SWIMMING ACROSS THE HUDSON

In this novel, a man faces all sorts of moral dilemmas and makes tortured decisions.

Alan Agnalini is a guy with a nothing life and few ambitions. Yet he does try to do the right thing when he needs to, although “he’s not happy unless he’s making himself miserable.” In college, he loses his virginity to Brooke Hadley. She becomes pregnant and bears his child, a daughter. He finally finds out that he’s a father when he reconnects with Brooke a few years later. But he only sees his daughter from afar before she is killed in a freak traffic accident. Brooke moves away, only to return for a tantalizing cameo. Then he meets the ravishing Marissa Liotti from New Jersey who has several tragedies in her past. He falls in love with her, but for various reasons he breaks things off. Still, he can’t forget her and discovers that she is pregnant. The story then hustles to the end, when Alan has to confront another agonizing decision. This development should precipitate wonderful turmoil in a book club discussion. While Lalli’s tale may take too much time exploring Alan’s moral dilemmas, it offers an intriguing take on a man’s life. Along the way, readers meet Alan’s large Italian clan—especially his needy, aging father—and learn the story of the protagonist’s growing up in Morehead, New Jersey, and breaking away from the old neighborhood and culture. One revealing aspect of his personality, for example, is that Alan is a bit of a snob and can even be a jerk. But at least he is learning these things about himself. In fact, the novel could be titled The Education of Alan Agnalini. There are improbable plot devices and coincidences, and readers will have to decide whether, in the final analysis, they can be accepted in service to the theme. Still, caveats aside, Lalli has devised a very clever plot here. New details have a way of popping up just when the audience will think there are none left.

A compelling slice-of-life tale that will keep readers engaged to the very end.