By Jami Deise
Like most writers, people-watching is one of my favorite
hobbies, and I always find myself wondering about couples. The mismatched
couples are the most thought-provoking – one is gorgeous while the other is
just average; one is heavy while the other reed-thin; one is dressed to the
nines while the other is a slob. And then there are those where one (usually
the man) is near Social Security age, and the other (most often the woman) just
got her first real fulltime job. Unlike those other couples, two people with a
huge age gap between them will go through many different types of relationship
dynamics if they stay together long term. They may have started out with the
older partner dashing and confident; the younger one admiring and naïve; they
may spend some time as equals, but eventually the younger will be taking care
of the older.
In her novel The Rest
of Us, Jessica Lott explores the relationship between an older man –
Rhinehart -- and a younger woman – Terry -- at two different points in time. In
flashbacks, they are together as a 20-year-old college student and 41-year-old
poetry professor. She is 35 in current day as they are finding their way back
to each other. No longer a needy, emotional 20-year-old, can Terry make the
relationship work now that they are both adults?
The book opens with Rhinehart’s New York Times obituary. A Pulitzer-Prize winning poet, he earned a
long one from the Gray Lady, and Terry is drawn back into 15-year-old memories
when she reads it. But the obit was published in error, as Terry learns when
she bumps into Rhinehart in a department store. Overwhelmed with emotion, the
two have a tearful reunion, and Rhinehart invites Terry to a dinner party he
and his wife, Laura, are throwing.
Although Terry had been a promising young photographer when
they had been together, she no longer uses her camera to create art. Instead,
she is gainfully – if barely – employed in a portrait studio, making just
enough money to hang onto the Brooklyn apartment she once shared with Hallie,
who is now married and living in New Jersey. Hallie had been around during
Round 1 of Rhinehart and Terry’s relationship, and she warns her friend about
getting involved with him again. But soon Rhinehart calls Terry (he refers to
her as “Tatie”) and tells her that he and Laura have split, and would she like
to have dinner? Rhinehart has given up on poetry; his current obsession is with discovering his
roots in Ukraine. As the relationship progresses, Terry finds herself picking
up the camera once again. When Rhinehart visits Ukraine, Terry finds herself
connecting with Laura over her photography.
The Rest of Us is
a very well-written book, featuring characters who are concerned about art,
photography, genealogy, poetry and philosophy. It’s a literary work more preoccupied
with the protagonist’s interior life --
the relationship with Rhinehart, her photography – than plot points. As such, the
novel’s pacing is slow; perhaps too slow for readers who want a more active
read. But the descriptions are lyrical, and the sections where Terry describes
the process of photography are illuminating without seeming instructive. Although the student/professor dynamic of
their earlier relationship is mostly played out in the present tense, the novel
still has a collegiate feel due to its literary concerns.
Still, the most important job for a novel about
romance (even if it is not a traditional romance novel) is to create a love
interest that readers find appealing. Readers should see exactly what the
protagonist sees, and root for the two be
together. Personally, I did not find Rhinehart to be worth the investment Terry
makes in the relationship. While Terry grows on both a personal and
professional level throughout the novel, Rhinehart spends most of the book
self-centered and somewhat oblivious to Terry’s needs. But this is not
surprising, considering he is a character who became involved with a
20-year-old when he was in his 40s.
The book’s ending is not surprising for anyone who is
familiar with various art truisms. And it’s terribly abrupt, refusing to wrap
up an important subplot. But the book provides an important service for any
woman who once fantasized about dating her college English professor – an
in-depth look at what those kinds of relationships entail, and how they evolve.
Jami Deise recently moved to St. Petersburg, FL after living her whole life in Maryland.
After writing and trying to sell screenplays for the past ten years, she
recently completed and self-published her first novel,
Keeping Score (mom lit!). Now that her son Alex is
headed off to college, Jami will have plenty of time for reading, writing,
watching TV, and blogging (
http://jamideise.blogspot.com/). She’s on
Facebook and
Twitter.
