It鈥檚 never to late to change one鈥檚 life
In 2018, at the age of 70, Anne Youngson published her first novel, 鈥淢eet Me at the Museum,鈥� and it was a charmer. Told through the correspondence between an English farmer鈥檚 wife and a widowed Danish museum curator, Youngson鈥檚 debut was a reminder that it鈥檚 never too late to change one鈥檚 life.聽
Her second novel, 鈥淭he Narrowboat Summer,鈥� is another heartening story about the possibility of striking out in a new direction at any age. It is also a soothing read, especially welcome in these anxious times.
In writing about women on the far side of 50 who rethink their lives, you might say that the Oxfordshire, England, author is preaching what she鈥檚 practiced. After retiring from a successful career as an executive at Land Rover, Youngson switched gears and became a writer, something she鈥檇 long wanted to do.聽
Although it shares themes with her first book, 鈥淭he Narrowboat Summer鈥� is a more ambitious and complex narrative. But unlike the shared archaeological interest that convincingly triggers the epistolary relationship in 鈥淢eet Me at the Museum,鈥� the machinations required to set 鈥淣arrowboat鈥� in motion are a stretch. Never mind. It鈥檚 worth suspending disbelief and hopping aboard for this pleasurable ride.
The novel gets off to a brisk start when two women, both in their 50s and at a crossroads in their lives, meet by chance on a towpath along the canal in Uxbridge, not far from London. Eve Warburton has just packed up her desk at the mostly male engineering firm from which she鈥檚 been let go after a long career as a planner. Heading towards Eve on the path is Sally Allsop, a classroom assistant and mother of two adult children who has recently informed her husband of 25 years that she wants to leave him. Why? Because she鈥檚 tired of his incessant, vapid chatter. What she needs, she says, is 鈥渟ilence and the chance to think鈥� 鈥� a sort of gap year to figure out what really suits her.
As the two strangers simultaneously approach a narrowboat moored by the path, they are alarmed by desperate yowls emanating from its cabin. They decide to intervene. No sooner have they liberated what turns out to be a dog, than the owner of the boat shows up. Anastasia, a sharp-tongued older woman, is glad they didn鈥檛 call the police. She invites them on board the spartanly furnished boat, the Number One, for a cup of tea, and abruptly spells out her situation. She鈥檚 facing onerous medical tests and treatments and can鈥檛 afford to stay moored in Uxbridge. Also, her floating home needs to get to a boatyard in Chester for repairs before its license can be renewed.
In other words, Anastasia needs a place to stay in Uxbridge, and 鈥渟omeone with nothing better to do for, let鈥檚 say, the next three or four months鈥� to skipper the Number One to Chester and back.聽
Most people, of course, would flee. But this is a novel about women at loose ends who are determined to open themselves up to new experiences. Within a few pages, Anastasia is installed in Eve鈥檚 flat, and after minimal training and preparations, Eve and Sally, who barely know each other, are off together 鈥� with the dog.
Following this precipitous start, "The Narrowboat Summer" bobs along at a gentle pace as Eve and Sally wend their way slowly northward across the roughly 300 miles between Uxbridge and Chester, never exceeding the canal鈥檚 4 mph speed limit. Their most arduous challenge is negotiating the numerous locks, sometimes working as many as 20 level changes in a single day.
Along the way, the two women navigate their differences, take turns cooking and steering, and play intense games of Scrabble. Eve is a forceful, competitive doer and a logical planner, while 鈥渘aturally nice鈥� Sally is more likely to go with the flow. Over the weeks and miles, they uncoil their thoughts about where they鈥檝e been and what they might do after their journey has ended.
In the meantime, we learn about England鈥檚 marvelous man-made waterways (which feature hauntingly in Michael Ondaatje鈥檚 2018 novel, 鈥淲arlight鈥�) and the people who have plied them over the years. Built to transport goods, albeit just 鈥渨ide enough to cope with a boat moving at the walking pace of a horse,鈥� the canals could not compete with later modes of transport such as railways, Youngson writes. But as their commercial use faded, they attracted pleasure-seekers 鈥� along with a mixed bag of drifters who chose to make their home on them.
Among the pleasures of this novel is the 鈥渇rame of tranquility鈥� through which Eve and Sally 鈥� and readers 鈥� view the passing countryside. Ornery Anastasia is another delight, acerbic and curt, yet ultimately admirable.
Youngson keeps tedium at bay with updates on Anastasia鈥檚 condition and a scruffy assortment of canal people they encounter along the way 鈥� including a captivating storyteller hooked on drugs, his teenage girlfriend who sells her fabulous knitwear designs to keep food on their table, and a mysterious, shifty old man who turns up periodically, in flight from his constrained life as an accountant. This motley crew evokes the unconventional floating community living on the Thames in Penelope Fitzgerald鈥檚 1979 Booker Prize-winning novel, 鈥淥ffshore,鈥� a probable inspiration for Youngson.
Like the locks, getting all the pieces to work together and carry this novel to its desired destination involves careful effort and engineering. The clank of narrative machinery is louder than one might wish at points, and Youngson鈥檚 vessel occasionally bumps up against the walls of the sentimental. But she lands her ending smoothly, and the result is lovely.
In addition to the Monitor, Heller McAlpin reviews books regularly for NPR and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
