Years Of Grace

YEARS OF GRACE
by Margaret Ayer Barnes

Award: Pulitzer 1931

 Dates Read: October 22, 2012 & May 2, 2019

Years Of Grace is, in my mind, a meditation on commitment, marriage and the roads of possibility. As a young girl, Jane falls in love with Andre, going so far as to become engaged, much to her parents' dismay. They prevail in separating the two, banning all contact. Andre goes off to Paris to study sculpting and Jane goes off to Bryn Mawr. Later in the novel, you realize that had Andre stayed, he never would have become the accomplished and renowned sculptor he was destined to be, even if he grew cynical in his later years.

After coming home from Bryn Mawr, Jane meets and weds Stephen Carver. Stephen clearly falls in love with Jane, however, Jane never quite loses herself in Stephen the same way. She finally relents to his advances and marries him. Over time and children, love does inevitably grow. Without beginning from a place of passion and desire, though, the business of marriage is largely what their relationship becomes, leaving an opening for the arrival of Jimmy.

Jimmy is one of my favorite characters. He is purely driven by his own desires and creativity, his motto being "...to be present always at the focus where the greatest number of vital forces unite in the purest energy." I swear this is going to become my motto too. Jimmy is never successful in getting Jane to run away with him as Jane's sense of duty and obligation override her hearts' desire. I think readers realize that even their heat and passion at some point over the years, would have been supplanted by the ease and tenderness of lovers who have been together for a long time. 

Jane's daughter Cicily is an excellent opportunity to explore that road not taken by Jane. Cicily does throw over her husband to divorce and marry her friend and lover, Albert. I believe Jane realizes it's not as devastating as she had imagined it would be, yet Jane is still secure in her choice of remaining by Stephen's side.

Years Of Grace is one of my favorite novels of this early period. I admire and respect the way in which Barnes explores marriage, societal obligation and family duty. Through each of these characters, particularly the women, we are able to explore the varying degrees that love manifests in life, for the good and the regrettable.

Towards the end of the novel while Jane is in Paris reflecting in a taxi, she observes the towers of Notre Dame. I can't help but feel sad reading that passage as Notre Dame just burned last week. My heart still aches for the loss.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Gentleman In Moscow

Image
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2018, Goodreads Finalist 2016, Kirkus Finalist 2016   Date Read: February 24, 2017   From Kirkus Reviews:   “Sentenced to house arrest in Moscow's Metropol Hotel by a Bolshevik tribunal for writing a poem deemed to encourage revolt, Count Alexander Rostov nonetheless lives the fullest of lives, discovering the depths of his humanity.   Inside the elegant Metropol, located near the Kremlin and the Bolshoi, the Count slowly adjusts to circumstances as a "Former Person." He makes do with the attic room, to which he is banished after residing for years in a posh third-floor suite. A man of refined taste in wine, food, and literature, he strives to maintain a daily routine, exploring the nooks and crannies of the hotel, bonding with staff, accepting the advances of attractive women, and forming what proves to be a deeply meaningful relationship with a spirited young girl, Nina. "We are bound to find comfo
Read more

An Island

Image
AN ISLAND by Karen Jennings   Nomination: Booker Longlist 2021   Date Read: December 10, 2022   A short but mighty novel, An Island explores the concept of home, family, identity, the impact of political upheaval and the immigrant experience, when one’s suffering is so intense they move from one shitty country to the next. Samuel has finally found a peaceful home on an island somewhere off the coast of Africa. He was hired as a lighthouse keeper and after a tumultuous life, most of which was spent in prison as a political prisoner, he has carved out a life for himself on this island, enjoying a tranquil existence that basks in the quiet tasks of daily living.   Only after exploring Samuel’s life does the reader understand why such an isolated, spare and lonely existence satisfy him, with no desire to escape but only to grow deeper roots. His life witnessed the end of the British occupation, the installation of a brutal dictator and yet another dictator after the first was poisoned. Sam
Read more

The Changeling

Image
THE CHANGELING by Victor LaValle   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2019, LA Times Finalist 2017, PEN/Jean Stein Finalist 2018   Date Read: July 21, 2024   From Kirkus Reviews: “A  tragedy thrusts a mourning father into peculiar, otherworldly corners of New York City. When Apollo and Emma have their baby, Brian, it feels like both reward and challenge for the new dad. Apollo, the son of a single mother, had been scraping by as a bookseller who hunts estate and garage sales for rare first editions, so even the unusual circumstance of Brian's birth (in a stalled subway train) seems like a blessing, as does the way Apollo stumbles across a first edition of  To Kill a Mockingbird  (inscribed by Harper Lee to Truman Capote, no less) shortly after. But after some young-parent squabbles and inexplicable images on their smartphones foreshadow trouble, the story turns nightmarish: Apollo finds himself tied up and beaten by Emma, then forced to listen to the sounds of Brian’s murder. LaValle has
Read more