Status
Available
Publication
Flatiron Books (2020), Edition: Reprint, 512 pages
Description
"A novel about past mistakes and betrayals that ripple throughout generations, The Guest Book examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America. It is a literary triumph. The Guest Book follows three generations of a powerful American family, a family that "used to run the world." And when the novel begins in 1935, they still do. Kitty and Ogden Milton appear to have everything--perfect children, good looks, a love everyone envies. But after a tragedy befalls them, Ogden tries to bring Kitty back to life by purchasing an island in Maine. That island, and its house, come to define and burnish the Milton family, year after year after year. And it is there that Kitty issues a refusal that will haunt her till the day she dies. In 1959 a young Jewish man, Len Levy, will get a job in Ogden's bank and earn the admiration of Ogden and one of his daughters, but the scorn of everyone else. Len's best friend, Reg Pauling, has always been the only black man in the room--at Harvard, at work, and finally at the Miltons' island in Maine. An island that, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, this last generation doesn't have the money to keep. When Kitty's granddaughter hears that she and her cousins might be forced to sell it, and when her husband brings back disturbing evidence about her grandfather's past, she realizes she is on the verge of finally understanding the silences that seemed to hover just below the surface of her family all her life. An ambitious novel that weaves the American past with its present, Sarah Blake's The Guest Book looks at the racism and power that has been systemically embedded in the U.S. for generations" --… (more)
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User reviews
LibraryThing member susan0316
The Guest Book is a sweeping saga of three generations of the very rich Milton family from the 1930s to present day. It's the story of not only how money and privilege isolate a family from the rest of the world but the way it affects their feelings about other races and religions. Each generation
The novel begins in 1935 with Ogden and Kitty Milton and their three children. They are living a very privileged life and when a tragedy happens in the family, Ogden buys an island and a grand house in Maine to help the family become whole again. The family spends their summers on the island, entertaining all of their rich friends whose lives are reflections of their own. This all begins to break down in the next generation when the 3 Milton children grow up and realize that they want different things out of life and their values are different than their parents. Moss doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps in business but wants to write music, much to his parent's dismay. One daughter marries the man who is just like her dad but the other daughter falls in love with a Jewish man which was totally not done in their upper class lives. By the next generation, the money has run out and the grandchildren have to decide if they afford to keep the island and all of their memories. Will this decision also help uncover some of the secrets from the previous two generations that have affected their lives so much?
This book is a well written look at past mistakes and betrayals that ripple throughout generations., It examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America.
Thanks to BookBrowse for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
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feeds their views and their secrets into the next until no one is really sure what is true about the family history.The novel begins in 1935 with Ogden and Kitty Milton and their three children. They are living a very privileged life and when a tragedy happens in the family, Ogden buys an island and a grand house in Maine to help the family become whole again. The family spends their summers on the island, entertaining all of their rich friends whose lives are reflections of their own. This all begins to break down in the next generation when the 3 Milton children grow up and realize that they want different things out of life and their values are different than their parents. Moss doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps in business but wants to write music, much to his parent's dismay. One daughter marries the man who is just like her dad but the other daughter falls in love with a Jewish man which was totally not done in their upper class lives. By the next generation, the money has run out and the grandchildren have to decide if they afford to keep the island and all of their memories. Will this decision also help uncover some of the secrets from the previous two generations that have affected their lives so much?
This book is a well written look at past mistakes and betrayals that ripple throughout generations., It examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America.
Thanks to BookBrowse for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
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LibraryThing member Loried
As a huge fan of The Postmistress, I was happy to get the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Guest Book. I found it an interesting historical novel, but I thought the author was over-ambitious with all the themes she wanted to include. I would have preferred it if the book was edited down a
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bit. She did a wonderful job bringing the time period alive. Show Less
LibraryThing member gpangel
The Guest Book by Sarah Blake is a 2019 Flatiron Books publication.
An Epic multi-generational family saga exposing long buried secrets and truths- not only providing a mirrored reflection of the privileged Milton’s, but of the entire country as well…
“There is the crime and there is
In the mid-thirties, golden couple Ogden and Kitty Milton, recovering from a horrific tragedy, purchase Crockett Island, making it a point of renewal. They will ‘summer’ there every year of their lives, thereafter, as do their children, and their grandchildren. But now the money has run out and the house is in ill repair, leaving the painful decision about the island’s future to rest in the hands of the only surviving family members- a trio of cousins, who each have their own agenda.
“Nothing will ever change. Sunlight. Starlight. Drinks on the dock. A single sail out in the bay. It will never change. It seems to promise. ‘You will not die’ On and on. Like a painting. Here you are. As long as the Island stands, we stand. Time never minds”
Evie is fighting hard to keep the island, while her cousins are open to selling it, and her husband, Paul, constantly reminds her of their financial situation.
But is Evie holding on to the island, or to her mother’s memory?
Evie can easily laugh at her family's 'WASP culture' history, yet she becomes irritated if anyone else passes judgements on them. And- Despite evidence to the contrary, Evie stubbornly turns a blind eye to the dark secrets hidden in her family’s past.
As Blake takes us back across time, a heart wrenching story unfolds, revealing an ugly, sad, guilt ridden underbelly to the affluent Milton family, one deeply rooted in entitlement, prejudice and racism. Yet, future generations attempt to provoke a new value system, one which requires a conscience, insists on a shift in attitude, and demands change. The contrasts between entitlement, power and control, against idealism, and then juxtaposed against certain harsh truths, stirs up a tragic fire storm, which left this reader with a fire in my belly, on the edge of my seat, and with an ache in my heart, not only for the characters, but for -Us
“History is sometimes made by heroes, but it is also always
made by us. We, the people, who stumble around, who block or help the hero out of loyalty,
stubbornness, faith, or fear. Those who wall up—and those who break through walls. The
people at the edge of the photographs. The people watching—the crowd. You.”
Sarah Blake’s writing is beautiful. Her prose is elegant, powerful, poignant, and almost hypnotic. The characterizations and dialogue are so incredibly vivid and devastatingly realistic. The trappings of wealth, the narrow- mindedness of class distinctions, the half- lived lives, the progression and changes of the times unfolding through the years, stripping away decades of racism and prejudice is mesmerizing.
Yet, for Evie, as the blanks are finally filled in, there is a revealing defensiveness, a conspiratorial, protective silence, and a stubborn refusal to accept the reality of her family’s history, one which is too painful to acknowledge.
(view spoiler)
Although the story leaves us with a hint of hope, it is a shy, tentative first step. Mirrors don’t lie- looking into one, seeing the dark corners of our nation’s past, and our own personal histories exposed, is neither easy, nor kind.
However, it is an opportunity to break the chain, learn from the past, work diligently to prevent history from repeating itself. It is a lesson we can all learn from. Stay on the forward path, ever alert, never silent, or willfully ignorant. That is the key to releasing the past, where healing begins, where forgiveness takes root, and hope’s seed is planted.
This is an outstanding family saga, so well-written and packed with tautness and poignancy. I was absolutely riveted to the pages of this rich, compelling novel from start to finish. If you can only fit in one book in this summer- make it this one!
