Eyes in Front When Running, by Willow Kean
This recent release by local writer Willow Kean is a funny, heartfelt, devastating and hopeful look at a moment of life transition — specifically, the moment in your thirties when all your friends have had, or are having, babies, and people (especially parents and in-laws) are looking at you wondering either subtly or not-subtly if you’ll be next.
Cleo, the main character of this novel, is unsure whether she wants kids, but her longtime boyfriend Jamie is very into the idea and puts some pressure on her to “start trying.” Meanwhile, Jamie’s family is more than a little into the idea, and are quite overt about poking their noses into Cleo’s reproductive business. When things come to a crisis point, Cleo has to evaluate what really matters most to her — and she is confronted with life’s tendency to throw unexpected curve balls that we all have to handle as best we can.
What this brief plot summary doesn’t capture is how witty, thoughtful, and carefully observed this novel is. The small details of life — relationships in your thirties, long-standing friendships, dinner with the in-laws, the geography of downtown St. John’s — are rendered in vivid detail. The minor characters are great, well-rounded and memorable. I’ve said the novel is “witty” but there are also places where, despite the often-serious subject matter, it’s just laugh-out-loud funny. For example, a memorable set-piece in which a young family is bullied by devout Catholic grandparents into dragging their toddler through a baptismal service in church captures the frustration and unintentional hilarity of such moments better than anything I’ve ever read. While this novel was already on my to-read list from the little I knew about it, I was convinced to run out and buy the book after hearing Kean read two short excerpts from it at Sparks Literary Festival, excerpts in which Cleo’s wry, observant, self-deprecating voice leaped off the page and made me want to read the rest.
Eyes in Front When Running is a beautiful example of the kind of literary fiction that can be full of beautiful writing and exquisitely realized moments, while still being vivid, character-driven, and just plain funny — even when the laughter is the kind that is filtered through tears. I highly recommend this novel.
