Letter from Point Clear

Morris, who is gay, living in Massachusetts, gets a letter telling him that his wealthy younger sister Bonnie, back down in Alabama, where he was traumatized by homophobia as a child, has got herself married to an evangelical preacher and installed him in the family's ancestral mansion. He and another sister, Ellen, a poet, rush down to redneck country to rescue Bonnie from the clutches of the (assumed) bigoted money-hungry fanatic. When they get there Morris finds that things are not that bad, and that the preacher is well, hey, kind of cute. That's a rather crude summary, and suggests a setup for a lot of dramatic and comic confrontations, of which there are plenty, but this book is far from crude. Everything is subtle and many-layered. The scene-setting, mostly on Mobile Bay and Cape Cod, is magnificent, and the dialog pitch-perfect and sophisticated. The structure is artful, with a series of acts, each rising to a crescendo and ending on a cliffhanger. The story is told MPOV, with even the uneducated preacher given a sympathetic voice. There's no violence, and although there's a lot of sex it's never explicit. The only death is that of the family's alcoholic father, which precedes and triggers the story's main action, and is counter-pointed by a birth, which will come afterwards.

This was a wonderful read. The plot weaves between such dicey topics as religion, homosexuality, parents, siblings and all the connections between. The characters are thinkers, but possess an ability for introspection and self-doubt that makes them real, vulnerable, and humble, as they search for humility among their egos. Dennis McFarland uses language gracefully, and with a smattering of perfect vocabulary and credible dialogue. Now and then I was reminded of two of my all-time favorite books: Light Years, by James Salter, and Crossing To Safety, by Wallace Stegner. I was sad to reach the inevitable end, when loose ends were tied up somehow, and all the characters returned to their respective places from where the book began. Highly recommended.

If you, as I do, adore domestic realism spiced with dry wit, oblique cultural references, exchanges that don't require authorial intrusion as to meaning, all taking place within marriage and/or four walls of a house, look no further. This is literary fiction at its best: a story based on the characters, not on their actions. Morris is petualant and petty, Ellen is distant and unnecessarily unfulfilled, and Bonnie is rash and probably spoiled, but I'd like to hang out with all of them. You can have your circus stories and your chick lit, I'll take Letter From Point Clear. And check out Tessa Hadley's The Master Bedroom or Accidents In The Home.

What a joy! I can't remember enjoying a book so much - or so often wanting to shout "YES!" while reading one. Dennis McFarland's latest "Letter From Point Clear" is the most touching, interesting and refreshing look at family and religion that I've read since Haven Kimmel's, "The Solace of Leaving Early" - another of my favorites. McFarland writes his characters without judgment or over-explanation; they are who they are and it's just precisely enough to make us care about them and want to turn the page to see what they are thinking next. I wanted them to be real people so that I could know them. Treat yourself to this wonderful story and these interesting and all-too-human characters.

I have read about 12 books this summer and this is the one that really stands out and lingers in my mind. The heart, the neurosis and especially the wit of the central family echoes Salinger in a way that reminded of why I love Salinger. The writing is beautiful and the characters complex. It is a cliche to say that I was sad to finish it but it is true. I cannot think of a recent book I have enjoyed more.