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Some authors simply do not have the talent to read their own books aloud.  This is not the case for Richard Russo.  Having attended a reading and signing of The Kings English Bookshop in the fall, I could not get his voice out of my head while reading his latest novel,  That Old Cape Magic. This was not a bad thing.  Richard Russo is a storyteller at heart and he performed brilliantly.  I would have liked to have sat and listen to him read his book all night long.  I loved Empire Falls when I read it years ago and that story has always stuck with me.  Could Richard Russo charm me twice?  Yes.  Yes, he can.

But what can I tell you about this novel besides the “Go read this book.  I really liked it!” spill?  Apparently not much because I’ve been sitting here for fifteen minutes just reminiscing over Russo’s characters and the introspective storyline only to discover that I’m not actually typing anything out.  I don’t often resort to the publisher’s synopsis’s but in this case, it’s a fine one indeed:

Griffin has been tooling around for nearly a year with his father’s ashes in the trunk, but his mother is very much alive and not shy about calling on his cell phone. She does so as he drives down to Cape Cod, where he and his wife, Joy, will celebrate the marriage of their daughter Laura’s best friend. For Griffin this is akin to driving into the past, since he took his childhood summer vacations here, his parents’ respite from the hated Midwest. And the Cape is where he and Joy honeymooned, in the course of which they drafted the Great Truro Accord, a plan for their lives together that’s now thirty years old and has largely come true. He’d left screenwriting and Los Angeles behind for the sort of New England college his snobby academic parents had always aspired to in vain; they’d moved into an old house full of character; and they’d started a family. Check, check and check.

But be careful what you pray for, especially if you manage to achieve it. By the end of this perfectly lovely weekend, the past has so thoroughly swamped the present that the future suddenly hangs in the balance. And when, a year later, a far more important wedding takes place, their beloved Laura’s, on the coast of Maine, Griffin’s chauffeuring two urns of ashes as he contends once more with Joy and her large, unruly family, and both he and she have brought dates along. How in the world could this have happened?

Griffen is a character that I didn’t easily forget as Russo dived deep into his thoughts and character habits.  What looks seemingly like a fantastic life, Griffen is very much discontented.  As a child, the only time he saw his parents happy was when they vacationed on the Cape. But those moments weren’t often enough and the disintegration of his parents marriage has Griffen continually questioning his.  Griffen is facing a classic mid-life crisis.  And if that’s not enough, it’s a mid-life crisis where he can not keep his mother’s voice out of his head. It’s this moment in his life where the culmination of his past will intersect with his future which will take him on a journey far different than he had originally planned.

That Old Cape Magic is a beautiful story of family, marriage, self-discovery, reflection, and intimacy.  The characters are extremely flawed and Russo portrays them with compassion.  This is a character study novel that Russo has pulled off brilliantly.  I loved it and Russo continues to be a favorite author.  Must get a move on and read his entire backlist.

Links of interest:  More book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Fiction
Publisher: Knopf.  August 4, 2009.
Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN 0375414967
Source copy: Review Copy
That Old Cape Magic is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
Keep in mind that this book does have more language in it than I normally read for those who appreciate knowing this.

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