This bestseller was on the list for Vera’s book club. Although she said she liked it, a few of the others did not and she was sure I wouldn’t either. But it was one of the few I found that I could borrow as an ebook from the Ottawa Public Library, and getting desperate in physical distancing, I did just that.
Set in Ng’s childhood home town of Shaker Heights, an affluent carefully planned part of Cleveland, in 1996-97, she obviously draws heavily on her past experiences there.
The plot follows the lives of two families that could hardly be more different although the teens become intimately entangled with each other, resulting in conflicts, secrets, jealousies, and unwanted pregnancies. The question of what characteristics define a good mother is a recurring undercurrent. Other broad moral questions such as how to value the very eccentric artistic types in our midst are addressed indirectly. I will not give away even the broad outline of the plot but it is quite intricate and ingenious. The hypocrisy, duplicity, and meanness of (some) apparently upstanding wealthy citizens is viciously exposed. The writing style breaks several rules taught in creative writing classes, but I hardly noticed.
I quite enjoyed this book, but I can understand why many readers wouldn’t.
A note about add-ones. The ebook edition opens with quotes of praise for the book from no less than 48 sources, and ends with a six page interview with the author, a letter from her to readers, and list of “Questions for discussion.” These add-ons must be meant to convey to the would-be reader that this is a serious literary work to be discussed in school curricula and book clubs, but at least for me they actually detract from the enjoyment of reading. Novels that need these subtle efforts to influence the reader’s interpretation are seldom worth reading. I prefer to form my own opinion about the value of a book without these nudges, just as I am refuse to pick or evaluate books by the ability of authors and publishers to manipulate them on to easily gamed best-seller lists.
The Passionate Reader 