The Maytrees by Annie Dillard - 3 stars (Subdue)

[Joy D]

The Maytrees by Annie Dillard - 3* - My Review

This is a multigenerational saga about the Maytree family, and is short (under 300 pages) considering it covers such a long time span. Dillard’s writing is beautifully poetic, and her descriptions of place are easily pictured, especially the scenes of sea, shore, swamps, sky, and stars. In one part, she captures a mother’s nostalgia for when her son was a young child, and the bond between the two is wonderfully portrayed. I loved the writing. If I were just rating this based on how it is written, it would be 5 stars.

Unfortunately, the storyline did not quite work for me. A man and woman fall in love, marry, and have a child. The man is a part-time poet. They live in Cape Cod and frequently interact with the Bohemian community of artists who live there. So far, so good. The issue is that it is difficult to understand their motivations. What happened to make their marriage fall apart? How is the wife able to get beyond her husband’s betrayal? She seems to take everything in stride and move forward as if nothing had happened. We are never privy to reasons for their actions. For a beautifully written book, I would expect it to be an emotional read, but I felt disconnected from the characters. I loved the writing but did not feel much for the characters.