THE DEER AT THE RIVER

by Joseph Caldwell ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1984

As in his very impressive first novel, In Such Dark Places (1978), Caldwell again attempts to illuminate a knot of spiritual and sexual confusion--but this time the protagonist is much less credible, the reaching for religious symbolism is far more intrusive, and the narrative lacks the taut pull of that fine debut. Noah Dubbins, a young-ish carpenter in rural New Hampshire, comes in from his workshop one evening to find his wife Ruth in bed, insane, reliving the recent birth of baby Joel (their third child). Ruth is committed to a nearby asylum. In her absence, Noah is tempted toward adultery--primarily in the person of his ample old flame, Esther Overbaugh. But he clings to ""the image he had of himself as a hero""; he broods on his early years as an angry outcast in local society. And, faintly unhinged by all the pressures on him (his mother-lonely children, financial woes), Noah finds solace in wearing his wife's nightgowns and maternity dresses--partly in order to raise ""the ghost of Ruth,"" partly because the nightgown responds in some elusive way to his predicaments. (""But nothing matched. . . What was he supposed to do now? Something erotic? Something desperate? Masturbate? Break down and cry? Rage and rend the garment? Preen some more? Mimic feminine behavior?"") Eventually, however, though the women's wear helps him to cope with lust, Noah does sleep with Esther--after a traumatic sexual encounter with mad Ruth, who doesn't recognize Noah as her husband. He then undergoes an outdoor spiritual crisis--horror, despair, a mountain that seems to move--followed by a vague awakening: accepting his unfortunate past, giving up ""the demand for knowledge,"" realizing that the nightgown has been symbolizing death. (""It had been a destruction of himself"". . . and perhaps resurrection too.) So finally, after a brush with actual death, thanks to a jealous rival for Esther's favors, Noah is now somehow able to reunite with mad Ruth, to ""touch her madness."" And he is last seen kissing her feet--as heavy New Testament echoes ring out: ""He had accepted humiliations and bewilderment; he had surrendered to mystery; he had faced horror and cried out to the hard nailed stars. Now he could claim her grief."" An uneasy mixture of regional realism and theological parable (there's also a symbolic deer wandering about), with a few powerful moments--but seriously flawed in the murky, strained portrait of carpenter Dubbins as carpenter Jesus.

Pub Date: May 1, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION