The Day

Everyone has experienced the hell of celebrating the holidays with your relatives. Depression rages, a family wishes to forget the anniversary of a loved one's death, and couples reach the boiling point of their relationships. It's just the typical Thanksgiving dinner at Jack Fletcher's sister-in-law's. Douglas Hobbie's novel, "The Day," vividly etches the story of a fractured New England family attempting to hold it together long enough to eat the turkey. Jack Fletcher is married to Gwen, and they have two children: a daughter Kate and a son Sam. Tensions mount as they drive towards his sister-in-law's home. Jack wants to talk about Gwen's sister Clare but she wants to avoid the subject. Jack flashes back to a carefree time, when he and Gwen had sex in the car. For Jack and Gwen, those carefree times are in the past. There is a distinct chasm between them that neither wants to cross. Something has come between them on this particular Thanksgiving day. Jack mourns the death of his sister-in-law Clare, who died a year ago. His wife Gwen wants to avoid the topic. So does every other family member. The anniversary of Clare's death permeates the holiday dinner as each individual tries to get through the Thanksgiving dinner without dealing with the tragedy. Hobbie's dialogue achingly recreates the psychological aspects of a family's reaction to a death: the anger, the denial, the avoidance. Hobbie writes such convincing interaction between the characters that we feel like we are eavesdropping upon conversation. The dialogue is that on target. Hobbie's young daughter shortly before he started this novel and his real-life tragedy unfortunately provided him with the emotional resonance that tinges every page of The Day. Hobbie has also constructed the novel like a mystery. We meet characters but their relationship to the others is not always explained right away. The author drops seemingly insignificant details into the story only to come back to them at a later time to explain their significance. This device is extremely effective and creates an intriguing puzzle surrounding the death of Clare and why everyone is reluctant to discuss it. Hobbie's use of Jack, also referred to as Fletcher, as the focal point of the story provides the reader the opportunity to see the Wells family from a semi-objective point of view. Jack has never been truly admitted into the Wells family. He views his in-laws with a razor-sharp clarity that could only be achieved by outsider status. Jack does not have the emotional bond that the others possess. He and Gwen are barely hiding their contempt for one another and he has no kind feelings for his wife's family. He is the foe who has crossed enemy lines in order to pretend to be a happy husband and father. Jack and his sister-in-law Penny do not have a warm relationship.Jack sees her incessant need to create a perfect environment