5 stars
An Epic multi-generational family saga exposing long buried secrets and truths- not only providing a mirrored reflection of the privileged Milton’s, but of the entire country as well…
“There is the crime and there is
Show More
silence”In the mid-thirties, golden couple Ogden and Kitty Milton, recovering from a horrific tragedy, purchase Crockett Island, making it a point of renewal. They will ‘summer’ there every year of their lives, thereafter, as do their children, and their grandchildren. But now the money has run out and the house is in ill repair, leaving the painful decision about the island’s future to rest in the hands of the only surviving family members- a trio of cousins, who each have their own agenda.
“Nothing will ever change. Sunlight. Starlight. Drinks on the dock. A single sail out in the bay. It will never change. It seems to promise. ‘You will not die’ On and on. Like a painting. Here you are. As long as the Island stands, we stand. Time never minds”
Evie is fighting hard to keep the island, while her cousins are open to selling it, and her husband, Paul, constantly reminds her of their financial situation.
But is Evie holding on to the island, or to her mother’s memory?
Evie can easily laugh at her family's 'WASP culture' history, yet she becomes irritated if anyone else passes judgements on them. And- Despite evidence to the contrary, Evie stubbornly turns a blind eye to the dark secrets hidden in her family’s past.
As Blake takes us back across time, a heart wrenching story unfolds, revealing an ugly, sad, guilt ridden underbelly to the affluent Milton family, one deeply rooted in entitlement, prejudice and racism. Yet, future generations attempt to provoke a new value system, one which requires a conscience, insists on a shift in attitude, and demands change. The contrasts between entitlement, power and control, against idealism, and then juxtaposed against certain harsh truths, stirs up a tragic fire storm, which left this reader with a fire in my belly, on the edge of my seat, and with an ache in my heart, not only for the characters, but for -Us
“History is sometimes made by heroes, but it is also always
made by us. We, the people, who stumble around, who block or help the hero out of loyalty,
stubbornness, faith, or fear. Those who wall up—and those who break through walls. The
people at the edge of the photographs. The people watching—the crowd. You.”
Sarah Blake’s writing is beautiful. Her prose is elegant, powerful, poignant, and almost hypnotic. The characterizations and dialogue are so incredibly vivid and devastatingly realistic. The trappings of wealth, the narrow- mindedness of class distinctions, the half- lived lives, the progression and changes of the times unfolding through the years, stripping away decades of racism and prejudice is mesmerizing.
Yet, for Evie, as the blanks are finally filled in, there is a revealing defensiveness, a conspiratorial, protective silence, and a stubborn refusal to accept the reality of her family’s history, one which is too painful to acknowledge.
(view spoiler)
Although the story leaves us with a hint of hope, it is a shy, tentative first step. Mirrors don’t lie- looking into one, seeing the dark corners of our nation’s past, and our own personal histories exposed, is neither easy, nor kind.
However, it is an opportunity to break the chain, learn from the past, work diligently to prevent history from repeating itself. It is a lesson we can all learn from. Stay on the forward path, ever alert, never silent, or willfully ignorant. That is the key to releasing the past, where healing begins, where forgiveness takes root, and hope’s seed is planted.
This is an outstanding family saga, so well-written and packed with tautness and poignancy. I was absolutely riveted to the pages of this rich, compelling novel from start to finish. If you can only fit in one book in this summer- make it this one!
5 stars
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LibraryThing member techeditor
So many great things have already been said about THE GUEST BOOK by Sarah Blake that, I felt before I read this book, it was sure to be a letdown. Too much praise leads to high expectations. This was especially true because Blake’s previous bestseller, THE POSTMISTRESS, disappointed me after all
But THE GUEST BOOK deserves every word you have heard about it. It is as if the two books were written by different people.
Mostly, THE GUEST BOOK is about secrets. Three generations of a well-to-do family are described, including the secrets kept by the first two and the eventual unraveling by the third.
This story is sad. To me, that is partly because the secrets are not only about wrongs committed but also about the shame that accompanies them. Also, what appears to be racial prejudice is sometimes something else.
Even though I am delighted with THE GUEST BOOK , some of it does irritate me:
a) This would be more reader friendly if chapter headings are years rather than consecutive numbers.
b) Stories of different family members depend on a few too many coincidences.
c) Perhaps this is just my misunderstanding, but it seems silly that Americans, even though they are New Yorkers, use English affectations, e.g., “mum” and “pram.”
But overlook these. Most people can.
I won an ARC of THE GUEST BOOK from the publisher, Flatiron Books.
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its complimentary reviews.But THE GUEST BOOK deserves every word you have heard about it. It is as if the two books were written by different people.
Mostly, THE GUEST BOOK is about secrets. Three generations of a well-to-do family are described, including the secrets kept by the first two and the eventual unraveling by the third.
This story is sad. To me, that is partly because the secrets are not only about wrongs committed but also about the shame that accompanies them. Also, what appears to be racial prejudice is sometimes something else.
Even though I am delighted with THE GUEST BOOK , some of it does irritate me:
a) This would be more reader friendly if chapter headings are years rather than consecutive numbers.
b) Stories of different family members depend on a few too many coincidences.
c) Perhaps this is just my misunderstanding, but it seems silly that Americans, even though they are New Yorkers, use English affectations, e.g., “mum” and “pram.”
But overlook these. Most people can.
I won an ARC of THE GUEST BOOK from the publisher, Flatiron Books.
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LibraryThing member ewhatley
I was fortunate to receive a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I had heard so much about it and was anxious to read it so I put it ahead of several others in my TBR stack. This book is very well written and exhibits excellent character development but it was just not my cup
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of tea. It was too much like a lecture on race and equality. I've rated it 2 stars to balance the excellent writing against the disappointing (for me) content. Show Less
LibraryThing member nancyadair
The Guest Book by Sarah Blake. It caught my interest early with beautiful, descriptive language and interesting characters. It is a family drama covering three generations of a wealthy, white family of privilege with deep American roots. There was a Milton in the first class at Harvard. They built
It is about the culpability of silence and the family secrets of the Milton family, how wealth and privilege control the gates of power, and the acceptance of prejudice, racism, and anti-Semitism.
The first chapter is set in 1935 when young wife Kitty is filled with the joy of spring and ends with a horrible tragedy. I was hooked and compelled to read on.
The Guest Book recalled to mind E. M. Forster's Howard's End, one of my favorite novels. Forster's novel set in Edwardian England considers class and inheritance. Blake's novel considers prejudice and inheritance. Some characters can not give up their protected status of privilege and some rankle against it, hoping for a more just and equitable system.
In 1939, at the height of the Depression, Ogden Milton purchased an island retreat in Maine. Ogden hopes to begin anew with his wife Kitty after a tragic accident shattered their world. The island becomes part of their lives, representing all that is good and beautiful. It also holds them to the past, a place that resists change, from the upholstery and wallpaper to the ghosts that haunt it.
Milton's banking concern survived the Depression and continued to thrive during the war--partly because of German investments in steel which lead to business with the Nazis. When the steel magnate's daughter, who married a Jewish musician, asks Kitty to keep her child, Kitty turns her down. They return to Germany and are never heard of again. It is a guilty secret she keeps for decades.
Kitty and Ogden have daughters Joan and Evie and son Moss.
Evie behaves correctly, going to college and marrying the 'right kind' of man.
Joan has epilepsy and believes she will never marry. Then she meets Len Levy, a self-made man hired by her father's bank. He is a man of vision but his idea of opening the stock market to the middle and working class is rejected. Len is Jewish and people like the Miltons stick to their own kind. They keep their affair secret.
