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Watching an accident unfold
A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY
By Lauren Grodstein
304 pp. Algonquin $23.95
Reviewed by Julie McGuire
The need to imagine a glorious future for our progeny before they’re even born is a hazard of parenthood-to-be. What expectant parents, always with the best interest of their child at heart, haven’t imagined their offspring as a great musician, talented athlete, or Nobel Peace Prize-winning scientist? Occasionally the dreams we create for our children are realized. Earl Woods wanted his child to be a great golfer. His son Tiger did not disappoint. More often, though, children forge their own paths, and we parents may feel just a twinge of disappointment. I’m saddened that neither of my sons is a big reader despite the countless hours I spent reading to them. And if my parents had their heart set on raising the next Einstein, they surely were devastated well before the end of my first-grade year when I first displayed signs of a lifelong ineptitude in math.
In A Friend of the Family Lauren Grodstein tells the story of Peter Dizinoff, who has imagined a bright future for his son, Alec. Peter is a successful physician with a flourishing practice. He’s married to Elaine, whom he loves. They have a large home in a beautiful suburb, and close friends—Joe and Iris—with whom they vacation and spend holidays. And they’ve got Alec, the son they spent years hoping for. They’ve chartered a trajectory for him that follows the American dream—academic success, a promising career, a happy family in a comfortable home. And Alec, despite some minor mishaps, hasn’t disappointed them, but now:
If Alec would listen to me now, I would tell him that I’ve always had his best interests at heart. But I would say it more convincingly than that; I’d try to get around the clichés. Other fathers, I know, they get over their sons—they experience some profound moment of disappointment, catch the kid whacking off in a bathroom, realize he’s been a shit to his mother, or just slowly lose the romance they once had with him...
Peter has put all his energy into building this idyllic family life. And he will protect it at any cost. When Alec—now a twenty-something young man teetering on the edge of failure—comes under the influence of Joe and Iris’s oldest daughter, Laura, Peter comes unglued. Laura is ten years older than Alec, and was acquitted of a shocking crime committed when she was seventeen. After years gallivanting around Europe, communing with artists, and finding herself, Laura has returned to the quiet New Jersey suburb, and she’s fallen for Alec. Peter has never forgiven her past, and will go to extreme measures to keep her out of his son’s life. What Peter does, and how it impacts his carefully constructed world is a haunting story, deftly told by Grodstein, who alternates between the past and the present, all the while building towards a catastrophic conclusion that may cost Peter everything. Maybe even his son.
Novels of dysfunctional families are a dime a dozen, and it can be difficult to find one that isn’t overly clichéd, or which has anything different to say. But Grodstein is an original voice, and A Friend in the Family is a fine read. The focus on a father-son relationship is almost unique, and Grodstein’s ability to give voice to a father’s fierce protectiveness is riveting. Reading the novel is a little bit like watching an accident unfold. We know the impact is inevitable, but hold out hope for a last-minute swerve that will avert disaster.
This novel is not an upper, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a pleasure to read. Peter’s story resonated with me. As a parent, I understood Peter’s desperation to protect his son. His idea of the world may be a little too black and white, but Grodstein is convincing in her portrayal of Peter’s steadfast adherence to his version of right and wrong. And what parents haven’t lost sight of life’s gray areas when it comes to their child? One of the novel’s considerable strengths is the portrayal of Peter’s introspection, which gives the novel uncharacteristic depth.
Grodstein’s ability to take the reader into the heart of life’s gray areas sets A Friend of the Family apart from the sea of overwrought psychodramas.
Julie McGuire, fiction editor of The Internet Review of Books, is a paralegal. Her personal essays and poems have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and several small periodicals. She and her family live in Virginia.
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