Meet Billy Gertz: a fiercely independent playwright, whose newest drama imagines the story of a man waiting to hear if his estranged wife has survived a cataclysmic event. As her life touches three other unforgettable characters, Billy’s play—the emotion behind its genesis and its powerful performance—forms the thread that binds them all together. A moving love story and a tale of connection and loss, The Lake Shore Limited is Sue Miller at her dazzling best.
The Lake Shore Limited
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Questions for Sue Miller on The Lake Shore Limited
Q: The Lake Shore Limited takes its title from the famous train, but it is also the title of a play embedded within this novel--a play about a terrorist bombing of that train as it pulls into Union Station in Chicago, and a man waiting to hear whether his estranged wife is among the survivors. Billy Gertz, the woman who's written the play, has waited in just such a way on 9/11 to hear whether her lover, Gus, was on one of the planes used in that attack. Was there one event in particular that sparked the idea for The Lake Shore Limited?
A: Yes. The spark came from a friend who had a relationship that would have ended sooner than it did had not her lover’s brother died on 9/11. While this situation is not like the one I created for Billy, my fictional playwright, the situation started me thinking about the far reach of such an event; and the variety of responses that play out around it, even at some distance. And the way in which the responses may be based in feelings that might be not the expected one--i.e., the way in which sometimes we're called on to enact something we don’t feel, and the discomfort and sense of alienation from ourselves that comes from that.
A: As I began to include some of the lines from the play and create scenes in rehearsal, it began to seem more important to me. It began to seem central to the book, actually. I began to see the book as at least in part a kind of speculation on how the experience of art can be transforming in life--for those who create it, as Billy and also Rafe, the actor, do; and for those who take it in and ponder it and ask about its connections to their own lives. And then, I suppose, I just got interested in the play, too--in writing it, at least the part you read in the book. Q: The viewpoint in The Lake Shore Limited flips amongst four characters, two male (Rafe and Sam) and two female (Leslie and Billy) all of whom are at various ages and stages of their life. Why did you choose to cast the book in this way?
A: I wanted the book to look at the way this play strikes a variety of people. I had Billy nearly from the start of thinking about the book, and Leslie came next, because I knew I wanted two versions, two understandings, of what the real story was about Billy and Gus, with the play mediating between them. But I wanted to broaden the impact of the play, too--to have it speak not just to the people directly involved, but to others, with other stories. Rafe and his life came next, more or less in a rush of notemaking and writing. Sam’s was last, and most complicated to develop--though I knew from the start about his connection with Leslie. Q: You so eloquently write about the interior lives of people who are trying to understand their feelings, their relationships, themselves. How do you create such three dimensional characters, each with their own vivid and complicated pasts?
A: Now THIS is the kind of question I like, wrapped neatly in a compliment. And I think I’ve started an answer with my response to the last question. But let me also say that this is one of the most pleasurable aspects of writing for me—the construction of lives and histories. The process of imagining them so deeply as to feel I actually know these other people, these other stories. A way of escaping myself, I suppose. Q: You teach English at Smith College. What is the best advice you give to aspiring writers?
A: Read. Q: Tell us a little about your writing process--how you write, when, etc.?
A: I make a lot of notes before I write. I want to know what I’m doing. Where I’m going. I want to feel that I’m working on a whole thing, the idea for which I have clear in my mind--the way perhaps an architect would know what he wanted to do without knowing every detail of it from the start; or a composer might know what he wanted a piece of music to do, the way he wanted it to move, without knowing all the themes in it. I write in longhand for the first draft, typing it in when I feel ready to work on revision. Sometime that’s a small piece--a chapter--sometimes a longer chunk of the book. I type it in, pull it out and write all over it again in longhand, type it in again, pull it out, etc. etc. I try to write in the morning, before I get enmeshed in the demands of daily life--though those are all easier now that I don’t have responsibility for a child. Towards the end of a book, I write longer days. Q: What’s next for you?
A: I’ve signed a contract with Knopf for a new novel I’ve described to them, so I’ll be working on that for a few years. I’d like to try, anyway, to write Billy’s play--"The Lake Shore Limited." And I have a two-year-old granddaughter I’d like to spend as much time with as I can. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Four people are bound together by the 9/11 death of a man in Miller's insightful latest. Leslie, older sister and stand-in mother to the late Gus, clings to the notion that Gus had found true love with his girlfriend, Billy, before he was killed. But the truth is more complicated: Billy, a playwright, has written a new play that explores the agonizing hours when a family gathers, not knowing the fate of their mother and wife who was aboard a train that has been bombed. The ambivalent reaction of the woman's husband has shades of Billy and Gus's relationship, particularly the limbo she's been in since he died. Rafe, the actor playing the ambivalent husband, processes his own grief and guilt about his terminally ill wife as he steps more and more into his character. Finally, there's Sam, an old friend Leslie now hopes to set up with Billy. While the plot doesn't have the suspense and zip of The Senator's Wife, Miller's take on post-9/11 America is fascinating and perfectly balanced with her writerly meditations on the destructiveness of trauma and loss, and the creation and experience of art. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read "The Good Mother" years ago and haven't read anything by Sue Miller since that time. Based upon my experience with this novel, I need to go back and read what she has written in between that first novel and this latest one.
