Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt; Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; © 2016; ISBN9781616-203634; 354 pages; $26.95
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – This is a story of two sisters and their “aunt” who are thrown together after the parents of the two sisters are killed in a car crash. When the younger sister, Lucy, is a teenager, she falls in love with her unconventional high school teacher, and they run off to what they believe will be an idyllic existence living alone together – just the two of them.
Lucy’s disappearance is devastating to her older sister, Charlotte, and to the “aunt” who became a mother by adopting both girls. Thereinafter, the novel follows Lucy’s life with William in rural Pennsylvania; Charlotte’s life as a student at Brandeis University (one of the few markers that identifies the novel as being about Jewish people). We also catch up with Iris’s life before she took in the girls, and follow her life as an empty nester.
All three women in this family deal with loneliness, albeit of different kinds. The paradise Lucy has dreamed about with William does not materialize. Because she is under age, and he could be arrested for kidnaping a minor, the couple keeps to a minimum their contact with third-parties who might ask too many questions. When William goes off to work, Lucy, in their little hidden home, grows increasingly hungry for human contact.
Charlotte had always been the shy girl, socially awkward although prettier than she ever realized. She had compensated for her lack of popularity in high school by being the smart kid, the one who could always pull down top grades. But at Brandeis, her courses are very hard, so hard she fears that she might fail. Her great solace is working as a paid intern at a veterinarian’s office.
The widow Iris had a kind husband, who had treated her wonderfully, but who was sexually incompatible with her. They were always pleasant to each other, but Iris never felt the joy of intimate love-making. After her husband died, she devoted herself to the girls who, at elementary school age, came into her life. Suddenly their mother, she put aside any thoughts of remarriage.
Despite their loneliness, Lucy, Charlotte and Iris love each other deeply, notwithstanding Lucy’s impetuous decision which has broken their family apart. As we watch Lucy grow increasingly unhappy, we see Charlotte doing whatever she can – putting up posters, making inquiries to the police – to somehow find Lucy. Meanwhile, as her daughters struggle with their lives, Iris must make adjustments in her own.
I found myself fascinated by each of the three characters brought to life by Leavitt, who has the gift of clear and compelling story telling. If you like novels examining relationships, this one is for you.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)