This book by Lauren Goff is part family history, part ode to a town and part self reflecting journey. Oh, and there is a monster named Glimmey who lived in Lake Glimmerglass.Willie Upton returns to Templeton, NY after an affair (with her professor) goes bad to unwind at her mother's home. Instead of finding peace in Templeton, Willie instead is faced with a tangled family history, finding her father, navigating old relationships and the death of Glimmey which casts a pall over the town for the whole summer.
The chapters alternate between Willie and her ancestors, the original founders of the town of Templeton.
The writing is rich, inventive and different from anything I've read lately. I was intrigued right from the beginning. In addition to the monster in the lake, there are also ghosts who show up in different parts. These elements are treated with the same respect as the rest of the characters, and are integrated nicely into the story.
Willie is a young woman who is trying to find her place in the world and is torn between the academic Willie and the small town girl who is safe at home. This appeal would be a good fit for many X/Y readers. I would recommend this to readers of contemporary fiction, but also interested in family saga type readings.
"Brilliantly incorporating accounts from generations of Templetonians—as well as characters borrowed from the works of James Fenimore Cooper, who named an upstate New York town Templeton in The Pioneers—Groff paints a rich picture of Willie's current predicaments and those of her ancestors. Readers will delight in Willie's sharp wit and Groff's creation of an entire world, complete with a lake monster and illegitimate children." -- Publishers Weekly
