
And though he acknowledges paternity of a daughter born to them, he
still refuses to make any permanent commitment.
Lila adds insult to injury by disclosing that he has made
advances to her as well, and other old friends from the neighbourhood report
instances of his casual, almost daily betrayals: finally, Elena must make the break and stand
or fall on her own – and, once again, Lila and her companion Enzo come to the
rescue. The apartment above theirs in
the neighbourhood is vacant. Why not
move in?
Why indeed. Elena
is back where she started, in the mean streets of her childhood, there to hate
herself for subjecting her daughters to a reduced standard of living in a
low-class area, yet simultaneously revelling in the loyalty and affection of
her dearest friends. Lila and Enzo have
discovered gold in computers (it’s the 80’s) and have started their own company;
they are even computerising the files of
the Solaras – a task more fraught with danger than they realise, especially
when Lila still won’t show them the proper respect.
It is only a matter of time before the Solaras take their
revenge with an act so terrible that it destroys lives, friendships, and the
neighbourhood: everything that defined
Lila, Elena and their loved ones as good and inviolate has been shattered like
breaking glass . Their old lives have
gone; it is up to them as to what they
will make of the future. Elena manages
and gains more success as a writer; Lila
is not so fortunate; she rejects
everyone and becomes angry and reclusive.
All friendships are over and Elena eventually leaves the neighbourhood
for the last time, but not before witnessing the just and terrible retribution
wrought on the Solara brothers.
Yes: the old adage
‘Revenge is a dish that people can eat cold’ was never more amply
demonstrated. Ms Ferrante has created a
master work. Her stark prose has the
same effect as a fist in our faces. She
richly deserves all the praise heaped upon her. FIVE STARS
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