A Summons To Memphis

 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS

By Peter Taylor

 

Award: Pulitzer Winner 1987

 

Nominations: LA Times Finalist 1987, National Book Finalist 1986, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 1986

 

Dates Read: July 22, 2007 & August 22, 2020

 

A Summons to Memphis does not have a hard-driving plot, nor does it have a tremendous amount of action. What it does have is a quietude so soft that it allows you to reimagine what life was like if it had been paused decades ago. Every passage harks back to a way of life that is almost unimaginable now.

 

The protagonist, Philip, explores how his life and those of his family were forever changed when they moved from Nashville to Memphis during his early teen years. This single event was a formidable experience for everyone involved and the family was never quite the same. While I was reading, it occurred to me that everyone must have been so delicate to have this event, neither comedy nor tragedy, the single inflection point for their fractious family existence. But as I write this now, it occurs to me that families have fallen apart for much less.

 

Philip is summoned by his spinster sisters, with too much propriety, too much greed and way too much time on their hands, to prevent their father from marrying a woman he has only known briefly. They are concerned about this woman taking what they believe to be their rightful inheritance. As with all things that come to light throughout, their malicious meddling ends the notion forever and they move back into their father’s house to keep an eye on him.

 

Throughout, my heart breaks for George. He has done right by his late wife and his children and he wants to have a little fun. Instead, he almost becomes like a prisoner to how his children feel he should behave in his later years. If my child ever tried to infringe on my freedom to make an ass of myself or make some really bad decisions, I would lose my mind. Nevertheless, these interferences allow George and Philip to forge a new, more honest connection that lasts for the remainder of George’s life. 

 

Love, love, loved this novel. Again!

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