Dept. Of Speculation
by Jenny Offill
Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2016, LA Times Finalist 2014, NY Times Finalist 2014, PEN/Faulkner Finalist 2015, Rathbones Folio Finalist 2015
Read: August 15, 2022
In a strange way, the Dept. Of Speculation reminds me of Chemistry in that both novels offer insight and prose in brief observations and vignettes that are pointed and brief. Their brevity releases a kind of insight that perhaps a longer sentence structure might hide. In short, every word matters.
The love letters the husband and wife used to send to each other would always be postmarked “from” the Dept. Of Speculation. Both were well aware that the future was uncertain and their love might not last the test of time. And to that point, the husband has an affair and rather than cut and run, they both stick around to see what’s beyond that betrayal. Is there anything there worth saving?
They have a daughter who understands that their family life is frayed. She heartbreakingly writes letters to her doll and mails them in a tissue box under her bed. When her parents ask her about it, she says don’t talk about it.
Would the wife having an affair even the playing field or cause their unstable foundation to crumble entirely? The husband, at one point, says he wants a divorce. In their reconciliation, they decide to get back to basics and move to the country – to grow, to heal, to slow down and figure it out. They slowly begin to see things in each other that they appreciate.
Of course, as a reader, I was rooting for them to work it out, however, the ending is left hanging. I could see their marriage going either way. In my head, I choose that they worked it out and got their daughter some therapy.
Loved: A tattoo that says, “If you have not known suffering, love me.”
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