That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
Buy That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: General Fiction
Reviewer: Donna Wells
Summary: That Old Cape Magic is a wonderful, easy read, seeming as light and as breezy as its summer setting in Cape Cod.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 352	Date: August 2010
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 978-0099541844
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I can hand-on-heart recommend this book to you. That Old Cape Magic is a wonderful, easy read, seeming as light and as breezy as its summer setting in Cape Cod. It's only after you finish, that you realise Russo is pulling some major thematic punches. Once the sparkle and magic of the narrative has gone, you'll be left pondering some deeply philosophical questions about how we can achieve true happiness - is it in a memory or in a place? Or is it all down to our inescapable genetic inheritance?

Journeys are central to this story. We are transported several times to Cape Cod through Jack Griffin, who with all his faults, is as human as fictional characters come. Determined to be happier than his seemingly bitter parents, Jack and his wife Joy decide to re-live their honeymoon thirty-four years on with a visit to the Cape. Along the way, Jack is haunted by memories, some good, some bad, of his childhood holidays. In particular, he recollects the summer when he met the Brownings. The young Jack idolises this impossibly perfect family, and they offer a sharp contrast to his own fractured life.

The other side of the story is Jack's metaphorical journey. Russo forces us to question the accuracy and objectivity of memory, as Jack begins to realise that his parent's rocky relationship might not have been quite what it seemed. It's also apparent that the Brownings didn't go on to have quite the perfect life Jack imagines. Moreover, his belief that his parents are not interested in him is called into question. Nobody rings their son that many times a day if they're not interested! This forces us to question Jack's memory and because he's a screen writer, it also encourages us to question the objectivity of any author when narrating a tale - including Russo himself.

The old cliché of you don't realise what you've got 'til it's gone, could apply so well to Jack. It's only once he loses relationships that he start to realise their value. Indeed he carries his parents ashes throughout, not wanting to let go of what he's lost. Similarly, his own rocky relationship with his wife isn't fought for until very late on. Jack, will have you frustrated by his apparent inaction (inherited from his own father,) and his pining over the past but you can't help feeling sympathetic too. You'll still want a happy ending for him.

I'm not sure how he does it but Russo seems to make even the ridiculous seem believable. There's a spectacular pre-wedding scene which is so farcical, it would have me rolling my eyes usually, but it plays out well. I think it's because all the characters are so well developed (even the really annoying ones,) so you'll be hooked to the storytelling and won't be able to stop yourself laughing. That's the key to the success of this novel, the narrative just flows, and before you know it you'll be deeply involved, finding yourself heading back with Jack for a second wedding, a second urn and a whole echo that you can't quite escape, just like Jack.

I've never read anything by Richard Russo before but this book has definitely made me want to explore his other offerings, especially his Pulitzer Prize winning one Empire Falls. If it's anything like That Old Cape Magic I'll probably finish it in a few days but be left thinking about it for weeks!

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further reading suggestions:

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
Notes From An Exhibition by Patrick Gale
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

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