Moss is to inherit his father's position but chaffs under the expectations and prejudices of their aristocratic social class. He dreams of writing music for a new America and the changes he hears humming just out of reach.
On a fatal night in 1959, the family gathered on the island for Evie's wedding, when two outsiders arrive at Moss's invitation. Len Levy and his Chicago childhood friend, Reg Pauling, an African American writer. Although they went to Harvard with Moss, these men know there are walls and gates that shut them out. In spite of Moss's vision of a new American of inclusivity and the tearing down of walls--in spite of the passionate love between Len and Joan--they understand they are outsiders. The Miltons can be benevolent but never open.
What happens on that fateful day is kept secret. It is only known as the day Moss died.
After the passing of their grandparents and parents, Joan and Evie's children and their cousins must decide what to do with the Milton island home. Joan's daughter Evie can't bear to let go of the place, vivid memories mooring her to the island. But the family has run out of inherited money and the grandchildren have chosen idealistic careers that don't come with a large income. Evie's husband Paul, who is Jewish, can't understand her need to hang on to the island.
Evie is tormented by questions. Why did her mother Joan ask that her ashes be scattered on the rocky beach on the island? What was the story behind the photograph of their grandfather Ogden with a Nazi? How did Uncle Moss die? Why did Kitty want the stranger Reg Pauling to get Moss's inheritance? Clues impel Evie to detangle the past until the family secrets that are finally revealed.
In Howard's End, Forster asks who is to inherit Britain. In The Guest Book, the question of who is to inherit the island is at stake. But the island becomes a symbol of the monied, white elite's world of privilege.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
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a banking empire and thrived even during the Depression. It is about the culpability of silence and the family secrets of the Milton family, how wealth and privilege control the gates of power, and the acceptance of prejudice, racism, and anti-Semitism.
The first chapter is set in 1935 when young wife Kitty is filled with the joy of spring and ends with a horrible tragedy. I was hooked and compelled to read on.
The Guest Book recalled to mind E. M. Forster's Howard's End, one of my favorite novels. Forster's novel set in Edwardian England considers class and inheritance. Blake's novel considers prejudice and inheritance. Some characters can not give up their protected status of privilege and some rankle against it, hoping for a more just and equitable system.
In 1939, at the height of the Depression, Ogden Milton purchased an island retreat in Maine. Ogden hopes to begin anew with his wife Kitty after a tragic accident shattered their world. The island becomes part of their lives, representing all that is good and beautiful. It also holds them to the past, a place that resists change, from the upholstery and wallpaper to the ghosts that haunt it.
Milton's banking concern survived the Depression and continued to thrive during the war--partly because of German investments in steel which lead to business with the Nazis. When the steel magnate's daughter, who married a Jewish musician, asks Kitty to keep her child, Kitty turns her down. They return to Germany and are never heard of again. It is a guilty secret she keeps for decades.
Kitty and Ogden have daughters Joan and Evie and son Moss.
Evie behaves correctly, going to college and marrying the 'right kind' of man.
Joan has epilepsy and believes she will never marry. Then she meets Len Levy, a self-made man hired by her father's bank. He is a man of vision but his idea of opening the stock market to the middle and working class is rejected. Len is Jewish and people like the Miltons stick to their own kind. They keep their affair secret.
Moss is to inherit his father's position but chaffs under the expectations and prejudices of their aristocratic social class. He dreams of writing music for a new America and the changes he hears humming just out of reach.
On a fatal night in 1959, the family gathered on the island for Evie's wedding, when two outsiders arrive at Moss's invitation. Len Levy and his Chicago childhood friend, Reg Pauling, an African American writer. Although they went to Harvard with Moss, these men know there are walls and gates that shut them out. In spite of Moss's vision of a new American of inclusivity and the tearing down of walls--in spite of the passionate love between Len and Joan--they understand they are outsiders. The Miltons can be benevolent but never open.
What happens on that fateful day is kept secret. It is only known as the day Moss died.
After the passing of their grandparents and parents, Joan and Evie's children and their cousins must decide what to do with the Milton island home. Joan's daughter Evie can't bear to let go of the place, vivid memories mooring her to the island. But the family has run out of inherited money and the grandchildren have chosen idealistic careers that don't come with a large income. Evie's husband Paul, who is Jewish, can't understand her need to hang on to the island.
Evie is tormented by questions. Why did her mother Joan ask that her ashes be scattered on the rocky beach on the island? What was the story behind the photograph of their grandfather Ogden with a Nazi? How did Uncle Moss die? Why did Kitty want the stranger Reg Pauling to get Moss's inheritance? Clues impel Evie to detangle the past until the family secrets that are finally revealed.
In Howard's End, Forster asks who is to inherit Britain. In The Guest Book, the question of who is to inherit the island is at stake. But the island becomes a symbol of the monied, white elite's world of privilege.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
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LibraryThing member TooBusyReading
Perhaps if I had read the author's popular book The Postmistress before I read this one, I might have known this is just not the kind of book I enjoy. It's a family saga, and I do enjoy those. But this one moved so s-l-o-w-l-y that it took me far too long to care at all, and even then I didn't care
This book is choppy. It goes back and forward in time much too often, with too little in each time before it jumps forward/back. Perhaps it would have been smoother is I read it in print rather than listening to it, but I spent way too much time trying to figure out “which Evelyn is it this time?” Some of the book leads up to WWII, and all of a sudden it is the 1950s.
There were secrets, but no real mystery, and too much foreshadowing for me to be surprised by anything that happened.
I imagine that Sarah Blake fans will enjoy this, but I didn't. I kept listening because I thought maybe something surprising, something interesting would happen, but it never did.
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much. It's about an entitled family who owns an island, and covers multiple generations. Lots of characters I didn't care about, only 2 or 3 I did a bit.This book is choppy. It goes back and forward in time much too often, with too little in each time before it jumps forward/back. Perhaps it would have been smoother is I read it in print rather than listening to it, but I spent way too much time trying to figure out “which Evelyn is it this time?” Some of the book leads up to WWII, and all of a sudden it is the 1950s.
There were secrets, but no real mystery, and too much foreshadowing for me to be surprised by anything that happened.
I imagine that Sarah Blake fans will enjoy this, but I didn't. I kept listening because I thought maybe something surprising, something interesting would happen, but it never did.
