May We Be Forgiven
by A.M. Homes
Award: Women's Prize Winner 2013
Nomination: Dublin Longlist 2014
Date Read: March 23, 2021
This dark, comedic novel has just about everything all crammed into one. From one absurdity to the next, I continually wondered if there was an actual point to all the shenanigans and characters that wandered through and Homes, I am so glad to say, pulled it off. Not only did she pull it off, but she created a new and more fulfilled family in the process.
At a family Thanksgiving, the entire Silver family is about to irreparably change. George, his wife Jane and their kids Nate and Ashley will come apart at the seems. Harold and his barely-there wife will come undone. And a precious boy, Ricardo, who is still trying to find out who he is will become orphaned. No one can see these events coming and yet no one is completely surprised.
George, the pater familias, is a violent and erratic soul, albeit who has found professional success. One fateful night, he causes a car accident that kills Ricardo’s entire family. While in the hospital for his injuries, he escapes, returns home and brains Jane with a lamp, who is in bed with his brother George. While their affair was ill-advised, both were seeking comfort from unfulfilling marriages.
George’s actions cause a cascade of changes through the lives of the kids. While at first aloof and going through the motions, George steps in as the Nate and Ashley’s, and eventually Ricardo’s, mother and father figure as Jane is dead and George in in a mental institution. While he acts compassionately and fulfills all the duties he’s supposed to, his heart doesn’t seem totally into it until it is.
Over time, they acquire full custody of Ricardo, the child left orphaned by George’s car accident and his girlfriend’s demented parents. Add in a dog, two cats and a house that needs to be maintained and George’s life looks nothing like it originally did. What some would consider a burden, George receives each new addition to his life as a gift and fully embraces each person’s uniqueness.
There are so many layers to this novel that it’s almost impossible to recall them all – George’s brief foray into internet sexual assignations, the Bar Mitzvah in South Africa, George’s book on Nixon and his attempts to publish the discovered Nixon fiction, and on and on.
While this is my first time reading Homes, I now consider myself a fan.
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