"Red Hook Road"

"Red Hook Road" (Doubleday, 2010) is a wonderful new novel by Ayelet Waldman. Yes, the same Ayelet Waldman who wrote "Bad Mother," which I posted about on 7/18/10; Waldman, also the author of a mystery series, is a very versatile writer. "Red Hook Road" begins with a tragedy: a young couple is killed in an automobile accident just an hour after their wedding in a small town in Maine. The rest of the novel tells the stories of the survivors: the families of the bride and groom, who have had an uneasy relationship in the past, and now struggle to find a way to co-exist, and to keep going. Waldman has a gift for portraying her complex, interesting, and often surprising characters. The mother of the bride and the mother of the groom are perhaps the most interesting, but the bride's sister and the groom's brother are also compelling, as they make major decisions about their lives, and gradually find some solace in each other. The bride's grandfather, an aging world-famous violinist, has his own story, and is a figure of dignity and hope. Another emblem of hope for the future is a young girl, an adopted cousin on the groom's side, who proves to have great musical talent, a talent which is nurtured by the bride's grandfather and mother. By the end of the book, several years after the terrible accident, events bring more loss but also hard-won reconciliation, peace, and even joy to the survivors. This novel is an example, to me, of a classic great novel: well-portrayed and varied characters that readers will care about, a compelling story including some side stories, a real sense of place, wonderful details, realism, reflections on social class and other issues, love, loss, hope, and more. Highly recommended.