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LibraryThing member Romonko
A sprawling book about an American family from the 1930's up to the late 1980's, and the pivot point between these two time frames is August 1959 when everything changes for the family which reverberates through three generations. The Milton family patriarchs were Kitty and Ogden Milton. Milton was
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a successful commercial banker in New York. He travelled extensively throughout Europe, and especially in Germany, which in 1935 was undergoing a seismic shift in politics and governance with the rise of Hitler. Ogden truly doesn't see the signs and doesn't envision the danger he is subjecting his bank to. Kitty and Ogden have just experienced a great personal tragedy, but both have been brought up to soldier on, don't talk about the past, and make everyone think that you are doing just fine. So the tragedy that happened to their son is covered up and never dealt with. Kitty and Ogden go on to have have two girls and they have their younger son who was there when the tragedy occurred. . They purchase a private island off the coast of Maine, and begin building a dynasty. There are severe cracks under the surface of what looks like a perfect family to outsiders. In 1959, when their children are in their twenties, two strangers come to the island and the whole thing breaks wide open. All the secrecy, lies, and hidden emotions come boiling to the surface, and another tragedy happens. The book ends with the grandchildren trying to piece together what happened to their family. This is a very well-written book with beautiful characters - a sweeping family saga that searches into every crevice and corner of a prominent family's history until the truth breaks out, and that truth is very devastating to the remaining family members. Show Less
LibraryThing member SBoren
I received this book from my bestie @k.e.radke to read. All opinions are my own. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 The Guest Book by Sarah Blake. It is great to have friends that can share their books with you and this book is one that everyone should read! The secrets one family can hide from one generation to the
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next can only become known is someone outside knew. This book spans three generations of Miltons, beginning with grandparents Kitty and Ogden Milton who purchased an extravagant home on an Island in the 1930s. Their 5 grandkids now have to figure out how to keep the home in the family without going into debt. Once the family makes a temporary decision two of them return to the home and secrets long kept begin to unravel slowly. As if it wasn't hard enough to jump into your future you now have to look back at the past and think where do I go now. This Island is what has held The Miltons together but it is also every reason they have to hold onto their secrets and let go of what can't be undone. The words set to the scene make you feel like you open the book and step right into the summer between the pages. Review also posted on Instagram @borenbooks, Library Thing, Amazon, Twitter @jason_stacie, Goodreads/StacieBoren, and my blog at readsbystacie.com Show Less
LibraryThing member HandelmanLibraryTINR
A novel about past mistakes and betrayals that ripple throughout generations, The Guest Book examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America. It is a literary triumph.
LibraryThing member LadyoftheLodge
"The Guest Book" tells the story of an elite family that hides secrets behind its outwardly beautiful facade. The book spans several time periods and generations.
I had read many reviews of this book before I began to read it, so I started out with great expectations for this novel. I also had read
However, I quickly became confused by the movement of the action back and forth between generations and characters. I found the book to be wordy and got bogged down part way through. I skimmed the rest of the book, but still felt confused at the end, as if I was missing something somewhere. I really wanted to like this book, but found it did not live up to expectations.
I received the book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
I had read many reviews of this book before I began to read it, so I started out with great expectations for this novel. I also had read
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sample chapters in Book Buzz, and was intrigued by the beginning of this book.However, I quickly became confused by the movement of the action back and forth between generations and characters. I found the book to be wordy and got bogged down part way through. I skimmed the rest of the book, but still felt confused at the end, as if I was missing something somewhere. I really wanted to like this book, but found it did not live up to expectations.
I received the book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
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LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
The Guest Book, Sarah Blake, author; Orlagh Cassidy, narrator.
This is a lengthy book which attempts to tackle some very serious historic societal problems. Using a healthy number of characters and a time line that travels back and forth over several decades, the author highlights the way people
The Miltons were a wealthy WASP family in the investment business. After suffering the tragic loss of a child, Ogden Milton decided to purchase an island to help his wife move on emotionally, and to use as a family retreat, so as to leave their mark on the world, to make them part of history, to mark them as “facts” as a family that had lived and prospered on this earth. He and his wife Kitty, envisioned family outings there. It was a place that would give them their identity and earn them the respect of others in their class which would follow the family for generations to come. Crockett’s Island would be known as the Milton’s Island. Kitty saw a future with her family continuing to enjoy its place in society, in the hierarchy of those brought up properly, with manners and rules of behavior, those who believed they were a cut above most people and deserved the right to exist in their rarefied atmosphere, untouched by the hoi polloi. She saw a family that was content and thriving with dignity.
Friends and family of their same social strata were welcomed to the island and yearly rituals and celebrations were observed. Those in the upper echelon of society prided themselves on being “good” and respectful to all, never overtly insulting anyone, but also never allowing anyone of a different class, color or background into their inner circle. They tolerated others, but they did not embrace them. Although the characters were diverse in color, religion, class, health, aspirations, and hints at, perhaps, sexual preference, they each knew their place in life and some struggled in the uphill battle against the tide of the acceptable norms of the day. Each had a different and unique view of the world which they pursued. Some were more forgiving and some were more judgmental, some had more freedom of choice and some were constricted by family expectations. Some were bitter and some were Pollyannaish.
Anti-Semitism and racism were a particular focus in the novel, as well as the way certain illnesses were viewed by an unsophisticated public and medical establishment. White privilege and the class divide were front and center. Those who wished to remove some societal constraints were not fully able to make the changes necessary or even to embrace them wholly. In some ways, each character was molded into a shape and form that could be altered, but not redeemed. Many mistakes were made. There were misunderstanding and many secrets that were kept which reverberated down the generations for decades to influence the lives of the descendants. Change, if any, was slow in coming.
Moss Milton marched to the beat of another drummer, but was not permitted to really pursue his dream of being a musician. He was expected to step into his father’s shoes and continue the financial dynasty. Len Levy, a Jew, was not truly welcomed by Kitty Milton into her world, although he worked for Ogden Milton and was well respected by him. Reg Pauling was black and was a good friend of Moss. Both Len and Reg had chips on their shoulders, perhaps justified, about the way they were treated by the world. Moss, Len and Reg, an unusual combination, were good friends, although the three lived in and hailed from vastly different worlds. Would their friendship survive?
Evelyn and Joan Milton were sisters. Evelyn was very protective of her sister who suffered from occasional seizures which, although under controll, could occur without notice. Joan was ashamed of her affliction and vowed not to marry so as not to pass on the Epilepsy to any progeny. She considered it unfair to marry since it was her obligation to produce children for her husband who had the right to expect heirs.
Although, in business, Ogden Milton respected effort and capability and did not fault anyone based on their religion or color, he did not expect to have to fraternize with them. He preferred those of his own ilk. While he was more open to embracing people of different backgrounds at work, and he even entertained them on the island retreat, it was where his idea of being inclusive and accepting all, ended. In his business dealings, he didn’t even mind dealing with the Germans during the Holocaust. Ogden simply believed that one did what one had to do, and he did what was expedient for his business to thrive, without questioning the rightness or wrongness of his transactions. In its way, Ogden’s own class also believed in racial superiority.
Both Ogden and Kitty belonged to a higher echelon that chose to ignore the things that were upsetting, the things that they could not control, preferring to keep their lives uncluttered with problems that they couldn’t fix. They wished to try to be content with their lives, at all times. They had the power of their money and their stellar reputations to enhance their efforts. Things that were upsetting were simply swept under the rug, ignored and not discussed.
Len Levy and Joan Milton fell in love, but it was a forbidden match, and as it plays out throughout the book, it illustrates the differences in the way people thought about and treated each other, in the way they accepted each other’s values. To Joan, although she loved Len, he was larger, louder (the stereotype and anti-Semitic trope about a Jew), than those White Anglo-Saxon Protestants who simply just knew how to behave. It was very difficult to envision his being accepted or finding a place in her world. Her brother’s relationship with Reg exposed the racial and civil rights issues of the day. Reg was often refused entry to places, and he sometimes felt that he was invited to make the person inviting him feel righteous.
