The Catherine Wheel

THE CATHERINE WHEEL

by Jean Stafford

 

Nomination: National Book Finalist 1953

 

Date Read: May 5, 2021

 

Jean Stafford writes beautiful, flowing prose that creates more of a mood than the plot of a novel. Andrew, at 12 years old, feels left behind by the boy that used to be his friend. Yet, Andrew’s jealousy and regret feels more like love than simple friendship.

 

Meanwhile, his middle-aged cousin, Katherine, also suffers regret in the relationship she has with her ex-love, who is now married. Both Andrew and Katherine suffer in silence, convinced that the other knows what they hold deep in their hearts. And both determine that they are evil. The old adage that if you want to feed a thought, bury it; if you want to release it, give it open air seems to apply here. Both seem to fixate on their self-proclaimed evil nature, thereby giving those thoughts increasing power.

 

Katherine and Andrew live in privilege which provides them with enough time to ponder their boredom and nurture what amounts to escalating mental illness. What could have been a mutually supportive relationship is an opportunity missed and Andrew and Katherine live side-by-side, suffering in silence. If only they had reached out to one another, they perhaps could have surpassed their own suffering.

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