The arrival of Lucette becomes a catalyst for a change in Harry's relationship with his cousin Cynthia and in Cynthia's aimless lifestyle, in the story of the drifting, disconnected inhabitants of a Cleveland neighborhood. A first novel. 10,000 first printing.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Life in small-town Ohio is closely circumscribed in this sensitive, meticulously rendered but finally unsatisfying first novel by award-winning story writer Grimm. The plot turns on a familial love triangle. Bony Cynthia, with her "long old hair," lives in her grandparents' house with her son, Joey, and an apathetic, dimly drawn husband. Her boozing cousin Harry, with whom she is infatuated, sleeps at the house unless he has a woman on the string. Nowadays that woman is blond, withdrawn Lucette, who becomes pregnant. The older generation are dead, vanished or crazy; Lucette and Harry both have mumbling mothers whom they treat with glassy-eyed repugnance. Grimm creates exquisite vignettes--e.g., a "home astrology party" ("like Tupperware") where tempers are tested--and adroitly builds up each character's isolation and emotional myopia: the keen awareness of one's skin, pulse, gut, sticky throat, clicking teeth; close-up shots of fingers twisting tea-bag strings, tapping at dials. While the novel is deftly wrought, such finickiness drains it of forward drive. Characters coast past one another, unable to engage, and the plot idles. Most problematic is the opaque, unmagnetic Harry, over whom Cynthia and Lucette are supposed rivals. Instead of forcing confrontations, Grimm brings on more minor characters and leaves the reader hungering for something to happen.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Grimm's beautifully written first novel concerns a group of contemporary people who wander aimlessly through life. In a bar, Lucette meets Harry, an older man, and soon becomes pregnant with his child. Harry has never faced any responsibility, personal or professional. Instead, he lives comfortably with his cousin, Cynthia, who harbors strong sexual feelings for him. Ultimately, Cynthia destroys her marriage and loses her son as she spends her days waiting for Harry. Grimm effectively shows how the lives of her major characters are forever changed by chance encounters, but the minor characters in the novel are also skillfully drawn. Left to themselves, these very real people drift, evolve, and interact, and the reader shares the pain of their love, loss, and daily life. Recommended for public libraries.
- Stephanie Furtsch, New Rochelle
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Stephanie Furtsch, New Rochelle
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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