Eventually, as time passed, Joan and Evelyn married and had families of their own that married and had children. Following the deaths of Ogden and Kitty, the island passed to them, but as decades passed, the heirs began to run out of money to keep and maintain the island. Some had moved on, recognizing that the way of life on Crockett’s Island was passé and over the top. Some, like Evie Schlesinger, clung to their need to feel that it was something of great value as it represented who they were, the Miltons of Crockett Island, that it marked the very fact of their existence.
There are so many secrets that pop up intermittently, that I found that their revelations often seemed unclear for both the reader and the characters in the way that they were played out. Sometimes, because past and present intermingled, it seemed not only confusing, but perhaps a bit tedious. Also, at times, rather than feeling authentic, it felt contrived, as if the author really just wanted to present a book to illustrate the progressive social issues of race, religion and class that have and continue to divide our country. Elitism and white privilege are front and center as the author presents the shallowness of business on a Wall Street preoccupied with greed. The horrors of racism and anti-Semitism were highlighted, and they seemed to be planted into the pages of the novel for that purpose alone.
The author presented a story that illustrated the fact that although we might have the best of intentions, the results sometimes go awry because they are not fully or meaningfully executed. True change has not yet occurred and some, especially those who would truly benefit from the changes which would advance society, have lost hope that the vision of a more idealistic world would ever be realized. Does true love stands the test of time, although it is unrequited? Are we a class conscious, racist and anti-Semitic country that has still not become more inclusive and moved into the future? Are we stuck in the past, obsessed with our elitist views? Was the book about overcoming adversity or about a world that was at its heart a good place, a world that would overcome the evils of the past so that all could prosper in the future? Was the book about claiming a place in history?
Some interesting facts in the book came to light, like the story about the stumble stones for the Jews of Berlin, Germany. A stumble stone marked a person’s place, to prove that they existed. Many of the characters also wanted to leave their mark, to have the world know that they had been there, so that they didn’t simply live, then die, as if they never had been there at all. There were examples of barriers being broken down by succeeding generations with interfaith relationships and marriages, with views about unnecessary, excessive materialism. There were examples of the redemption of those who had lived well, but not as kindly as they should have lived. There were interesting examples of racism which showed how Reg dealt with the hate and exclusion he had to deal with and which should be a lesson to all readers. Would his wounds ever heal?
This is a good read, but it could have used further editing to make the flow of the narrative a bit smoother. It holds the reader’s interest as we are given a window into the lives of the upper crust that lived in all of their glory, through the ups and downs of society, never discussing or allowing troublesome issues to bother them, but rather just moving on in the exalted air of their world.
This is a lengthy book which attempts to tackle some very serious historic societal problems. Using a healthy number of characters and a time line that travels back and forth over several decades, the author highlights the way people
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lived and treated each other, beginning in the late 1920’s, as it follows three generations of a family that lives through the Great Depression, the Holocaust and more. The Miltons were a wealthy WASP family in the investment business. After suffering the tragic loss of a child, Ogden Milton decided to purchase an island to help his wife move on emotionally, and to use as a family retreat, so as to leave their mark on the world, to make them part of history, to mark them as “facts” as a family that had lived and prospered on this earth. He and his wife Kitty, envisioned family outings there. It was a place that would give them their identity and earn them the respect of others in their class which would follow the family for generations to come. Crockett’s Island would be known as the Milton’s Island. Kitty saw a future with her family continuing to enjoy its place in society, in the hierarchy of those brought up properly, with manners and rules of behavior, those who believed they were a cut above most people and deserved the right to exist in their rarefied atmosphere, untouched by the hoi polloi. She saw a family that was content and thriving with dignity.
Friends and family of their same social strata were welcomed to the island and yearly rituals and celebrations were observed. Those in the upper echelon of society prided themselves on being “good” and respectful to all, never overtly insulting anyone, but also never allowing anyone of a different class, color or background into their inner circle. They tolerated others, but they did not embrace them. Although the characters were diverse in color, religion, class, health, aspirations, and hints at, perhaps, sexual preference, they each knew their place in life and some struggled in the uphill battle against the tide of the acceptable norms of the day. Each had a different and unique view of the world which they pursued. Some were more forgiving and some were more judgmental, some had more freedom of choice and some were constricted by family expectations. Some were bitter and some were Pollyannaish.
Anti-Semitism and racism were a particular focus in the novel, as well as the way certain illnesses were viewed by an unsophisticated public and medical establishment. White privilege and the class divide were front and center. Those who wished to remove some societal constraints were not fully able to make the changes necessary or even to embrace them wholly. In some ways, each character was molded into a shape and form that could be altered, but not redeemed. Many mistakes were made. There were misunderstanding and many secrets that were kept which reverberated down the generations for decades to influence the lives of the descendants. Change, if any, was slow in coming.
Moss Milton marched to the beat of another drummer, but was not permitted to really pursue his dream of being a musician. He was expected to step into his father’s shoes and continue the financial dynasty. Len Levy, a Jew, was not truly welcomed by Kitty Milton into her world, although he worked for Ogden Milton and was well respected by him. Reg Pauling was black and was a good friend of Moss. Both Len and Reg had chips on their shoulders, perhaps justified, about the way they were treated by the world. Moss, Len and Reg, an unusual combination, were good friends, although the three lived in and hailed from vastly different worlds. Would their friendship survive?
Evelyn and Joan Milton were sisters. Evelyn was very protective of her sister who suffered from occasional seizures which, although under controll, could occur without notice. Joan was ashamed of her affliction and vowed not to marry so as not to pass on the Epilepsy to any progeny. She considered it unfair to marry since it was her obligation to produce children for her husband who had the right to expect heirs.
Although, in business, Ogden Milton respected effort and capability and did not fault anyone based on their religion or color, he did not expect to have to fraternize with them. He preferred those of his own ilk. While he was more open to embracing people of different backgrounds at work, and he even entertained them on the island retreat, it was where his idea of being inclusive and accepting all, ended. In his business dealings, he didn’t even mind dealing with the Germans during the Holocaust. Ogden simply believed that one did what one had to do, and he did what was expedient for his business to thrive, without questioning the rightness or wrongness of his transactions. In its way, Ogden’s own class also believed in racial superiority.
Both Ogden and Kitty belonged to a higher echelon that chose to ignore the things that were upsetting, the things that they could not control, preferring to keep their lives uncluttered with problems that they couldn’t fix. They wished to try to be content with their lives, at all times. They had the power of their money and their stellar reputations to enhance their efforts. Things that were upsetting were simply swept under the rug, ignored and not discussed.
Len Levy and Joan Milton fell in love, but it was a forbidden match, and as it plays out throughout the book, it illustrates the differences in the way people thought about and treated each other, in the way they accepted each other’s values. To Joan, although she loved Len, he was larger, louder (the stereotype and anti-Semitic trope about a Jew), than those White Anglo-Saxon Protestants who simply just knew how to behave. It was very difficult to envision his being accepted or finding a place in her world. Her brother’s relationship with Reg exposed the racial and civil rights issues of the day. Reg was often refused entry to places, and he sometimes felt that he was invited to make the person inviting him feel righteous.
Eventually, as time passed, Joan and Evelyn married and had families of their own that married and had children. Following the deaths of Ogden and Kitty, the island passed to them, but as decades passed, the heirs began to run out of money to keep and maintain the island. Some had moved on, recognizing that the way of life on Crockett’s Island was passé and over the top. Some, like Evie Schlesinger, clung to their need to feel that it was something of great value as it represented who they were, the Miltons of Crockett Island, that it marked the very fact of their existence.
