Some critics have long suspected that the "meta-fiction" experimentalists (those who erect a barricade of cold, ornate literary devices between story and reader) are really the least tough-minded writers around, that they often use parody and formalism to fend off—or cover up—the thin sentimentality at the heart of their work. For such critics, then, Barth's new novel will come as no surprise—because, in spite of an almost endearingly desperate attempt to trick it up with narrative hijinks, this is a tender, apparently autobiographical love story that often verges (with no sign of parody) on slurpy soap opera. Fenwick Turner, 50-year-old ex-CIA agent (he wrote an expose), is taking a sailboat-cruise vacation around Chesapeake Bay and beyond with young second-wife Susan—a Jewish literature prof on sabbatical; and the novel we're reading is the novel Fenwick is writing during the cruise. The narration constantly slides from first person ("we") to third. There are Fenwick/Susan debates on narrative techniques. (Endless jokes about "fieshbecks"—if and how to use them.) There are cutesy footnotes—plus the vision of a sea-monster. And there's a CIA subplot, wanly derivative yet not pointed enough for parody: Fenwick's brother and nephew have both disappeared on CIA missions; a mole's lurking somewhere; the CIA may now be out to eliminate Fenwick—or to pressure him into recruiting his geneticist son. But, while the literary games were central to other Barth fictions, here they're merely dressing for a conventional marriage/family novel: "We're at a fork in our channel. We've got to settle the question of having children." So there are flashbacks to Fenwick's first marriage, to the F/S courtship (he was first her "Uncle," since his brother sort-of-married Susan's part-Gypsy mother); there are visits with relatives on both sides (the book's best moments involve Susan's mother and grandmother); Susan toys with the idea of adultery ("She wants clandestine servicing. Anna K! Emma B! . . . All that shit, you know?"); she gets unintentionally pregnant and aborts secretly. And finally there's a treacle-with-sex upbeat ending—as the spouses agree to have children, revel in Fenwick's wonderful book ("our love will be in it, and our friendship too"), and sail off into "Happily ever after." Admittedly, this is not a successful book by either Barth-ian or old-fashioned standards: it's more often arch than funny, more often embarrassing than involving. But it's an intriguing, touching spectacle nonetheless—the avant-garde meets banal-romance—and it's certainly Barth's most accessible novel since The Sot-Weed Factor.
Pub Date: May 24, 1982
ISBN: 1564780961
Page Count: -
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1982
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
To her usual mix of love, mystery, and passion, Roberts (Sanctuary, 1997, etc.)—author of 115 romancers in some 17 years—adds Renaissance art and a decidedly Medici-like family: the Joneses of Maine. Dr. Miranda Jones, nearly six feet with flaming red hair and a glacial reserve, is an archeometrist who specializes in the analyzing and dating of Renaissance bronze sculpture. Miranda hopes to secure a world-class reputation for herself by authenticating a 15th-century statue of the Dark Lady, one of the mistresses of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as the undiscovered work of a young Michelangelo. Miranda's mother, Dr. Elizabeth Standford-Jones, the emotionally remote director of the Standjo art lab in Florence, has summoned her daughter from the family's Victorian cliffside home in Jones Point, Maine, to test the statue. Meanwhile, Miranda's father, equally remote, is an archaeologist who spends more time at his digs than at home. In fact, no one in the Jones family has made a successful run at marriage, a failure that Miranda and her alcoholic brother Andrew call the Jones curse. As for the statue, when it's discovered to be a fake, Miranda sets out to prove that someone stole the original. In this she's helped by gorgeous art thief Ryan Boldari (half-Italian, half-Irish), who's come to Jones Point to steal yet another bronze, which also turns out to be a forgery. Ryan's plan had been to use Miranda as a pawn, but now, naturally, he finds himself falling hard for her. While the two search for bronzes, a standard-issue romance-novel psychotic is stalking them. Most readers will twig to the killer's identity: Here, as always, Roberts's sexual tension is more compelling than her suspense. Perhaps it's time to take a sabbatical from the pink sweatshop and turn her considerable wit and narrative skills to a more original piece of work.
Pub Date: March 23, 1998
ISBN: 0-399-14387-4
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
