This American novelist has written several books, among which I quite enjoyed The Dutch House, but less so Tom Lake. This is her latest, set mostly in New York and Massachusetts in the last half of the 20th century.
Two semi-closeted prominent gay men are married to straight women, one briefly, the other seemingly forever. One is portrayed as a likeable caring curious philosopher/editor. A car accident in which the child of one spouse from a previous marriage narrowly escapes death is used as an excuse for divorce, but it seems divorce and marital infidelity is everywhere in this high society.
The book attempts to become philosophical, particularly about the meaning of death. But much of it seems to me to be banal and ethereal, particularly as characters speak to the recently deceased to supposedly help them to escape bardo, something vaguely equivalent to purgatory.
One character chooses to be buried in a ecologically friendly rapidly decomposing mushroom casket. Such caskets actually exist and appeal to me.
The connection to the fabled fictitious rescue horse Whistler seems contrived.
This book has received wide praise by reviewers, but I found it tedious, wordy and less than memorable.
3/5
Thanks, Vera.