There are so many secrets that pop up intermittently, that I found that their revelations often seemed unclear for both the reader and the characters in the way that they were played out. Sometimes, because past and present intermingled, it seemed not only confusing, but perhaps a bit tedious. Also, at times, rather than feeling authentic, it felt contrived, as if the author really just wanted to present a book to illustrate the progressive social issues of race, religion and class that have and continue to divide our country. Elitism and white privilege are front and center as the author presents the shallowness of business on a Wall Street preoccupied with greed. The horrors of racism and anti-Semitism were highlighted, and they seemed to be planted into the pages of the novel for that purpose alone.
The author presented a story that illustrated the fact that although we might have the best of intentions, the results sometimes go awry because they are not fully or meaningfully executed. True change has not yet occurred and some, especially those who would truly benefit from the changes which would advance society, have lost hope that the vision of a more idealistic world would ever be realized. Does true love stands the test of time, although it is unrequited? Are we a class conscious, racist and anti-Semitic country that has still not become more inclusive and moved into the future? Are we stuck in the past, obsessed with our elitist views? Was the book about overcoming adversity or about a world that was at its heart a good place, a world that would overcome the evils of the past so that all could prosper in the future? Was the book about claiming a place in history?
Some interesting facts in the book came to light, like the story about the stumble stones for the Jews of Berlin, Germany. A stumble stone marked a person’s place, to prove that they existed. Many of the characters also wanted to leave their mark, to have the world know that they had been there, so that they didn’t simply live, then die, as if they never had been there at all. There were examples of barriers being broken down by succeeding generations with interfaith relationships and marriages, with views about unnecessary, excessive materialism. There were examples of the redemption of those who had lived well, but not as kindly as they should have lived. There were interesting examples of racism which showed how Reg dealt with the hate and exclusion he had to deal with and which should be a lesson to all readers. Would his wounds ever heal?
This is a good read, but it could have used further editing to make the flow of the narrative a bit smoother. It holds the reader’s interest as we are given a window into the lives of the upper crust that lived in all of their glory, through the ups and downs of society, never discussing or allowing troublesome issues to bother them, but rather just moving on in the exalted air of their world.
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LibraryThing member Alphawoman
I know this was a multi generational story about the Milton family. Yet, this story would have appealed to me if it had actually been 3 seperate books (maybe) two may be better, and focus on one element at time. It was too much, too many thought provoking stories thrown together like a cake with
Unlikable characters.
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too many flavors.Unlikable characters.
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LibraryThing member froxgirl
In these times of rising and prominent racism and anti-Semitism, it's not a bad idea to look back on times when these viewpoints were universally held by all white people, especially the scions of the Mayflower-Wall St-Harvard axis. The Milton family of Manhattan, bankers, buys a genteel yet
Quotes: "It was a life lived in the slipped track, as though the right reel of film had never caught on the teeth of the projector."
"There are no blacks in Hawthorne because he'd have to see them as real enough, human enough, for him to imagine them, put them in the story."
"The fog had completely vanished and the day pulled off its hat."
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deteriorating mansion on an island in Maine for a song and it becomes the center of their wealthy world, sustaining them through personal and geopolitical tragedies. The tale of three generations slowly makes its stately way to World War II and its aftermath, and surprisingly, Jewish and black suitors are swept up in the Miltons' politesse. It's too long, and too many women are named Evelyn, but there's some valuable recognition of the failings of American insiders to embrace the huddled masses.Quotes: "It was a life lived in the slipped track, as though the right reel of film had never caught on the teeth of the projector."
"There are no blacks in Hawthorne because he'd have to see them as real enough, human enough, for him to imagine them, put them in the story."
"The fog had completely vanished and the day pulled off its hat."
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LibraryThing member SignoraEdie
Didn't finish...too long, preachy
LibraryThing member nyiper
Almost immediately a family tree or trees was right there in the front of Blake's book. The initial confusion over who is who gets inself sorted out but a chart would be appreciated! The writing is absorbing and mesmerizing both with the descriptions as well as the depth of feelings of the
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characters and their relationship(s) to....the Island. There is so much information that it is a wonder that even Blake could keep the interweaving stories sorted out. Going back and forth in time meant that there was never a dull moment, even with the brief periods of confusion for the reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member LoisCK
Throughout the book all I could think of was this quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "All the Sad Young Men":
"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and
This book does shed light onto this world of the super rich who frolic in an alternate world from most of us. It doesn't mean they don't have feelings, love, suffer loss, etc. but they do act entitled because they always have lived that way. Fitzgerald does a better job of telling that story.
"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and
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cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different."This book does shed light onto this world of the super rich who frolic in an alternate world from most of us. It doesn't mean they don't have feelings, love, suffer loss, etc. but they do act entitled because they always have lived that way. Fitzgerald does a better job of telling that story.
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LibraryThing member medwards429
Tragedies, privilege, family secrets, deep prejudices, old ideas … an island.
This World War II/Family Life/Literary fiction story spans over three generations of a once privileged family – the Milton family; told in four (4) parts over 45 chapters and nearly 500 pages.
The story spans from
Evie soon learns a terrible truth about her grandparents, particularly her grandfather and his involvement in Germany.
Although not always equal in the point of views – the story goes from the past to present without letting the reader know where/when they are in the story (with dates under the chapter, i.e.: August 1959, Present Day, June 1936, etc). Thus, the reader could read two (2) – three (3) parts in the past and only one in present day and feel slightly confused as to where in the time/place of the story they’re in.
Part I (page 1-119) of the book alternates between Kitty and Ogden Milton in the 1930’s and present-day with Evie, Kitty’s granddaughter who is trying to come to terms with her late mother’s passing, her family’s truth, and the disposition of the island.
The story starts in 1935 with Kitty and Ogden Milton – just before World War II. Their youngest son dies in a horrible accident, which continues to haunt Kitty throughout her life and is the catalyst for a decision she is forced to make. Milton purchases an island for Kitty. His hope is to bring her back as he sees her as slipping away from him. The couple is content to ignore what is going on around them as it doesn’t affect them. Kitty is then asked to do someone a favor, but refuses, a refusal that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
The first part ends before the US enters World War II and thus the reader is left to wonder – how did the Milton family react to something they thought wouldn’t happen?
Part II (page 123-268) starts with the grown Milton kids (Moss [Ogden Jr.], Joan, Evelyn) in the summer of 1959 – and builds from there what will soon happen in Part III, the heart of the story – which surprisingly is only 2-3 months in length. Again, some of the chapters unevenly alternate with Evie’s story. Kitty eventually learns the fate of the child she was asked to save.
Part III (272-458) continues from 1959, where part II left off with the alternating view points.
It is here that contains the heart of the novel, which for some, might be too long – it takes the writer nearly 200 pages to get to the “climax” of the story. The truths about the Milton family and their own prejudices about people – and two new characters will make their mark on the Milton family. The reader also learns how deep prejudice runs in the privileged family, so much so that another tragedy unfolds.
Since it is 1959, there are a lot of controversial social topics covered – however I don’t know that they were discussed as much or in that way at the time.
Part IV (461-482) stays in the present day and serves as an end to the saga. The reader is left not knowing what happens to the island, but learns who Evie really is.