In "The Lake Shore Limited", the story is told from the point of view of four main characters. First we have Billy who is a playwright originally from Chicago. There is Leslie, the much older sister of Gus who is the man Billy lived with in Boston and Sam, who is a friend and neighbor of Leslie's. Finally, we have Rafe, the man playing the lead role in the play Billy has written about a man waiting to find out if his wife was on a train that was hit by a terrorist attack. All their stories become interwoven and the reader is allowed to come to know each one of them intimately and what their individual hurts and wounds are.
A beautifully written character study of mature adults (as it relates to age) who are reflecting back upon their lives and revisiting their life paths. How did they end up in the relationships they are in? What do they wish they had done differently over the years? What do they want from this point on? This is not an action-packed or quick, easy novel but one that should be savored along the way. For the older reader who has the perspective of time, this will definitely strike a chord. While sometimes these types of books can feel like navel-gazing, this one manages to be introspective without wallowing. It's more of an honest reflection of what is good and bad without much filter.
If you enjoy Elizabeth Berg, Anne Tyler, and Anna Quindlen, this novel would be a good one to try.
In "The Lake Shore Limited", the story is told from the point of view of four main characters. First we have Billy who is a playwright originally from Chicago. There is Leslie, the much older sister of Gus who is the man Billy lived with in Boston and Sam, who is a friend and neighbor of Leslie's. Finally, we have Rafe, the man playing the lead role in the play Billy has written about a man waiting to find out if his wife was on a train that was hit by a terrorist attack. All their stories become interwoven and the reader is allowed to come to know each one of them intimately and what their individual hurts and wounds are.
A beautifully written character study of mature adults (as it relates to age) who are reflecting back upon their lives and revisiting their life paths. How did they end up in the relationships they are in? What do they wish they had done differently over the years? What do they want from this point on? This is not an action-packed or quick, easy novel but one that should be savored along the way. For the older reader who has the perspective of time, this will definitely strike a chord. While sometimes these types of books can feel like navel-gazing, this one manages to be introspective without wallowing. It's more of an honest reflection of what is good and bad without much filter.
If you enjoy Elizabeth Berg, Anne Tyler, and Anna Quindlen, this novel would be a good one to try.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Other reviewers have described the play-within-a-play feature of the plot, which I enjoyed. All in all, I found this book to be engrossing, well-paced, and beautifully written, as I found other Sue Miller books to be. (I personally find it so jarring to see "leisurely" used as an adverb, but I know it's accepted now...)I finished it in 2 days, and am on my way to drop it into a book-loving friend's mailbox. I think Miller presented the 9/11 aspect well, which many writers have failed to do, and I believe a message of the book was this: How DO we use our tragedies and traumas to move our lives forward; how do we transform such events into our own art, into a life fully-lived? By the skillful way she explores all the main characters' actions and interactions, she intriguingly begins to answer these questions. I know some reviewers didn't "like" the characters; I liked them all. I'd love to see a sequel in which Leslie, Rafe, Billy, and/or Sam are featured. All their stories were touching and real to me. One other small complaint: the generic-looking cover art. (If it was supposed to be Billy and Reuben, the proportions were way off!) Mary Lee Moser, author,There and Back: A Journal Companion for Special Needs Parents
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Sue Miller is a fine writer, no mistaking that. But, a writer needs to write about something interesting. I didn't find much here.
The book is, I suppose, about ambivalence and the various characters and their endless over-thinking and re-hashing of their past actions and their innermost thoughts and emotions Just when we dispense with the mental masturbation of one, the next chapter jumps to another character with his/her take on the same situation. Of course a husband caring for his dying wife (we've got two of those) would be ambivalent as to his lot: do I love her? do I resent her? Should I stay? Should I go?, etc. But, what about the other characters? Leslie is ambivalent about her feelings for poor old Pierce. Rafe is ambivalent about his career. Billy is ambivalent about her ambivalent feelings for her lover-that-she-didn't-much-love six years later and needs to write a play for catharsis.
No doubt, the world is full of such narcissism, but that doesn't make it an interesting subject for a novel. I daresay most people have lives that require them to "just get on with it," and don't have the luxury of over-analyzing every little thing they've done or thought. Mostly I just wanted to strangle the characters. Two stars for the prose and one because it's Sue Miller.
The book is, I suppose, about ambivalence and the various characters and their endless over-thinking and re-hashing of their past actions and their innermost thoughts and emotions Just when we dispense with the mental masturbation of one, the next chapter jumps to another character with his/her take on the same situation. Of course a husband caring for his dying wife (we've got two of those) would be ambivalent as to his lot: do I love her? do I resent her? Should I stay? Should I go?, etc. But, what about the other characters? Leslie is ambivalent about her feelings for poor old Pierce. Rafe is ambivalent about his career. Billy is ambivalent about her ambivalent feelings for her lover-that-she-didn't-much-love six years later and needs to write a play for catharsis.
