I opted to read this book because it kept appearing on the
lists for various literary awards; for example, it was nominated for the 2017
National Book Award for Fiction and longlisted for the 2018 Women’s Prize for
Fiction. It also won the 2018 Andrew
Carnegie Medal for Fiction. I was also
interested in the author who received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for a
previous novel, A Visit from the Goon
Squad.
Most of the action takes place in Brooklyn during the years
of the Depression and World War II. The
novel opens in 1934 in a home on Manhattan Beach where Anna Kerrigan, her
father Eddie, and a man named Dexter Styles are brought together. The action then switches to 1942 when Anna is
19 and working in the Brooklyn Naval Yard helping to support her mother Agnes and
her severely disabled sister Lydia because Eddie vanished from their lives five
years earlier. Anna encounters Dexter, who
turns out to be a syndicate boss, and sets out to determine what he knows about
her father’s mysterious disappearance.
The story is narrated from the perspectives of Anna, Eddie
and Dexter whose lives become intertwined in unexpected ways. Each of these three becomes well-known to the
reader; we learn about their obstacles, internal conflicts, strengths, and
flaws. For me it is Anna who emerges as
most interesting. She is highly spirited
and fiercely independent. She has an
unstinting love for her sister and a relentless ambition to become a
diver. People think of her as “a good
girl; a smiling, innocent girl” but “she was not good in the way they
thought.” She has a passionate side
which she keeps concealed from virtually everyone.
Anna keeps many secrets.
For instance, she hides her identity from Dexter and keeps a huge secret
from her mother. The others also have
secrets: Dexter has both professional
and personal affairs which he wants to remain hidden. Eddie tells his family nothing about the real
nature of his work. And then there are
the secrets of secondary characters; the reader is not always privy to
them. The one that intrigues me is
whether Harriet knew what fate awaited her husband.
The ocean is a recurring symbol. For both Anna and Dexter, it provides solace
and escape. From the beginning, Anna is
drawn to the sea; during her visit to Manhattan Beach, she insists on dipping
her feet into the icy water: “Each foot
delivered an agony of sensation to her heart, one part of which was a flame of
ache that felt unexpectedly pleasant.”
Anna makes it a personal goal to bring Lydia to the sea. Dexter is endlessly fascinated by the sea,
claiming it “was never the same on any two days, not if you really
looked.” Eddie initially thinks of the
ocean as “a wasteland” but comes to see it as “an infinite hypnotic expanse”
which also brings him both peace and escape.
Water is traditionally a symbol of renewal and new life. Manhattan was the gateway to new lives for
the many immigrants who came ashore there, and the ocean certainly brings Anna
and Eddie new lives. Of course, Anna’s
new life is also helped by the war, an event which allowed the breaking down of
gender barriers so she can become a pioneering diver helping the war effort by
performing underwater repairs to ships.
Though Anna is very much a sensualist, I struggled with her
relationship with Dexter. She suspects
that he has information about what happened to her father, but she has such an
intimate relationship with him? When he
takes her to a specific location, surely she would understand that he might
have a deeper involvement than she initially suspected? Yet she still makes the decision she does at
Dr. Soffit’s office? (Interestingly, her
choice of the name Leon, thereby evoking her first sexual encounter, could be
interpreted as emphasizing her sensualism.)
There are other flaws which deserve mention. The unsanctioned diving scene requires some
suspension of disbelief. Eddie speaks of
the ocean as a place full of “dead bodies” so could someone be taken to the
exact location of one of those bodies?
Characters also disappear at convenient times. One character, for instance, is conveniently
and simply removed twice when her presence would hinder plot development. Sometimes minor characters steal the show and
demand more attention; the bosun is someone I’d loved to have learned more
about.
This book is difficult to classify. It is an adventure tale, a coming-of-age
story, a mystery, and a historical novel all in one. Despite its weaknesses, it has inspired me to
seek out the author’s previous works.
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