The book takes the reader through a journey as well – what do we remember and keep with us, what do we discard, what kind of changes can we make in our lives, how accurate is our history.
It is, on the surface, a stunningly poignant and challenging read. As noted, there are sections that can be quite lengthy to read – part III is the longest as it builds to the heart.
Part IV is a bit of a letdown – it rapidly slides to the end in three short chapters barely 25 pages in length. Perhaps because there was so much in building the story between parts II and III, that part IV wraps it up the best way it can.
But, the writer has a pleasant surprise regarding Evie and we learn who is really is. That would’ve been an interesting part to explore for a bit as the story ended. Will Evie find out who she is, or does already know who she really is?
I would’ve liked to have seen it expand on World War II more. I believe there were areas of the “family interaction” that could’ve been reduced in order to accommodate that.
Normally, I can go through a book in a few days. This is not one of my favorite genres, but I do enjoy a challenge. This book took 15 days to go through, so it was a difficult read (to be honest – basically a chore). Most of that difficultly was that I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters or finding any kind of point where I could relate to them. Perhaps this was due to my disconnect with their privilege.
I would recommend this book to those who are fans of the author, the genre, or the subject. A book to read, if only once in a lifetime.
“We vanish.” – Evie Milton
Thank you to Flatiron Books for an ARC of this book to review.
This World War II/Family Life/Literary fiction story spans over three generations of a once privileged family – the Milton family; told in four (4) parts over 45 chapters and nearly 500 pages.
The story spans from
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about 1935-2019 (last entry was in the Guest Book in 1959, and it’s been 60 years since then). Once so rich the family owned an island, but in today’s time, the descendants can no longer afford to keep it, and some don’t want to let it go. Evie, one of the grandchildren, wants more – she is looking for something, but what she finds isn’t necessarily what she is seeking. Evie soon learns a terrible truth about her grandparents, particularly her grandfather and his involvement in Germany.
Although not always equal in the point of views – the story goes from the past to present without letting the reader know where/when they are in the story (with dates under the chapter, i.e.: August 1959, Present Day, June 1936, etc). Thus, the reader could read two (2) – three (3) parts in the past and only one in present day and feel slightly confused as to where in the time/place of the story they’re in.
Part I (page 1-119) of the book alternates between Kitty and Ogden Milton in the 1930’s and present-day with Evie, Kitty’s granddaughter who is trying to come to terms with her late mother’s passing, her family’s truth, and the disposition of the island.
The story starts in 1935 with Kitty and Ogden Milton – just before World War II. Their youngest son dies in a horrible accident, which continues to haunt Kitty throughout her life and is the catalyst for a decision she is forced to make. Milton purchases an island for Kitty. His hope is to bring her back as he sees her as slipping away from him. The couple is content to ignore what is going on around them as it doesn’t affect them. Kitty is then asked to do someone a favor, but refuses, a refusal that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
The first part ends before the US enters World War II and thus the reader is left to wonder – how did the Milton family react to something they thought wouldn’t happen?
Part II (page 123-268) starts with the grown Milton kids (Moss [Ogden Jr.], Joan, Evelyn) in the summer of 1959 – and builds from there what will soon happen in Part III, the heart of the story – which surprisingly is only 2-3 months in length. Again, some of the chapters unevenly alternate with Evie’s story. Kitty eventually learns the fate of the child she was asked to save.
Part III (272-458) continues from 1959, where part II left off with the alternating view points.
It is here that contains the heart of the novel, which for some, might be too long – it takes the writer nearly 200 pages to get to the “climax” of the story. The truths about the Milton family and their own prejudices about people – and two new characters will make their mark on the Milton family. The reader also learns how deep prejudice runs in the privileged family, so much so that another tragedy unfolds.
Since it is 1959, there are a lot of controversial social topics covered – however I don’t know that they were discussed as much or in that way at the time.
Part IV (461-482) stays in the present day and serves as an end to the saga. The reader is left not knowing what happens to the island, but learns who Evie really is.
The book takes the reader through a journey as well – what do we remember and keep with us, what do we discard, what kind of changes can we make in our lives, how accurate is our history.
It is, on the surface, a stunningly poignant and challenging read. As noted, there are sections that can be quite lengthy to read – part III is the longest as it builds to the heart.
Part IV is a bit of a letdown – it rapidly slides to the end in three short chapters barely 25 pages in length. Perhaps because there was so much in building the story between parts II and III, that part IV wraps it up the best way it can.
But, the writer has a pleasant surprise regarding Evie and we learn who is really is. That would’ve been an interesting part to explore for a bit as the story ended. Will Evie find out who she is, or does already know who she really is?
I would’ve liked to have seen it expand on World War II more. I believe there were areas of the “family interaction” that could’ve been reduced in order to accommodate that.
Normally, I can go through a book in a few days. This is not one of my favorite genres, but I do enjoy a challenge. This book took 15 days to go through, so it was a difficult read (to be honest – basically a chore). Most of that difficultly was that I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters or finding any kind of point where I could relate to them. Perhaps this was due to my disconnect with their privilege.
I would recommend this book to those who are fans of the author, the genre, or the subject. A book to read, if only once in a lifetime.
“We vanish.” – Evie Milton
Thank you to Flatiron Books for an ARC of this book to review.
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LibraryThing member bookwyrmm
This took a long while to really ramp up, and I think some of that was due to the beginning seemingly having no bearing of the rest of the plot.
LibraryThing member JosephKing6602
Ok - narrative was too slow paced ... too many characters; they all sounded the same after a few pages...I struggled to get through it.
LibraryThing member rglossne
The Miltons, of Manhattan, Oyster Bay, and Crocketts Island in Maine, are WASPs who see themselves and their values as the backbone of America. We first meet Kitty Milton, the matriarch, in the late 1930s, on a day when her husband is doing business with the Nazis, and she is experiencing a tragedy
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that will mark her life. The Miltons buy a private island in Maine, Crocketts, to help them heal as a family. We follow the Miltons through three generations marked by social upheaval until the present day. Blake tackles class and race in this absorbing novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member KarenOdden
An ambitious, beautifully written novel about white privilege, family patterns among generations, what it means to stand by and keep silent in the face of injustice and inhumanity, and the possibilities (and impossibilities) for atonement. Other readers objected to the shuttling back and forth in
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time as well as in and out of different people's perspectives (it's told in third-person, focalized through different characters), but maybe because I read this in only three days, I didn't lose track of the time periods and characters. In contrast to other readers who felt that white privilege had been in some way endorsed, I read the ending differently. (Spoiler alert.) In having the only Black main character providing a crucial lost piece of information to a daughter of white privilege, Blake suggests that his POV is deeply relevant, a piece of history that is both essential to this (her) particular story and more broadly relevant for all of us. Well-drawn, psychologically coherent characters and some heartbreaking moments. On par with Blake's earlier historical novel, THE POSTMISTRESS. Recommend to fans of Ann Patchett, Mary Beth Keane, and Juliet Grames. Show Less
LibraryThing member mchwest
I really enjoyed this book and the only reason for the loss of one star was I got bogged down in the middle and had to push through a couple chapters. BUT it was worth finishing and a couple lines I won't easily forget, " When old money still had money and summer was a verb." Loved it.
