A Change in Altitude

I have been reading Anita Shreve for many years now, and The Pilot's Wife has always been my favorite novel of hers. However, after reading A Change in Altitude, this latest work is definitely the best yet. I love how Shreve describes the characters and the setting in such graphic detail. The way she describes the disparities between the richer and poorer parts of Nairobi, as well as the beauty of Kenya and the treachery of Mount Kenya makes the reader feel as if they are "along for the ride" throughout the entire novel. I also loved the references to Karen Blixen and "Out of Africa," which to this day remains one of my favorite films. I could not put this book down, and I highly recommend it!

While A Change in Altitude had the backdrop of Africa, including its beauty as well as its problems, and had several characters throughout; for me, this was a story about a marriage, Margaret and Patrick's, and how in an unexpected instance, a marriage can begin to unravel in unthinkable ways. Margaret and Patrick are from America, but are living in Kenya so that Patrick, a doctor, can conduct research on equatorial diseases. Margaret is struggling more than Patrick to find her way and figure out where she fits in. Therefore, I wasn't surprised that she naively agreed to climb Mount Kenya despite having no climbing experience under her belt. It's often when we don't know what we don't know that we make some of the most misguided decisions. I believe she had no idea what she was really signing up for, but didn't want to disappoint her husband or her new friends, Arthur and Diana, who were eager to make the climb. The book is divided into three parts and part one ends at the conclusion of the climb where a life is lost. I put the book down for a few days after I came to the end of part one and found myself haunted by what had happened. I kept thinking about what led to the tragic event from various angles. The ultimate question, "Who was really to blame?" is haunting. The author's ability to convey the often subtle emotions and communication, in both what was and wasn't said, between Margaret and Patrick was compelling. It seemed that both wanted to fix the wedge that had been driven between them, but as long as they hold onto their respective interpretations of the disastrous event that occurred on the climb, this is virtually an impossibility. From reading other reviews, it appears that the reactions to A Change in Altitude are quite varied, which is likely to mean that as book club pick, it would generate interesting and diverse discussion. I find myself in the camp with those who really enjoyed this book.

I couldn't put it down. Just felt like a classic -- the writing, the themes, the understated way in which Shreve deals with complex characters and powerful events. The characters are not always laudable, but they're human, and often Shreve portrays morally ambiguous places we've all been. She also writes about Africa with the familiarity of one who has lived there, resisting the ogle-eyed 'tourist' or 'writer in exotic locale' approach. Can't believe more people didn't give this 5 stars.

In Anita Shreve's "A Change in Altitude", twenty-eight year old Patrick and Margaret McCoglan have been together for two years and married for five months. In the late 1970's, they are expatriate Americans living in Nairobi, Kenya, where Patrick, a physician, is completing a fellowship in equatorial medicine and treating patients at free clinics around the country. Although Margaret was a photojournalist in her native Massachusetts, she does not currently have a job and she misses the stimulation and excitement of her profession. One day, Patrick announces that he would like Margaret to accompany him, their landlord, Arthur, and his wife, Diana, on a climb to the summit of Mount Kenya, "seventeen thousand feet, give or take." Arthur warns the newlyweds that, although they will be accompanied by another couple as well as porters and a guide, the ascent will be difficult, with a bog, scree, and a glacier to navigate. He informs them that "typically four or five people a year die climbing Mount Kenya." Not everyone can adjust to the high altitudes, and there is the ever-present danger of acute mountain sickness. This is definitely not "a trip for the squeamish." Life in Africa is challenging, even on level ground. Thievery is common. One is fortunate to return to a parked car that hasn't been stolen or dismembered for parts or to an apartment that hasn't been emptied of its contents. In spite of the challenges she faces, Margaret believes that she has adjusted well to the customs, language, and culture of Kenya. "She'd thought she wanted to absorb Africa, but the continent had absorbed Margaret." She appreciates Kenya's otherworldly beauty, breathtaking vistas, and exotic flora and fauna. On the other hand, she acknowledges that there is a corrupt and dictatorial government, widespread poverty, illness, lawlessness, tribal divisions, misogyny, and grinding servitude that keep many of Kenya's men, women, and children from enjoying economic and political independence. The females, especially, are subject to horrifying indignities exemplified by the sad plight of Adhiambo, the nanny who cares for Arthur and Diana's young children. She is destined to undergo a dreadful ordeal that leaves her devastated. When the climb to Mt. Kenya ends in disaster, Margaret feels partly to blame, and her marriage to Patrick starts to unravel. In addition, after Margaret takes a freelance job at the Kenya Morning Tribune, she meets a handsome and charismatic reporter to whom she is instantly attracted. Can she resist this man's appeal and remain faithful to her husband? Shreve dissects the anatomy of human relationships, exploring what can happen when a husband and wife notice their spouse's flaws for the first time. Will they have the maturity and determination to work through their differences or will they take the path of least resistance? Climbing a mountain is an obvious metaphor for the inevitable difficulties that everyone faces in life. Wh

Anita Shreve is back in tune with her multi-layered new novel, "A Change in Altitude" after her experiment in point of view, "Testimony." When I first read the blurb for this book, I thought it was sort of a woman's look at Hemingway's "The Snows of Kiliminjaro." No, not at all. This is the story of a marriage, a marriage in trouble, not because of bad people, but because bad things happen and neither knows how to cope. When Margaret and Patrick move to Kenya so that Patrick can continue his research on tropical diseases, the couple meets others who are to change their lives and their relationship forever. A climb up Mount Kenya takes too much physical strength for Margaret, driving her to the breaking point. Her husband is not as supportive as he could be. Disaster strikes on the mountainside in the first third of the book. The last two thirds of the book help to illuminate the struggle to re-establish intimacy once trust is lost. The new job Margaret gets, the new challenges in the slums of Nairobi and the people that she works with, all help to open her eyes to the world she and her husband have entered. She again meets tragedy and loss. The end of the novel brings the reader full circle, with the knowledge that Margaret has another chance to connect herself to love. This book was fast to read, exciting, interesting in setting and local details, and thorough in the depiction of emotions. The only false notes I found concerned a snake and the overuse of particular adjectives, like "soporific." I highly recommend "A Change in Altitude" for those who have enjoyed Shreve's other works, from "The Pilot's Wife" and "Sea Glass" to "Testimony" and "Light on Snow." On my list of Shreve's works, "A Change in Altitude" comes in second only to "Where or When."