海角大神

There鈥檚 an old Southern saying that 鈥淚f Mama ain鈥檛 happy, ain鈥檛 nobody happy.鈥� Ann Packer explores the fraught family dynamics behind that truism in her rueful, ambling new novel, The Children鈥檚 Crusade.

Penny Blair, California mom of four, really, truly is not happy. Her husband Bill, a gentle, older pediatrician whose watchword is 鈥淐hildren deserve care,鈥� is frankly baffled by his wife鈥檚 discontent. They have a lovely home in what will eventually become Silicon Valley and four healthy children. What more could she possibly want? In this case, the answer is one that is culturally unacceptable: Penny wants less: fewer responsibilities, fewer demands on her time 鈥� in fact, fewer children.

Robert, Rebecca, Ryan, and James circle their mom warily, at one point deciding to go on a quest to try to make her happy. (James not getting an 鈥淩鈥� name is just the first indication he鈥檚 been branded as the family misfit 鈥� something not lost on the youngest Blair.)

鈥淩ebecca liked it instantly. It had just the kind of purposeful sound she loved, the real, official sound of a job, instead of soft, ill-formed half-intention that so often led nowhere,鈥� Packer writes about the second Blair and only girl.

Naturally, of course, the Blair crusade falls into the latter category, and after a sincere, well-intentioned bout of brainstorming, this children鈥檚 crusade was abandoned. While as inevitably doomed as its 1212 namesake, at least these children make it out, scarred but alive. Penny, meanwhile, begins a slow withdrawal from the family, spending more and more time in her artist鈥檚 studio in the backyard before she eventually moves out there.

The bulk of the novel鈥檚 plot revolves around the question of what to do about the family home: Bill has died and the family has to decide what to do with their now incredibly valuable piece of Silicon Valley land, causing the children, even drifter James, to come together for the first time in years.

At this point, the damage mid-century moms inflicted on their offspring by not finding fulfillment in cookie-baking and dusting has become almost as clich茅 in literature as old Southern sayings.

鈥� 鈥榃e never get over it,鈥� she said to me during one of our first sessions together,鈥� Rebecca says of her therapist. 鈥� 鈥榃hat鈥檚 that?鈥� I said, and she said, 鈥楬aving started out as children.鈥� 鈥�

But Packer (鈥淭he Dive From Clausen鈥檚 Pier鈥�) has made complicated families her specialty, and her engaging writing, sense of place, and above all, the third Blair child, make 鈥淭he Children鈥檚 Crusade鈥� a journey worth taking.

Ryan Blair has an incredible sweetness and empathy that would make him seem the least able to handle the vagaries of life. Instead, bossy Robert and physically imposing James are the ones still reeling from their frankly conventional upbringing 鈥� Robert, because is sure he will never measure up to his father, and James, because he bore the brunt of their mother鈥檚 discontent in inventive and damaging ways.

Penny isn鈥檛 quite the villain of the piece, but Bill is so saintly and patient that there really isn鈥檛 any other role for her to occupy. (鈥淢y father, that holy ghost, intruded yet again,鈥� Robert thinks about Bill at one point.)

Packer is a sure-handed writer. While "The Children's Crusade" meanders on its way, Ryan Blair and his siblings are worth spending time with. And there are worse ways to live one's life than with the gentle certainty that 鈥淐hildren deserve care.鈥