LibraryThing member CarrieWuj
4.5 Started a little slow, but took off abruptly and kept me spellbound thereafter. However, so many issues packed in this book - a little overwhelming to sort through at the end. The Milton family is NY aristocracy and Kitty and Ogden are a dazzling young couple with a promising nascent family (2
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boys and a baby girl) in 1930s America. Despite the Depression gripping the rest of the country, Ogden's family business is booming - the source - heavy investment in Germany and the rising Nazi party. Issue 1. Ogden travels frequently to Germany and befriends the family of his business contact Waltzer. Elsa is married to a Jewish musician and they have a young son, but even her heavily connected father is not enough to save them. Issue 2. Meanwhile, stateside, the Miltons suffer tragedy when their older son Teddy has a tragic accident. The next oldest, Moss is witness, but the family never speaks of it again. Issue 3. Fast-forward to the present: Evie Milton is a college history professor, granddaughter to Kitty and Ogden, (now deceased) and heir to the island of of Maine Ogden bought after the tragedy, along with her 4 cousins (children of her mother's sister), born after the tragedy. They are not really able to afford it any longer and need to consider selling, but Evie is very emotionally attached and associates it with all happy memories of her childhood. To her professor husband it symbolizes all the privilege he never had growing up. Issue 4 & 5. The story shifts to the years after the war, when the next generation of Miltons follows Kitty and Ogden. It is 1959 and Moss and sisters Joan and Evelyn are young adults. Moss wants to write songs and challenge the upper class status quo, hanging out in jazz joints and befriending Reg Pauling, a black writer in Harlem, even though he is expected to enter the family business. Joan also blazes a trail in the work world - typist for a publishing company that is championing the controversial Ulysses by James Joyce. She becomes secretly romantically involved with Len Levy, a Jewish man who works for her father and is best friends with Pauling. Evelyn follows the traditional route of 'arranged' marriage to a man from a good society family, who in fairness is a good man himself. Issues 6 & 7. You can see the web begin to grow. The story moves from distant past to recent past to present pretty seamlessly, revealing additional information at each juncture. It all comes to a head on the island, at Evelyn's engagement party. Moss has invited Reg and Len, and they take him up on it, even though they are way out of their element. They are received politely on the surface because that is how Kitty operates in her society element, but some incidents occur in the course of the weekend that none of them can ever turn back from. In present day, Evie is totally ignorant of this family history - again, society dictates that secrets must be kept and reputations preserved, but it comes to light (a little too conveniently) while she and her cousin ready the island house to rent. Deftly handled when so many threads are in play, and the ending is mostly smooth and able to hold out to a surprising finish, and like The Postmistress the writing is thoughtful, eloquent and history is handled expertly and engagingly. Long and a little convoluted, but well worth the work. Show Less
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
Boy howdy, did this lengthy family saga nearly kill my reading mojo! The reviews were mixed, mostly negative, but I thought, 'Well, I love reading about generations of the same family where character is more important than action', so decided to take the plunge. BIG MISTAKE. I only finished, over a
At the heart, there is an interesting story, which kicks in towards the end, but there is a lot of introspective waffle about history and polite society to cut through first. And I didn't like any of the characters much either, which didn't help. Kitty, married to Ogden in the 1930s, was the worst - she is in charge of her young sons for precisely two minutes, asking the nanny to send them through to her after their bath, when she promptly lets the eldest boy fall out of an open window of their New York (high rise) apartment! No wonder the WASPs are dying off. Then after killing her son, to all intents, her husband buys a house and an island off the coast of Maine to help her recover. The house becomes the centre of the family - and the drama - for the next two generations. In the 50s, daughters Evelyn and Joan fight over which men they are allowed to marry - seriously - and surviving son Moss, who is a musician and 'sensitive' in the way of rich white men, courts an African American author named Reg, who scoffs at Moss' literary version of 'Ebony and Ivory'. New old blood is drawn into Milton family, who are all about 'the rules', and Reg and a Jewish guy are introduced to test the white characters with stereotypes. Granddaughter Evie - there seem to be about five Evelyns in the story, helpfully - tries desperately to hang onto the island and her family's decaying sense of pride in the modern day, or the 70s, I couldn't honestly tell. The timelines weave in and out in a way that confused even me.
I honestly loathed this book in places. Take the fight for the island house. Normally, I am 100% behind the character with a sense of history who wants to hold onto the past, against her mercenary relatives who want to sell for a profit, but this time I wanted one of Evie's cousins to burn the goddamned house to the ground. With her inside. Even when her mother's past is revealed, I didn't care. Let go! You're not royalty, nobody cares about your tatty house and grandmother's OCD! I couldn't even feel sorry for Moss, because he was so ridiculous.
The writing is also very clumsy and heavy-handed. There's a lot of 'Reg was black and Len was white, but together they were neither. Or rather, together they were both. They were each other’s shield' preschool exposition, which I resented. Yes, we get the point, thanks. Real people don't spend whole conversations discussing the nature of history and if lives can 'turn again', they just live them, which is what one minor character argues to Evie, ironically.
Anyway, I survived. Onwards!
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week later, because this is my hundredth book of the year and I didn't want another DNF.At the heart, there is an interesting story, which kicks in towards the end, but there is a lot of introspective waffle about history and polite society to cut through first. And I didn't like any of the characters much either, which didn't help. Kitty, married to Ogden in the 1930s, was the worst - she is in charge of her young sons for precisely two minutes, asking the nanny to send them through to her after their bath, when she promptly lets the eldest boy fall out of an open window of their New York (high rise) apartment! No wonder the WASPs are dying off. Then after killing her son, to all intents, her husband buys a house and an island off the coast of Maine to help her recover. The house becomes the centre of the family - and the drama - for the next two generations. In the 50s, daughters Evelyn and Joan fight over which men they are allowed to marry - seriously - and surviving son Moss, who is a musician and 'sensitive' in the way of rich white men, courts an African American author named Reg, who scoffs at Moss' literary version of 'Ebony and Ivory'. New old blood is drawn into Milton family, who are all about 'the rules', and Reg and a Jewish guy are introduced to test the white characters with stereotypes. Granddaughter Evie - there seem to be about five Evelyns in the story, helpfully - tries desperately to hang onto the island and her family's decaying sense of pride in the modern day, or the 70s, I couldn't honestly tell. The timelines weave in and out in a way that confused even me.
I honestly loathed this book in places. Take the fight for the island house. Normally, I am 100% behind the character with a sense of history who wants to hold onto the past, against her mercenary relatives who want to sell for a profit, but this time I wanted one of Evie's cousins to burn the goddamned house to the ground. With her inside. Even when her mother's past is revealed, I didn't care. Let go! You're not royalty, nobody cares about your tatty house and grandmother's OCD! I couldn't even feel sorry for Moss, because he was so ridiculous.
The writing is also very clumsy and heavy-handed. There's a lot of 'Reg was black and Len was white, but together they were neither. Or rather, together they were both. They were each other’s shield' preschool exposition, which I resented. Yes, we get the point, thanks. Real people don't spend whole conversations discussing the nature of history and if lives can 'turn again', they just live them, which is what one minor character argues to Evie, ironically.
Anyway, I survived. Onwards!
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Awards
National Jewish Book Award (Finalist — 2019)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Fiction — 2020)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019-05-07
Physical description
8.17 inches
ISBN
1250110270 / 9781250110275