Power and Credibility

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Meg Wolitzer's acclaimed novel, 'The Interestings', is essentially a story about what life does to youthful ambitions. It has a large cast and covers decades, beginning with a group of teenagers who meet at a summer camp in 1974, following them through to adulthood, tracking their careers and relationships as it goes.

When the teenagers first meet, their main preoccupation is fitting in, while also being 'cool' - a timelessly difficult balancing act for insecure youngsters which Wolitzer captures perfectly. There is Ethan, intellectually sharp, physically unimpressive, but a gifted cartoonist; Cathy, who wants to be a dancer; Jules, an aspiring comic actress; and Jonah, a talented guitarist clearly burdened by having a seriously famous musical mother. At the core of the group are a pair of vibrantly attractive siblings, Ash and Goodman Wolf, who act as magnets for the other characters, and around whom the plot gradually unfolds.

One of the astonishing feats of the novel is the deft handling of so many narrative threads. Wolitzer moves the reader between them all, finding connections even as the characters' lives drift apart and never once making it feel clunky or leaving such a long gap that checking back was needed to remind yourself what was going on. Compromises, betrayals, crimes, thwarted hopes, soaring success, devastating failure - as the years edge by, all of these elements are encompassed by the choices and fates that engulf the band of friends. Big tests are faced and not always passed with flying colours: questions of where loyalty lies, of what love actually is, and what constitutes the living of a good and fulfilling life.

'The Interestings' is a hefty read, packed with detail - emotional and actual; Wolitzer is fearless in what she takes on. I found the novel constantly engrossing, while also full of credible surprises - much like life itself, which I am sure is the author's primary intention. Only the ending left me feeling slightly let down. It contained the faint hint of a cop-out. But then endings are the hardest things, and my disappointment was purely a reflection of the power and credibility of the story-telling that had gone before.





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