I also questioned numerous times whether Ogden and Kitty's children ever knew of the existence of Neddy. I am more convinced now that the author intended unstated relationship undercurrents within the story line to underscore family members "blank spots" in their family history. There are pockets of history that are not directly visible that would explain many human interactions if the "whole story" was known to an individual. I was frustrated with this aspect while reading this lengthy saga, but after finishing the novel I am processing the story and understanding this is often how history in a family or group of people (work groups, friend groups, etc.) exists. Moss and Reg, Ogden and Elsa, and Joan and Fenno.
The author seemed to often leave various underlying relationship developments vague throughout the book.
That was the impression I got from the wording of Reg and Moss' interactions. The author seemed to often leave various underlying relationship de …more Yes. Brimming with gorgeous writing and bitterly accurate social criticism, it is a literary tour de force.more When Kitty’s granddaughter hears that she and her cousins might be forced to sell it, and when her husband brings back disturbing evidence about her grandfather’s past, she realizes she is on the verge of finally understanding the silences that seemed to hover just below the surface of her family all her life.Īn ambitious novel that weaves the American past with its present, The Guest Book looks at the racism and power that has been systemically embedded in the US for generations. Len’s best friend Reg Pauling has always been the only black man in the room-at Harvard, at work, and finally at the Miltons’ island in Maine.Īn island that, at the dawn of the 21st century, this last generation doesn’t have the money to keep. In 1959 a young Jewish man, Len Levy, will get a job in Ogden’s bank and earn the admiration of Ogden and one of his daughters, but the scorn of everyone else. And it is there that Kitty issues a refusal that will haunt her till the day she dies. That island, and its house, come to define and burnish the Milton family, year after year after year. But after a tragedy befalls them, Ogden tries to bring Kitty back to life by purchasing an island in Maine. Kitty and Ogden Milton appear to have everything-perfect children, good looks, a love everyone envies.
The Guest Book follows three generations of a powerful American family, a family that “used to run the world”.Īnd when the novel begins in 1935, they still do. And when the novel begins in 1935, they stil An unforgettable love story, a novel about past mistakes and betrayals that ripple throughout generations, The Guest Book examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America. The Guest Book follows three generations of a powerful American family, a family that “used to run the world”. An unforgettable love story, a novel about past mistakes and betrayals that ripple throughout generations, The Guest Book examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America.
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