Book Club: "The Age of Desire" an evocative delight

Book Club: "the Age of Desire" an evocative delight

Review by Kory Wells

"A woman in love is an ostentatious thing,” suggests a line in “The Age of Desire,” a newly released novel by Jennie Fields.

It is 1907, and Edith Wharton hasn’t been herself since meeting blue-eyed, brazen Morton Fullerton. Never mind that she’s recently come into her own with the international success of her novel “The House of Mirth.”

Never mind that she has all the privileges of an upper-class life, including a luxurious apartment in Paris, a lush estate in Massachusetts, and friendships with influential thinkers and fellow writers such as Henry James.

Never mind that she has a kindly — though morose — husband, Teddy. It is Morton’s attention that has the normally no-nonsense Edith glowing like a schoolgirl — and realizing how passionless her marriage is. And so she has to admit: “She wants something, but is she willing to take the risk to find it?”

This is not a spoiler, but historical fact: Edith takes the risk and has an affair with Morton.

“The Age of Desire” imagines the emotional complexities of that risk in rich, sensual prose. Informed by Wharton’s letters and journals, the novel also fictionalizes the viewpoint of a second character who has received far less attention in history: Wharton’s childhood governess turned secretary, Anna Bahlman. This book is as much about Edith and Anna’s relationship as it is Edith’s affair and sexual awakening.

Anna can’t believe that Edith would take such a risk with the likes of the roguish Morton Fullerton. Any woman should be happy to call Teddy her husband, Anna thinks — and she once told him that herself.

Anna and Teddy have had a special bond since that long-ago conversation, but Anna’s ultimate devotion is to Edith. She delights in the fact that when she types Edith's words, suggests a small change, or comments on a developing plot, she is becoming part of literary history.

But now both Whartons are becoming more difficult since Morton Fullerton entered the picture. Anna would never have imagined it after all these years, but might she have to start over — at 60?

“I don’t like consequences,” Morton tells Edith early in the book. “The Age of Desire” confronts the consequences of the affair in a way that’s emotionally true, as good literary fiction should, even if that truth might be hard for the most romantic among us. Readers will remember this book for its skillful characterization, period-perfect pacing, and gorgeous writing that is a sometimes erotic and always evocative delight.

Nashvillian Jennie Fields will come home from her national book tour to read and sign copies of “The Age of Desire” at Parnassus Books, 3900 Hillsboro Pike, on at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. She will also appear at the Nashville Public Library as part of its ongoing Salon 615 series at 6:15 p.m. Sept. 20.

 Murfreesboro resident Kory Wells is a poet and volunteer with Read To Succeed.

Originally published: http://www.tennessean.com/article/D4/20120818/LIFESTYLE/308180024/Book-Club-Age-Desire-an-evocative-delight?odyssey=mod_sectionstories

Review: Closing the Gate: Inside Heaven's Gate, by Deb Simpson

Closing the Gate: Inside Heaven’s Gate, by Deb Simpson

by Read to Succeed staff

Review by Laura Beth Payne
When I began reading Deb Simpson’s book, I was prepared for a labyrinth of conspiracy theories and mysterious events about the cult that attracted her brother Jimmy and eventually led to his suicide. Instead I found something familiarly sad and too common: the story of a lost child trying to find a family when his own was falling apart. I found the story playing over in my mind long after I finished it.

More than half of the book is not about Jimmy or Heaven’s Gate at all, but about Simpson’s family, since it is what Simpson believes caused Jimmy to seek “another family” in Heaven’s Gate members. It’s no coincidence that Simpson now, besides her writing, serves as a volunteer for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for children who, just like herself and Jimmy, are members of broken families.

The chapters are written in different voices, alternating between Simpson’s mother, father, brother and herself. I cringed empathetically at the way she captured her abusive father’s own deranged, guiltless point of view, and I grimaced at the mother’s voice. She is not so much of a horrible character as a helpless one, having suffered at the inept hands of psychiatric “care,” rootless religion and abusive relationships. Jimmy’s tone evokes a quiet, contemplative man who is starving for understanding.

While Simpson is eventually able to leave her parents and find healing in her marriage, school, therapy and a job, Jimmy stays at home with their mother and won’t leave despite encouragement from doctors, therapists and Simpson herself. Instead he begins corresponding with those who seem able to give him the spiritual direction he craves—Heaven’s Gate cult members.

Spending a period of time at the compound gives Jimmy a sense of belonging and community that his own family had not given him, but he leaves when he realizes that he was not “as spiritual” as the other members. It was not until after the mass suicides that Jimmy decides he wanted follow his “family” to the next spiritual level: death. He shot himself through the heart in his apartment.

Yes, the story is haunting; I don’t think a story involving a suicide and cult activity can be anything less. But even more sobering than the events leading to Jimmy’s death are Simpson’s reflections afterwards:

“I believe [Jimmy] was looking for someone to show him the way . . . but no one did. We were all too caught up in our lives to understand the depth of his struggles. I will forever regret my own blindness to his pain, and his inability to tell me.”

Readers of Closing the Gate will find much to ponder from Simpson’s portrait of her family, her own escape and her brother’s descent into cult life. But if Simpson is successful, readers will also find a piercing reminder of the significance of our relationships and our human mandate to engage with the struggles and pain in those around us.

Deb Simpson is a Murfreesboro resident and the current president of the Tennessee Writers Alliance. For more information on her and her work, visit debsimpsonbooks.com.

About the Author

Read To Succeed is the community collaborative created to promote literacy in Rutherford County. The objective of this partnership between schools, area agencies, and businesses is to support local programming and raise awareness about the importance of literacy. For more information and to find out how you can make a difference in Rutherford County’s literacy rates, visit readtosucceed.org. The opinions expressed in this book review are not necessarily representative of Read To Succeed, but simply intended to promote the joy of reading.