EQUAL AFFECTIONS

by David Leavitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1988

After the misdirections of his first novel (The Lost Language of Cranes, 1986), the justly admired story-writer finds focus--and a style more suited to his talents--in this unabashedly sentimental work of fiction. More an accumulation of memories, vignettes, and set-pieces than a carefully structured novel, this pleasantly written narrative concerns a contemporary family in crisis. Mismatched Nat and Louise Cooper lead comfortable lives as a West Coast academic and his feisty wife. Early on, though, lymphatic cancer begins eating away not only at Louise's body, but at her already much-diminished sense of happiness. Originally from Boston, nerdy Nat, a computer scientist, and his once-glamorous wife were joined together more by fate than desire. Their uncertain union produced two children: April, opionated, self-centered, and eventually a very successful singer-songwriter; and David, her devoted younger brother, her one-time gofer, and eventually a very successful lawyer. What complicates matters is the siblings' homosexuality. April, who's big on the women's music circuit, cruises the country with an entourage of committed lesbians; David meanwhile leads a comfortable, suburban life in New Jersey with his lover, Walter, who has a few emotional problems of his own. In fact, it develops, as the book jumps back and forth through the 15 years of Louise's illness, that David, the youngest of all, is the only one with a solid sense of himself and his responsibilities. Louise's bitterness leads to much domestic discord, with the slightly befuddled Nat running to the arms of another. April, vain, selfish, and suspected of sexual-political opportunism, manages to become impregnated. And Walter, bored with his too-predictable life, finds a temporary refuge from affection in pornography. After Louise's death, and lots of crying and eating, this liberal-minded family partly comes to terms with their evasive behavior, and with some always-difficult matters of the heart. If at times too solemn and humorless, Leavitt nevertheless develops here as a superb modern novelist of feeling.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1988

ISBN: 0802135315

Page Count: -

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION