A review by sarahmatthews
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

dark reflective sad slow-paced

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

Read in Braille

Pub. 1961, 355pp

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I thought I’d seen the Sam Mendes film of this novel years ago but from the beginning it didn’t feel familiar so I guess it could’ve been one of those Netflix DVDs back in the day that arrived, sat around for a bit, and got sent back unwatched! i’m so glad this was the case as I loved the book so much, partly because I knew nothing about it going in other than that it’s considered to be a modern American classic.

Frank and April Wheeler are a young New York couple who’ve moved out to the suburbs and are struggling to reconcile their cosy middle class family life with the idea they once had of what adult life should be - adventurous, carefree and always pushing the boundaries. Frank hates his conventional office life and April’s lonely and frustrated in her domestic daily routine of keeping the house and looking after their two children. This tension is explored to great effect.

For a book with a slow pace I found it perfectly plotted with great characters. None of them are wholly good or bad and none of them are particularly likeable which appealed to me. For example, at the beginning I thought Mrs Givings was going to be a comedically annoying character when she irritates Frank who’s feeling rather worse for wear after the big night of the play. He’s forced to open the front door to her, a woman “whose eyes expressed a religious belief in the importance of keeping busy. Even when she stood still there was kinetic energy in the set of her shoulders and the hang of her loose, angrily buttoned-up clothes”. I was relieved to see her story evolve so interestingly through the novel.

There’s a creeping sense of dread as you read which makes it captivating but there’s humour in there too, and it’s a beautifully written novel I’ll be thinking about for a long time. I now want to read more of Richard Yates’ writing and have heard great things about The Easter Parade.