The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

My only regret about reading The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff is that I was distracted by goings on in my non-reading life, so I am pretty sure there is a lot in this novel that I missed. It was so enjoyable, however, that I didn't allow myself time to flip back through sections I had sped through or to reacquaint myself with details after having let a day or two pass between readings. It's not that The Monsters of Templeton is overly dense, but the plot does have complications and mysteries that are better when savored with your full attention.

Basic plot line: Willie Upton has returned to her hometown of Templeton, New York, to nurse her wounds after a potentially career ending affair with her very married dissertation director. Willie has always seen Templeton--and her independent, hippie mother--as a safe haven from the rest of the world, and she believes that it is the only place she will be able to regroup and try to salvage her life. After all, Willie and her mother have deep roots in Templeton, as they belong to the family that founded the town during the time of the Revolution. But what Willie does not realize is that not all is as it seems in Templeton.

At the very moment of her arrival, impossibly enough, the body of a dead sea monster floats to the surface of the lake that borders the town. Her mother, Vi, who has always scoffed at religion, has become an evangelical Baptist and has decided that she must confess to Willie a secret that will change Willie's life. Willie's father is not, as she has always believed, a nameless man from Vi's freewheeling days at a hippie commune. He is a man who has always lived in Templeton; someone whom Willie has known all her life. Vi refuses to tell Willie who it is, though she does accidentally let slip one clue. An archaeologist by training, Willie pounces upon that vague clue and spends the summer alternately bemoaning her ruined life and trying to unravel the puzzle her mother has dropped in her lap. Knowing that there is some connection between her father's ancestors and her own gives Willie the direction she needs to start her search for the answer.

Fortunately for the reader, Willie's research makes up the majority of the novel, while the "bemoaning" part is offered by Groff as a nice way to develop many of the characters who share Willie's present. Willie's circumstances also offer an interesting parallel between the facts she digs up on her Templeton ancestors and the characteristics that appear to be family traits. The sections of the book that focus on Willie's search are written as journals, diaries, excerpts from letters, and, occasionally, are written from the perspective of ancestors Willie is researching. Though keeping track of the names of figures from Templeton's history can get somewhat confusing at times, the intrigues and scandals that surround them allow the reader to forgive Groff for being a little heavy handed at times.

I am impressed that The Monsters of Templeton is Lauren Groff's debut novel. She took on an ambitious project with this story, and the result is a yarn that is quite entertaining. It takes a great deal of skill to move from genre to genre within one novel while maintaining control over the big picture. Moving from a contemporary story to a Gothic tale to historical fiction to a brief flirtation with sci-fi and back again is a complex goal for a writer, and Groff accomplished it with aplomb. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

The Inevitable End of the Year Lists

Yes, this blog, too, will fall prey to the usual end of the year "Best of" list making. Why not? It's a venerable tradition, after all. The lists are in random order. It's a tough job to make these selections because there are only two books on this whole blog that I didn't thoroughly enjoy (Smoke by Denis Johnson and The Other by David Guterson), so consider these lists to show the best of the best.

My Favorite Reads of 2008 (not necessarily published in 2008, just read by me this year):

Cion by Zakes Mda

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje

Suite Francaise by I. Nemirovsky (this book has not been reviewed on this site)

This Book May Save Your Life by A.M. Holmes (this book has not been reviewed on this site)

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson


My Favorite Characters of 2008:

Toloki from Ways of Dying and Cion by Zakes Mda

Jane Charlotte from Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

Cal from Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides

Optimus Yarnspinner and the Booklings from The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

Death in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Alexander Perchov in Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Reverend John Ames in Gilead by Marilynne Robinson


My Favorite Non-Fiction book read in 2008

The Nine by Jeffery Toobin