After Moondog

AFTER MOONDOG

by Jane Shapiro

 

Nomination: LA Times Finalist 1992

 

Date Read: August 27, 2021

 

Essentially, After Moondog is a divorce saga, detailing the implosion of a marriage and the attempts at putting a life back together after the life you thought you’d live vanishes. Moondog is met only once, on a New York street where Joanne is introduced to William, her future husband and a friend of Moondog.

 

While this novel is now 30 years old, the complexities and permanence of the relationship between Joanne and William still feels fresh and relevant. You realize that regardless of the bond through their kids, these two will be in each other’s lives forever and they will never stop loving each other, even though they probably should. Neither are very good at moving on and giving their heart to someone new.

 

After Moondog is primarily focused on Joanne’s point of view as she navigates her newly single life from raising teenagers with their dangerous forays into the world, to aging parents, to paying bills that she never had to before. And yet, she does figure it all out and she does manage to survive.

 

Through all of these life obstacles, William is never far from her thoughts or her reach. It becomes apparent that William is a permanent fixture in her life, running to Joanne’s side when she asks him to and still showing up for her when she doesn’t even ask. Due to their weaving in and out of each other’s lives, I always held out hope that they would find some way back to each other, although this never happens.

 

In the final chapters, we get a glimpse of their newlywed life, back when they were happy, playing at being grown-up and pretending to be suburban parents at a very young age. We see them in love, with all the promise of a future they are co-creating that never quite manifests. 

 

Shapiro clearly has a talent for painting vivid, relatable characters and a firm grasp on the intricacies of marriage and divorce. Overall, a solid effort. 

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