Saturday, October 01, 2016

Road Ends by Mary Lawson

Mary Lawson brings to life small town Ontario in much the same fashion as does Alice Munro.

Megan is the second child and only daughter in a large family of boys. It is taken for granted that she’ll remain home to support her Mother. When she announces at the Dinner table her intention to leave home at 21 her brothers are more interested in their stomachs and when the meal will be served than in her imminent departure and how it will affect their future.

The horde’s mother seems to make having babies her principal domestic accomplishment. The clan’s father, Edward, a banker, beyond planting the seed is a disinterested parent who does not even set at table with his brood to partake of meals. These parents are not overtly abusive but their neglect amounts to the same thing illustrating how bad parenting is a multi-generational syndrome.

The focus shifts between Edward, the father; Tom, the eldest whose best friend Rob, the minister’s son committed suicide; and Megan in London, England. Her descriptions of London bring back memories of my once in a lifetime BOAC London Show Tour. Standing outside a pub Dickens frequented, Picadilly Circus, Oxford St, London Cabs and Double Decker Buses. The Underground. Through talking about his mother’s diary and reading entire portions Edward takes the tale to three-generations.

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