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5.0 out of 5 stars
Elegiac and Elegant, Beautifully Written, May 22 2004
Most of the people I know didn't like EVENING; they told me they simply couldn't "get into it." I loved the novel and, in some ways, I'm a little surprised I did. EVENING centers around an upper middle class (or lower upper class) matron who is very much a WASP. As a Roman Catholic European, I found it a little difficult to identify with the milieu portrayed in EVENING, but I think the emotions it portrays are universal and, of course, therein lies its power.EVENING is the story of sixty-five-year-old Ann Lord, a widow and cancer victim who now lies dying in her large home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As Ann prepares for death, she also revisits her youth, in particular, one life altering summer in 1954 when Ann was but twenty-five-years-old. The narrative of sixty-five-year-old Ann intertwines and intersects with that of twenty-five-year-old Ann and it does so beautifully. I adore parallel/intertwining narratives and stories-within-stories, so I was pretty much hooked on EVENNG simply because of its narrative structure alone. The early story centers on Ann's participation in the wedding her friend, Lily Wittenborn on an island off the coast of Maine. Anyone who's ever attended one of these lavish affairs will know Minot has captured its essence perfectly. We know trouble is brewing, however, when Lila's younger sister, Gigi, has a motorboat accident and is rescued by Harris Arden, a friend of the groom's. Although both Gigi and Harris emerge from the water unscathed, it's a bad sign and we know there's more trouble yet to come. And, Minot doesn't let us down. As Ann falls hopelessly in love with Harris, the wedding weekend heads toward not one, but two, tragedies that will change the life of Ann forever. Woven through the story of the wedding weekend like a bright silver thread, is the story of Ann's impending death. Her thoughts are sometimes difficult to follow because her mind is always clouded by either pain or morphine or memories and, sometimes, by all three. Ann Lord isn't a particularly sympathetic protagonist and I felt little empathy with her or sympathy for her. She's been a very privileged wife and mother and that's about it. She's not particularly likable or interesting and she doesn't even care if she is or if she isn't. Minot, however, let's us see so deeply into Ann's world that she become more and more fascinating with each page. Even in the midst of death, Minot succeeds wonderfully in bringing Ann Lord to life. All writers and most readers, I think, are people in love with language and its power. EVENING is written in clean, spare prose, yet it is so elegiac and elegant. At times, I found it almost heartbreakingly beautiful. And, thank goodness, Minot didn't feel the need to explain everything to her readers. She writes with a quiet grace and assurance that is definitely the mark of an accomplished novelist whether it's his or her first book or thirtieth. EVENING'S energy is definitely derived from its "early" story, its grace and power from its later one. I thought EVENING was a beautiful book that's gracefully and beautifully written. I would certainly recommend it to all lovers of literary fiction of the highest quality.
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by Andrea Levy
