MACARTHUR PARK

Childhood friends from a small Utah town reconnect in Los Angeles, with unexpected results for both.

Dumped by her husband of almost 20 years, 37-year-old Verna decides to head for LA. She finds temporary refuge there with Jolene, the free-spirited best friend she hasn’t seen since high school, who is now a famous performance artist. But things are clearly tense between Jolene and her husband, Vincent, and working-class, undereducated Verna feels out of place with this wealthy, intellectual couple. She finds a job in MacArthur Park and an inexpensive apartment nearby, “my own private place in the churning city.” A few months later, Vincent visits with the news that Jolene has left him and moved to New York. Verna finds herself drawn to this odd, aloof man, and though he admits “I have difficulty showing my feelings,” he soon proposes and they are married. Flash-forward 30 years: The couple is still living in Verna’s MacArthur Park apartment, but the building is about to be sold and they will have to leave, a severe disruption for change-phobic Vincent. At the same time, Jolene reappears, dying of cancer and asking Verna to take a road trip back to Utah with her. These developments background Freeman’s extended explorations into the complexities of marriage, friendship, and art. Verna has been able to accept and cope with Vincent’s Asperger’s-related peculiarities as Jolene could not; she remains grateful that he gently introduced her to the worlds of literature and art. Now, at 67, Verna is a respected writer, to Jolene’s rather condescending approval. Their long drive to Utah, in addition to showcasing Freeman’s bravura descriptions of diverse American landscapes, spotlights Jolene’s arrogance and egotism; she pontificates about feminist art, American politics, and the meaning of their childhood friendship, while Verna quietly seethes. Yet she does love this difficult, complicated woman, and the trip brings their relationship to a new equilibrium as Jolene prepares to die. Readers may find it frustrating that warm, perceptive Verna has spent so much of her life adapting to the demands of two self-absorbed people, but Freeman asks us to understand that committed relationships necessarily involve conflict and compromise.

Intelligent, challenging fiction.