![]() ![]() Ginny’s unreliable stove forces the family to decamp to Douglas’s house, unaware that a couple of poor teens have broken in. Also in attendance are Ginny’s parents, Eleanor and Gavin, whose marriage is another story of shame and failure: Gavin was a gilded youth whose service in Vietnam blighted his career and personality while Eleanor has acted as a steadfast, unquestioning homemaker. Her brother Douglas, who has just lost a fortune in the construction business, arrives with his no-nonsense wife Denise and three children. Hosting the turkey dinner is Ginny Olson, the unmarried, 35-year-old academic of the family who has given up on relationships and recently, impulsively, adopted a mute Indian child. Spanning three generations and a mix of ethnicities and incomes, Vanderbes’ second novel ( Easter Island, 2003) reaches for social and historical breadth as it assesses individual efforts to make meaning out of life and lineage. Viewed through the familiar lens of a chaotic Thanksgiving Day reunion, a family’s history of disappointment and struggle is brought violently up-to-date. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |