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Commonwealth Avenue: A Novel
An extraordinary diary has been hidden for decades in a one-hundred-year-old mansion on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Augusta Hillyard began that diary on her wedding night in 1881. Over the years, she recorded the most intimate details of her life of comfort and privilege as well as the declining fortunes that ultimately threaten to destroy her family.
As the story opens, Augusta's great-granddaughter, Zoe Hillyard, a Hollywood production designer, reluctantly returns to Boston after a long absence. Excerpts from the diary are interwoven with Zoe's own story until, in an unexpected and dramatic climax, Zoe herself discovers the hidden cache of Augusta's writings. The women's goals merge as the secrets of Augusta's past become the means by which Zoe rescues not only the Hillyard family but her own happiness as well.
As the story opens, Augusta's great-granddaughter, Zoe Hillyard, a Hollywood production designer, reluctantly returns to Boston after a long absence. Excerpts from the diary are interwoven with Zoe's own story until, in an unexpected and dramatic climax, Zoe herself discovers the hidden cache of Augusta's writings. The women's goals merge as the secrets of Augusta's past become the means by which Zoe rescues not only the Hillyard family but her own happiness as well.
420 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 20, 2019
Zoe & Arthur Hilliard are raised by their [snobbish] great-Aunt, Annabelle, in their upper class Boston neighborhood, with "Grandmere" locked in her bedroom. Strange indeed. When Zoe leaves home to live a bohemian life, she doesn't look back and loses all contact with her brother who had been her closest friend. After traveling the world, she lands in Hollywood where she will do anything to get a movie contract to do production design. She has a devoted lover, Roger but it feels like Zoe lacks the capacity to love him back.
The Hilliards seem to have been well off for generations, with little "work". Their lives were full of social events. Grandmere's diary tells another story of her aspirations to be immersed in art. Her husband Hugh has no interest in art, and becomes enraged when he sees the self portrait she had done by John Sargent, who became enthralled with her after meeting her at a friend's home.
Poor Arthur never seems to find his legs in that he remains at home, now becoming caregiver for the ungrateful Annabelle, who demands junk food & high-priced soap that they can no longer afford. Arthur persists with his music although it does not afford him a reasonable income & the family fortunes are long gone. He avoids the petitions of his lender & fears losing the family home. But, somehow, it is hard to feel sympathy for him.
When Annabelle falls from a stroke & is at death's door, cousin Claudia calls Zoe to beg her to come "home". Zoe arrives to find Arthur in a mess, with the house falling down around him, debts he cannot pay & the unrealistic expectation that Annabelle will come home & resume life as it was. He's obviously incapable of rational thought and it doesn't help that he keeps so much a secret, thinking Zoe will "hate" him if she knows the truth that Grandmere willed the house to HER, that he has been selling items from the house for cash & has in fact mortgaged her house through an unscrupulous loan shark [to whom he paid a $5k fee] When Annabelle dies, it is almost a relief. Claudia & Zoe with Uncle Jim's help, decide to have an open house for mourners & set about cleaning up the joint. They also plan to confront the loan shark, assuming he will show up to publicly shame Arthur for his unpaid debts. This is all happening while Zoe's demanding movie producer/director is expecting her to be at his meetings in Hollywood, planning their Oscar material film, "The Gilded Affair". Grandmere's house is the ideal setting for that film so Zoe sends her sketches for many scenes based on what she sees in Grandmere's house, cementing her role as set designer for the film. She realizes she needs her lover's support & asks Roger to come to Boston to be with her for the funeral & open house, which he readily agrees to do as he will do anything for Zoe, including lending her the money to pay for that funeral.
IMO, Zoe is shallow and not a practical problem solver......which her cousin Claudia is. She has the good fortune to be loved by this small family despite not having seen any of them for 10 yrs. I could not find a way to feel sorry for Arthur given his poor decision making [like his predecessors who lost so much of the family fortune]...what a sad sack. We never learn how their parents died, but that they lived with Grandmere & Annabelle as children: Grandmere adored Zoe and Annabelle came to adore Arthur.
Grandmere's diaries are rich in their descriptions of the people in her life, the cottage on Nahant they once owned & where they spent their summers, the beauty around her and especially the friendships of a few women who were near & dear to her. Her husband was a cad who used her family's $$$ to buy her diamond earrings from Tiffany's for their 25th anniv. Her son Anthony was a greedy bastard who thought he could make just one deal & be wealthy again...such a fool. Only by reading the diaries do we learn that she sold the diamond earrings back to Tiffany's for the $$ she needed to repair the plumbing & pay the cook and housekeeper, who were like family to her. It was only after her husband died that she learned that he & her brother Alex has pissed away ALL of their family's $$$ !! She is enraged & hurt [as clearly Anthony is not going to provide for her & his sisters, Annabelle & Hortense.]
The book is a clever mix of life of the entitled in Boston during "the gilded age" interspersed with the lives of their descendants, one who is designing the sets for a Hollywood film, "The Gilded Age".
The Hilliards seem to have been well off for generations, with little "work". Their lives were full of social events. Grandmere's diary tells another story of her aspirations to be immersed in art. Her husband Hugh has no interest in art, and becomes enraged when he sees the self portrait she had done by John Sargent, who became enthralled with her after meeting her at a friend's home.
Poor Arthur never seems to find his legs in that he remains at home, now becoming caregiver for the ungrateful Annabelle, who demands junk food & high-priced soap that they can no longer afford. Arthur persists with his music although it does not afford him a reasonable income & the family fortunes are long gone. He avoids the petitions of his lender & fears losing the family home. But, somehow, it is hard to feel sympathy for him.
When Annabelle falls from a stroke & is at death's door, cousin Claudia calls Zoe to beg her to come "home". Zoe arrives to find Arthur in a mess, with the house falling down around him, debts he cannot pay & the unrealistic expectation that Annabelle will come home & resume life as it was. He's obviously incapable of rational thought and it doesn't help that he keeps so much a secret, thinking Zoe will "hate" him if she knows the truth that Grandmere willed the house to HER, that he has been selling items from the house for cash & has in fact mortgaged her house through an unscrupulous loan shark [to whom he paid a $5k fee] When Annabelle dies, it is almost a relief. Claudia & Zoe with Uncle Jim's help, decide to have an open house for mourners & set about cleaning up the joint. They also plan to confront the loan shark, assuming he will show up to publicly shame Arthur for his unpaid debts. This is all happening while Zoe's demanding movie producer/director is expecting her to be at his meetings in Hollywood, planning their Oscar material film, "The Gilded Affair". Grandmere's house is the ideal setting for that film so Zoe sends her sketches for many scenes based on what she sees in Grandmere's house, cementing her role as set designer for the film. She realizes she needs her lover's support & asks Roger to come to Boston to be with her for the funeral & open house, which he readily agrees to do as he will do anything for Zoe, including lending her the money to pay for that funeral.
IMO, Zoe is shallow and not a practical problem solver......which her cousin Claudia is. She has the good fortune to be loved by this small family despite not having seen any of them for 10 yrs. I could not find a way to feel sorry for Arthur given his poor decision making [like his predecessors who lost so much of the family fortune]...what a sad sack. We never learn how their parents died, but that they lived with Grandmere & Annabelle as children: Grandmere adored Zoe and Annabelle came to adore Arthur.
Grandmere's diaries are rich in their descriptions of the people in her life, the cottage on Nahant they once owned & where they spent their summers, the beauty around her and especially the friendships of a few women who were near & dear to her. Her husband was a cad who used her family's $$$ to buy her diamond earrings from Tiffany's for their 25th anniv. Her son Anthony was a greedy bastard who thought he could make just one deal & be wealthy again...such a fool. Only by reading the diaries do we learn that she sold the diamond earrings back to Tiffany's for the $$ she needed to repair the plumbing & pay the cook and housekeeper, who were like family to her. It was only after her husband died that she learned that he & her brother Alex has pissed away ALL of their family's $$$ !! She is enraged & hurt [as clearly Anthony is not going to provide for her & his sisters, Annabelle & Hortense.]
The book is a clever mix of life of the entitled in Boston during "the gilded age" interspersed with the lives of their descendants, one who is designing the sets for a Hollywood film, "The Gilded Age".
August 31, 2021
The best parts of this book are Augusta's diary. Zoe's movie characters and set designs were so boring and irrelevant. The use of "dear", "honey" and "sweetheart" all throughout was sickening and not something northerners usually say, this did not take place in the south after all but Boston. Arthur is an annoying character so flawed by his weakness and ineptitude that I not only did not find him an endearing brother but someone who seemed to ruin everything with his stupidity.
July 17, 2018
Cozy and local
I wanted to read this because of my 3 years on Comm Ave in the early 70s. The historical details, the changing fortunes of the family and the personality of the youngest member, returning after years in Europe and LA, made this an interesting and comfortable read.
I wanted to read this because of my 3 years on Comm Ave in the early 70s. The historical details, the changing fortunes of the family and the personality of the youngest member, returning after years in Europe and LA, made this an interesting and comfortable read.
March 6, 2010
The novel tells the story of two women growing up decades apart. Beginning in 1902, Grandmere's story is told through her journals. She reveals frustration and anguish that her beloved husband and brother are endangering her rich inheritance by through unsound, unethical financial schemes, not unlike those we are currently suffering from. Ironically, Grandmere's father had thought it inappropriate for a woman to have control of her money. The men do not even discuss financial issues with her, so she is left to sense stress in their demeanors. Meanwhile, she tries to preserve the family ties and the family home. Even her sexuality is constrained as her husband believes it is unseemly for a woman to initiate sex because a "proper" woman only endured sex and did not enjoy it. Grandmere is left being viewed as "reserved." Decades later, her granddaughter Zoe lives in an age that offers greater freedom for women ( my commentary, not the book's- the author respects the reader and trusts her story). Zoe almost single mindedly pursues her dream career, has largely turned her back on her family, and is involved in a close relationship with a good man who supports her dreams and loves her and wants to marry her, while she seems to be having trouble taking the risk of even saying that she loves him.
I marked two passages: Pg 232 - "Frances had all of the superficial advantages but nothing of the inner fire that makes it possible to live. And what can kindle such a blaze? Possibly the feeling that one is loved, if only by oneself.... Mere fondness is never enough, I think--only consuming passion gives humanity." "Pg.266 " One likes to think that there is more to come- that's one line has not died out. Perhaps it is the triumph of hope over experience....there are sure to be new leaves, new lives, new reasons for joy..."
I marked two passages: Pg 232 - "Frances had all of the superficial advantages but nothing of the inner fire that makes it possible to live. And what can kindle such a blaze? Possibly the feeling that one is loved, if only by oneself.... Mere fondness is never enough, I think--only consuming passion gives humanity." "Pg.266 " One likes to think that there is more to come- that's one line has not died out. Perhaps it is the triumph of hope over experience....there are sure to be new leaves, new lives, new reasons for joy..."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2014
I read this book many years ago while on vacation,and if it wasn't for the lovely scenery distracting me and calling me to explore the Greek island of Crete I wouldn't have put it down for a minute. I like Linda Nevins' style and how she elegantly blends the voice of two women from the same family but from different generations. It's on my list to re-read!
September 24, 2014
Wonderful. The attention to detail which bogged down Renaissance Moon works beautifully here as production designer Zoe Hillyard uses a Commonwealth Avenue mansion as inspiration for a movie set in the Gilded Age.
April 29, 2016
Very enjoyable family saga spans four generations, but focuses mainly on the family matriarch and her influence through her diary, kept over fifty years, on her great-grand-daughter.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews