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A review by kawai
The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson
4.0
The setting and major subject matter of this novel--affluent northeastern suburbs, the disintegrations of families living within them--is a well-worn topic, and one I'm not particularly interested in as a rule. However, whatever might be unappealing about the subject in broad strokes, Thompson more than makes up for it with excellent storytelling. As a writer, Thompson's narrative control, empathy, insight, and prose take what would otherwise be a book I'd have no interest in and turn it into something special.
The characters are living an upper-class life, commuting into NYC or prowling among the estates of Connecticut, flunking their way through prep schools. Doing drugs, of course, and engaging in justified infidelity. There aren't many happy moments in this book, lots to be sad about, lots of pain and loss and longing. And yet, somehow, perhaps because of the tone Thompson often strikes, you can't help but feel for everyone involved, however broken and flawed and incomplete they might be. And it's that empathy that left this reader somehow feeling lighter, when the book came to an end. It's quite an accomplishment.
The characters are living an upper-class life, commuting into NYC or prowling among the estates of Connecticut, flunking their way through prep schools. Doing drugs, of course, and engaging in justified infidelity. There aren't many happy moments in this book, lots to be sad about, lots of pain and loss and longing. And yet, somehow, perhaps because of the tone Thompson often strikes, you can't help but feel for everyone involved, however broken and flawed and incomplete they might be. And it's that empathy that left this reader somehow feeling lighter, when the book came to an end. It's quite an accomplishment.