Review of MARGREETE'S HARBOR by Eleanor Morse (New Release)

 3 Stars

This family drama is set in Maine between 1955 and 1968.  Margreete’s daughter and her family move in with her once it becomes obvious that, because of her dementia, she cannot live alone.  Liddie and her husband Harry and their children Bernie and Eva leave Michigan and move to the small town of Burnt Harbor.  The novel focuses on their lives for the next 13 years as they face personal challenges. 

Liddie is a professional cellist for whom music is a comfort from a confining marriage and family obligations, especially after the arrival of a third child.  Harry is unhappy in his stagnant marriage and in his job as a history teacher.  Bernie and Eva contend with sexual issues and must make decisions about their futures.  And of course, Margreete struggles with the challenges of memory loss.

Though the book is about a family, there is not much of a feeling of family.  The focus is on individual struggles which are most often not communicated to anyone else in the family.  Liddie and Harry do not talk about the issues in their marriage, and Bernie and Eva do not discuss the events that have such an impact on their lives.  If they simply talked, so much drama and trauma could have been avoided.  And though they upend their lives to move in with Margreete, she becomes just a peripheral figure in their lives.  They do come together to some extent towards the end, but for much of the novel, I felt as if I were reading separate stories and wondered about the book’s purpose.  The overarching message seems to be that “life is messy, because humans are messy.  Life isn’t simple, no matter where you are.” 

There are moments of self-realization and personal growth.  Eva and Bernie do determine what is important to them and make choices about their futures.  Liddie realizes, “When she was hurt, what came out of her was anger – a hard carapace of bitchiness safeguarding a soft underbelly.”  Both husband and wife acknowledge the need to work on their relationship.  Unfortunately, because there are so many dynamic characters, their epiphanies seem contrived.  Again, I would have appreciated a more in-depth development of one or two characters. 

At times, a character appears and the reader is led to believe that he will play a significant role, but then he disappears.  Terry Leroux is one such person.  Then there are Peter and Willard, Liddie’s siblings.  Why are they not more a part of the narrative?  Did the author not want to add more characters to an already crowded cast?  If so, why not have Liddie as an only child?

People who lived through the time period will appreciate the memories invoked by the references to historical events and pop culture.  The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War feature prominently.  I had never heard of the Minnesota Starvation Study, and it was interesting getting the viewpoint of a conscientious objector.

I must admit to struggling at times because I just wasn’t engaged.  Perhaps it was the sadness throughout that was just too much.  The novel touches on so many serious subjects – loss, death, betrayal, sexual assault, depression, unrequited love, and dementia being only some of them.  Even animals suffer.  I wanted fewer characters and more joy.

Note:  I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.