Book Thoughts: "The Truth According to Us" by Annie Barrows

The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a somewhat difficult book to review, as there were parts about the book that I absolutely loved, and other parts I wasn't too fond of. Before getting there, though, a general synopsis.

The book takes place in the 1930s in Macedonia, West Virginia. It begins when a Senator's daughter, Layla Beck, is cut off by her father for her refusal to agree to an arranged marriage, and so she ends up on "relief" as a writer for the WPA under Roosevelt's New Deal program, thanks to the fact that her uncle works for the WPA. She reluctantly takes the assignment to write the official town history of Macedonia. Despite Layla Beck's crucial role in setting the scene for the novel, and her prevalence throughout the story, this is really a story about the Romeyn family - Felix, a bootlegger who is charming but self-centered; his sister Jottie, the glue that holds the family (and the book) together; Felix's two girls, Willa (a primary focus throughout the book) and Bird; Felix's and Jottie's twin sisters, Mae and Minerva, and brother Emmett. The family, which used to own the primary factory in the town, is both funny and maddening, which makes it seem like a real family.

Jottie and Willa are the heart of the story. Jottie's sacrifices of her own desires and her true motherly love for her nieces is one engine that drives the story. The other is Willa, who is precocious and ferocious and determined to figure things out, particular whatever the adults are doing or saying or thinking.

Avoiding spoilers (which I always try to do with these reviews) makes it difficult to exactly explain what was dissatisfying about the book. But while the book is primarily a character examination of Jottie, Willa, and Felix (all the other characters, while useful to the story and sometimes humorous, are fairly superficial characters), there are certain past mysteries of the characters that is building throughout the novel to be revealed. Once it is revealed, the impact on the characters makes sense, and is believable. The revealed news is traumatic in many ways. Then, seemingly for no discernable reason, the event is resolved among the characters despite its traumatic nature, and while there is a slight adjustment in their positions relative to one another, not one fitting to the intensity of trauma. The answer given, seemingly from Willa, is fatalistic - there was really nothing anyone could do, so they should just accept and move on. Its practical in a way I guess, but certain characters lose a certain moral quality they had.

That said, its hard to argue too much with the book - it is the author's prerogative to resolve books and issues certain ways, and certainly this book's resolution makes great fodder for reflection and discussion. Any quibbles with the resolution can easily be reconciled due to powerfulness of character, particular Jottie and Willa, who feel a bit like relatives to the reader by the end of the book. Further, the writing is really good; eloquent without being wordy, meaningful while being easy to read.

All in all, definitely a worthy book to read.

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