海角大神

Forget grumpy old men. I鈥檒l take a cranky old woman any day.聽

Any 鈥淥live Kitteridge鈥� fans longing for another cantankerous, tough-minded heroine, have I got a book for you.

Florence Gordon, Brian Morton鈥檚 fifth novel, stars a women鈥檚 rights activist working on her seventh book and trying to dodge her worshipful daughter-in-law and less-worshipful granddaughter, who are spending the summer in New York.聽

鈥淔lorence Gordon was trying to write a memoir, but she had two strikes against her: she was old and she was an intellectual. And who on earth, she sometimes wondered, would want to read a book about an old intellectual?鈥� the book opens.

鈥淢aybe it was three strikes, because not only was she an intellectual, she was a feminist. Which meant that if she managed to finish this book, reviewers would inevitably dismiss it as 鈥榮trident鈥� and 鈥榮hrill,鈥欌�� she thinks. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e an old feminist, anything you say, by definition, is strident and shrill.鈥�

By the novel鈥檚 third paragraph, I was ready to hug Florence 鈥� but that would just make her recoil in horror. (Many things make Florence recoil, such as, say, nature. She spent a week in the country once, the New Yorker recalls, 鈥渁nd it had been the most horrifying week of her life.鈥�)

鈥淧eople, Florence thought as she put on her shoes鈥� for what she thinks is an errand of mercy for a friend but is actually a misguided attempt to throw her a surprise party. 鈥淲hat do I need them for again?鈥�

However, Florence finds herself having to make room for at least a few people over the course of the summer.

First among them is Emily, her only granddaughter, whose name she gets wrong the first time they get together in New York. Janine, Emily鈥檚 mother, is completely distracted by the crush she has on her boss. Meanwhile, Emily鈥檚 dad, Daniel, a Seattle police officer taking his first extended break in 20 years, was just thinking they鈥檇 all have a nice summer together.

Florence has a low opinion of the young (of course, she has a low opinion of almost everybody), but she finds herself strangely interested in her teenaged granddaughter.

鈥淪he had always found it curious, the way that even sophisticated younger people liked to speak of 鈥榙estiny,鈥� liked to tell themselves that 鈥榯here鈥檚 a reason for everything.鈥� The way they married a quirky individuality with a passive acceptance of things as they are.鈥�

Florence has no time for passivity. She is determined to live life on her own terms, no matter the cost.

Emily is a vegan who reads 19^th -century novels such as 鈥淢iddlemarch鈥� and 鈥淭he Charterhouse of Parma鈥� (and 鈥淟ittle Women鈥� if she鈥檚 in need of comfort). At this point, the 19-year-old isn鈥檛 sure she even has a code.

鈥淲hat she thought she believed in was something she鈥檇 been thinking about since she鈥檇 read 鈥楳iddlemarch鈥�: the idea that each person is the center of a world,鈥� Emily thinks. 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 know what to do with it; she didn鈥檛 know where it led; but it kept coming back to her mind.鈥�

Florence, who is having some trouble with her hands and her left foot, grudgingly hires Emily to be her assistant 鈥� on a trial basis.

鈥淥ver the years, Florence had had many assistants, and the main thing she鈥檇 learned was that people were stunningly inept.鈥�

At first, Emily is miffed that her grandmother isn鈥檛 showering her efforts with praise. And appalled by Florence鈥檚 lack of even basic manners. Then there鈥檚 Florence鈥檚 penchant for lecturing strangers on the street. 鈥淥ne day she told a beggar to stand up straight and look people in the eye as he begged.鈥�

She then delivers this rousing takedown of a line-jumper, which deserves its own billboard: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 throw your trash on the street, you don鈥檛 serve yourself first, and you don鈥檛 cut in line. It鈥檚 called civilization."

As Emily starts reading some of the work Florence has her photocopy, she starts to value what Florence once called 鈥� 鈥榓 militant ethic of overcoming.鈥� The phrase, Emily thought, could have described Florence herself,鈥� Morton writes. 鈥淪he was always outraged, always indignant about something she鈥檇 read or heard or seen, yet there was something about her that was forever hopeful.鈥�

Emily is at first bemused by her iconoclastic grandmother, but the growing bond between the two is, along with Florence herself, the best thing about the novel. Eventually, she finds herself wanting to see what Florence will do next, rather than cringing in embarrassment 鈥� going so far as to follow Florence into the middle of a protest. 鈥淪he was curious about observing Florence in her natural habitat, the protest meeting.鈥�

Morton is a quietly confident writer, who imbues even throwaway lines of dialogue with crackling wit, and whose characters banter like actors in a screwball comedy.

Take Janine and Daniel on the late Christopher Hitchens: 鈥淐hristopher Hitchens doesn鈥檛 like girls.鈥�

鈥淗e likes girls. He just doesn鈥檛 think girls have a sense of humor.鈥�

鈥淚f you don鈥檛 think girls have a sense of humor, you don鈥檛 like girls.鈥�

Morton, without ever seeming to worry about it, is a terrific counterargument to those who claim that men can鈥檛 write believable female characters.

Readers uncomfortable with such things should take note that they will encounter a nasty medical diagnosis in this book. But otherwise, this is one of the most terrific novels you will encounter this fall.

With 鈥淔lorence Gordon,鈥� Morton has written a heartfelt paean to a 鈥済loriously difficult woman.鈥