Run

Summary (from the publisher): Since their mother's death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe.

 

Review: On the surface, this novel seems to have a relatively straightforward plot. The former Mayor of Boston has been raising his two sons by himself since his's wife's death. Until one night a car wreck in the middle of a snowstorm threatens the safety of the family. Yet once I began reading this novel, it became increasingly complicated. Bernard Doyle actually has three sons, one biological and two adopted black sons.  When the car inadvertently tries to plow his son Tip down, it is his biological mother that shoves Tip out of the way. It turns out that his biological mother Tennessee has been following her boys around Boston their whole lives, with their younger sister Kenya in tow. From a distance, Tennessee and Kenya have followed the Doyles' lives, loved them from afar, and lived vicariously through the Doyles' wealthy lifestyle.

 

In many ways, this novel is about family. How we define it, who we include, and how we respond when our notion of family is questioned. For years, Tip and Teddy have lived with the memory of the missing mother, but it was their deceased adopted mother, Bernadette they dreamed about, not their biological mother. Their father became their guiding principle and sole parent. Yet with Tennesse's appearance, the question of their mother again rises to prominence. The novel opens with a statue that has been passed down through Bernadette's family through the maternal line. Yet Bernadette leaves no daughters to inherit the statue. In many ways, the appearance of Kenya completes the family circle. She is the daughter Bernadette never met. She is the sister that Sullivan, Tip, and Teddy never knew they had. For a family that is intent on continuing the political aspirations of the father, this family turns out to be dominated by the matriarchal line, twisted and convoluted though that line may be, connected not solely by blood but by a more nebulous definition of family.

 

This is also a novel about politics. Tip and Teddy were raised with a strong emphasis on their civic duty and how they would give back. In her own way, by trailing in their shadow, Kenya has been raised with a similar set of guidelines. In confronting Kenya, the family must consider the fine line that Tip and Teddy live. They easily could have grown up in poverty, yet instead were raised in wealth and ease. This point strikes close to home when Doyle takes Kenya home to her tiny apartment; "Doyle was glad he'd left the boys at home. He did not want to see them here. He did not want to picture them sitting on the too soft sofa, their too long legs pressing the edges of the coffee table" (188).

 

The plot of this was improbable enough, but the detail that really didn't work for me was the disclosure that Tennessee was actually originally named Beverly, but had taken on her good friend Tennessee's identity and daughter at her death. Perhaps this is just yet another element to force the reader to ponder the question of who is family, but it was an odd detail, and revealed through a sort of supernatural dream of Tennessee's as she is waking up from surgery.

 

I've long been a fan of Patchett's writing. She has a grace and eloquence to her writing that is unlike anyone else. The plot of this novel is odd and unlikely. It covers little ground, just a mere 24 hours. Yet her fluid narration make the story. Patchett slowly reveals her characters and gives them a depth and gravity and individuality that bring them to life. This is a thoughtful and quietly thrilling novel.

 

Stars: 4