This is a beautifully
atmospheric book. The story of Katie, growing up on Long Island in the 1970s,
is sensitively sketched and the use of language is exquisite. There’s a heady
mix of youth, adventure, love and tragedy about it.
It tells of the pain of growing up, the pain of not being sure what your
place in the world really is, and the loneliness of not being with the person
you want to be with. Katie is waiting for something to happen, to change her
life and give it meaning. She knows she wants that to involve Luke, but Luke has
come back from Vietnam damaged, and she doesn’t know whether she’ll ever be
able to get through to him.
Around her, the other inhabitants of the community make and break
relationships, get high on drugs and alcohol, get pregnant and get abortions.
And slowly they start to move away. First Maggie, then Ginger, then Georgie:
moving to new places and new lives. Leaving Katie behind.
The structure of the novel is quite complex. There is a linear thread
that follows Katie through the summer while she waits for Luke to notice her,
but there are also a number of sections that travel back in time and almost
provide separate stories in themselves.
As a result of this there are some lovely character cameos; glimpsed for
a short time only and then gone. One of the best is Martha Muldoon. She works
with Katie in the A&P store, and everyone hates her until one day she shows
her human side by trying to help a customer get away with goods she can’t
afford, and gets sacked for her trouble. It is a testament to the writing that
these characters are just as real as those we get to spend more time with.
There is a lyrical and dreamlike quality to this novel, and I enjoyed it
very much. Now that it’s over, I’ll really miss Katie.
Thanks very much to the
publishers for a review copy of this book.
You can find out more here.
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