No doubt, the world is full of such narcissism, but that doesn't make it an interesting subject for a novel. I daresay most people have lives that require them to "just get on with it," and don't have the luxury of over-analyzing every little thing they've done or thought. Mostly I just wanted to strangle the characters. Two stars for the prose and one because it's Sue Miller.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Four lives, connected in some way by an event that changed the world, now continue to intersect over the years afterwards.
Leslie, Billy, Sam, and Rafe--their lives are forever altered.
Leslie is comfortably married to Pierce, but her loving connection to her brother Gus is a truly nurturing relationship. Childless, she has become almost like a mother to Gus, since she is fifteen years older.
Billy, a playwright, was Gus's live-in lover on that fateful day when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers. What nobody knows is that she had already decided to leave Gus, so when he dies as a passenger in one of the planes, she feels like a fraud as she grieves for him.
Sam, an architect, who bought property when Leslie was selling real estate many years before, is now divorced; his first wife had died years before and his children, somewhat distant from him, are grown. Sam has harbored feelings for Leslie for many years.
Rafe, whose wife suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, is an actor. He is one of the stars in Billy's newest play, called "The Lake Shore Limited"--a play about a terrorist act on a train that leaves people waiting for news of their loved ones, just as many did after 9/11.
These characters all connect at the beginning of Billy's play, and then for weeks and months afterwards, in various ways.
As the story unfolds, we get to view the interior lives of these characters, as sections are devoted to each one in turn. We see what motivates them, what they're worried about, and what they fear. Their worlds are truly explored and we come to know and understand them. Even empathize with them, despite some of their choices.... Read more ›
Leslie, Billy, Sam, and Rafe--their lives are forever altered.
Leslie is comfortably married to Pierce, but her loving connection to her brother Gus is a truly nurturing relationship. Childless, she has become almost like a mother to Gus, since she is fifteen years older.
Billy, a playwright, was Gus's live-in lover on that fateful day when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers. What nobody knows is that she had already decided to leave Gus, so when he dies as a passenger in one of the planes, she feels like a fraud as she grieves for him.
Sam, an architect, who bought property when Leslie was selling real estate many years before, is now divorced; his first wife had died years before and his children, somewhat distant from him, are grown. Sam has harbored feelings for Leslie for many years.
Rafe, whose wife suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, is an actor. He is one of the stars in Billy's newest play, called "The Lake Shore Limited"--a play about a terrorist act on a train that leaves people waiting for news of their loved ones, just as many did after 9/11.
These characters all connect at the beginning of Billy's play, and then for weeks and months afterwards, in various ways.
As the story unfolds, we get to view the interior lives of these characters, as sections are devoted to each one in turn. We see what motivates them, what they're worried about, and what they fear. Their worlds are truly explored and we come to know and understand them. Even empathize with them, despite some of their choices.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I was drawn right in
I loved this book--the thoughtful views of the characters' inner lives, the interaction between art (Billy's play) and those who reflect on it, or see themselves in it, and the... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Kate Maloy
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
I have read all of Sue Miller's books and invariably become engrossed right away. Not so this one. I didn't mind the shifting perspective, I found that to be the most interesting... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Barbara
3.0 out of 5 stars
It all starts with the loss of Gus in one of the 9/11 plane crashes
I just read over my reviews (in my personal journal) of eight other Sue Miller novels that I've read. Read more
Published 5 months ago by J Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book.
This book represents Sue Miller's virtuoso performance. She's a great writer, a consistent writer who can tell a mean tale.
Published 6 months ago by Ellen Kuper Halter
5.0 out of 5 stars
compelling reading
As a recent widow, I was mesmerized by Miller's ability to explore the mix and range of emotions felt by "the one left behind". Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mama T
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another good read by Sue Miller
I've read most of Sue Miller's books and have enjoyed each of them. She's one of my favorite authors and whenever I pick up one of her books, I know that the story will be... Read more
Published 9 months ago by MaryIM
2.0 out of 5 stars
Miller just tried too hard and fell flat
Goodreads Description- Four unforgettable characters beckon you into this spellbinding new novel from Sue Miller, the author of 2008's heralded best seller The Senator's Wife. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Regina Niesen
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Lake Shore Limited, Sue Miller
This is an interesting book exploring a person's reaction to tragedy, depending on the vantage point from which one comes to it, at the time it occurs. Read more
Published 16 months ago by thewanderingjew
4.0 out of 5 stars
The exquisite pain of loss
The Lake Shore Limited is a rich tale of loneliness, bereavement and getting old. Each main character is dealing with loss in their own way. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Digital Rights
2.0 out of 5 stars
A wasted effort
Author Sue Miller wasted my time on this one. The idea for the novel, losing a boyfriend on 9-11 with whom you no longer loved, is intriguing. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Eliza Bennet
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