Two novels by acclaimed writers give beach reading new meaning

Annie Dillard traces a marriage over the course of years while Ian McEwan examines a disasterous wedding night.

By Yvonne Zipp

from the June 5, 2007 edition

Page 1 of 2

This summer, two award-winning writers have taken the classification of "beach reading" rather literally. Man Booker Prize-winner Ian McEwan ("Amsterdam") and Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Dillard ("Pilgrim at Tinker Creek") have both just published short novels about seaside-set couples starting out in the middle of the 20th century. Both authors are writing about the importance of patience and forgiveness as well as love, and both write masterfully. But where Dillard's The Maytrees takes an expansive view of her characters' lives, McEwan chooses to dissect one disastrous day.

Lou Bigelow, bookworm and Ingrid Bergman look-alike, and Toby Maytree, a poet who picks up cash by remodeling and moving houses, have met and married on the shores of Cape Cod, where Toby has a shack his father built. "Twice a day behind their house the tide boarded the sand. Four times a year the seasons flopped over. Clams lived like this, but without so much reading."

In "The Maytrees," Dillard creates a beautiful sense of stillness as she details the unencumbered lives of Toby and Lou, which Dillard paints as idyllic when compared with most of our possession-clogged existences. "No phone, no light, no motorcar! Not a single luxury," as the TV theme song goes. But there is time for each other, their son, like-minded friends, and above all, words. When their son, Petie, is 14, Toby leaves Lou and Cape Cod for a mutual friend and life in Maine. Left behind, Lou spends years rooting out self-centered thoughts and teaching herself how to paint the sea. Dillard's interests in nature and poetry get equal time in "The Maytrees," and she writes in a spare style that evokes the peace of a Shaker chair.

There are a few problems with "The Maytrees," most of which hinge on plot movements. For example, the friend, Deary, abruptly shifts from a free spirit who sleeps on the beach wrapped in sailcloth to a woman who wears tweeds and pearls and requires a well-padded bank account. And there's an inexplicable silence of 20 years between Toby and Pete that's bridged over too easily. But the plot quibbles seem insignificant in the face of so much grace.

Page 1 | 2 | Next Page