Literary Daydreaming

When I was younger and upset about something, my mother would sometimes encourage me to take the long view. Although she was talking about perspective, of course ‒ that, in a few days, whatever slight I felt wouldn’t matter so much ‒ my younger self took her words quite literally. I’d go stand outside on our apartment’s balcony and gaze out on the Wisconsin fields, where the neighboring farmer’s cows lumbered up to the crooked fence. Did my mother laugh to see me standing out there? I’ve no idea. She was probably just happy to get a break. But some days, seeing that wide, open space, those indolent cows, was enough to whisk away whatever was troubling me.  

And the importance of that long view – of noticing the places we inhabit – has stayed with me all these years.

On my bulletin board hangs an index card with the words scribbled, “TAKE ME THERE.” It serves as my daily reminder to include all those small yet telling details of daily life in my fiction. What does the kitchen floor feel like beneath a character’s feet? What’s the view out the window? How does the light hit the table? Is there a breeze coming in through the window? Those are the kinds of details I love because understanding a character means understanding her context, her circumstances. Without knowing where a character is situated, it’s difficult to stretch your arms fully around her.   

I suppose that’s why in my own writing, the setting presents itself just as surely as the characters do. For me, setting is a character, with as much personality and chutzpah as any human. Whether it’s a beach, a slice of Midwestern land, or a summer house on the Cape, location matters. 

The attributes of any particular locale ‒ like the thrum of waves licking the shore or the bright hot, shimmering sun – all conspire together to inform the larger narrative, the mood of the story. I realize that plenty of authors map out elaborate plots for their novels, but for me, plot is more of an organic process, unfolding and evolving as I write. It’s the setting and the characters who take up residence in my mind first. 

Likewise as a reader, I love nothing better than a book steeped in place. If, after reading the first few paragraphs, I’m firmly transported onto someone else’s front porch or into their backyard, I’m hooked. Jane Hamilton’s A Map of the World was one of the first books to underscore for me the importance of place, pulling me in, as it did, to the farms and fields of Wisconsin.

Pat Conroy’s The Prince of Tides is another novel brimming with place, the South Carolina tides and marshes marking the passage of time just as surely as a young boy’s birthdays. Then there’s the stark and lovely landscape of Kathleen Norris’s memoir, Dakota, or the small town of Holt, Colorado, in Kent Haruf’s Plainsong. We come to know and care about those places as much as we do about their varied and memorable protagonists.

With Memorial Day now upon us, I’ve been turning to those books that have a whiff of summertime to them, the descriptions so rich and plentiful that you can almost taste the sweet corn and watermelon, smell the suntan lotion on your skin.

Take Kristy Woodson Harvey’s Feels Like Falling, for instance, where “the cicadas sang in the tall sea oats, and the dunes in front of the beach club rolled like hills.” Or Jamie Brenner’s Summer Longing, whose main character, on a Provincetown-bound ferry, reflects: “Unlike so many small towns, closed and unknowable, Provincetown was a place that offered itself to you, unfurling like a beach blanket shaken out in the sun.” Who doesn’t long to be on that ferry right now, waiting to step ashore?

Thankfully, this season introduces a bumper crop of novels chockful of summertime goodness and escape. Reaching for a new Elin Hilderbrand or Nancy Thayer novel will transport you to Nantucket just as swiftly as the Hy-Line ferry. Devouring a Mary Kay Andrews novel will introduce you to the Florida Panhandle as easily as if you flew on JetBlue.

So, if I have one wish for all of us readers during this crazy, soul-trying time, it’s that we give ourselves a break with a good read, the kind that carries us off to another world and maybe helps us step onto a warm stretch of sand or a cool, green field. A place that will encourage us to do what my mother counseled me so many years ago to do: Pull up a chair and take the long view. You’ll almost certainly feel better. 

—

Wendy Francis is the author of four novels, including The Summer of Good Intentions, and most recently, Best Behavior, about a New England graduation where a blended, extended family gathers together for a madcap long weekend. A graduate of Harvard, she lives outside Boston with her husband and eleven-year-old son. 

 

Website: https://wendyfrancisauthor.com/

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BEST BEHAVIOR

A modern-day family gathers for a weekend to remember in a novel rich in both humor and heart…

“A delicious family drama; look no further for your perfect poolside read!”
—Jamie Brenner, bestselling author of The Forever Summer

Meredith Parker has made the journey to Bolton, her twins’ college, dozens of times. This weekend, though, is different. Dawn and Cody are about to graduate and move away to separate corners of the country. Meredith is proud of her kids, and she’s proud of herself for helping them get this far. She just never expected the tidal wave of emotions sweeping over her—or the tangled family dynamics complicating everything.

Meredith doesn’t miss her cheating ex, Roger, one bit, but sitting across from his very young, very gorgeous second wife threatens to unravel the graceful facade she’s trying so hard to maintain. Joel, Meredith’s husband, can see she’s feeling the first pangs of empty-nest syndrome and wants to soften the blow—but he’s distracted by a familiar face. Meanwhile, Cody and Dawn are sitting on their own secrets, and Roger’s new wife, Lily, wonders if she really wants to be a part of this wild, mixed-up family.

As tensions simmer with each passing appetizer tray, Meredith’s vision of the perfect weekend goes up in flames. But before the party’s over, as best behavior gives way to brutal honesty, there’ll be a chance for this new blended family to truly come together—in all its messy and glorious imperfection.

“A delightful, smartly paced read written with grace, depth and humor.”
—Meg Mitchell Moore, author of The Islanders

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