During The Reign Of The Queen Of Persia
by Joan Chase
Award: PEN/Hemingway Winner 1984
Nominations: National Book Critics Circle Finalist 1983, NY Times Finalist 1983
Date Read: February 25, 2023
Told from the perspective of the daughters of a large, multi-generational family, these daughters convey the history of the Krauss family, led by Gram, the matriarch. Gram is nicknamed the Queen of Persia and she reigns over the house and farm, having inherited a great deal of money from her brother. She never fails to lord her ownership over Grandad, a man she had always been ill-matched with.
Gram is the mother of five daughters and her house has 14 bedrooms, which allows the daughters and their kids to move in and out with ease, only needing to sidestep the glare of their mother’s watchful eyes. Gram is prickly, sour and finally at the stage of life where she can put her own desires first, going out every night to bingo or the movies or bizarres – whatever tickles her fancy.
She presides over her daughter’s divorces, births of her grandkids, the death of her husband and daughter Grace, the battles amongst her daughters and their daughters. She has seen it all in her 80 years and only at the very end does she decide she’s had enough of her huge house and determines to downsize by selling the land to be developed into a strip-mall.
Gram resents the men that come and go in her daughter’s lives, knowing beyond all doubt that men are deplorable and worthless. Her own marriage to Jake had been a curse and after she inherited her money, he was relegated to a downstairs bedroom on his own. Grandad was abusive, emotionally stunted and a drunk, leaving pain and sorrow in his wake. All of these experiences have turned Gram bitter.
Her daughters have found their own way in life regardless. Evelyn moved to New York and became a successful casting agent. Libby still lives at home with her husband and her two daughters, helping her mother with the house and raising her own two daughters in the process. May lives on the property in a house separated by the orchard with her second husband and son, Rossie. Grace passes away, leaving her two daughters Anne and Katie and her estranged husband Neal. Rachel’s life I’m never too clear on.
The kids have free reign of the farm and use the entire property as their playground – jumping from vines into ravines, jumping from the barn into hay, exploring the boneyard of Grandad behind the barn, running through the orchard and blending seamlessly into the walls to listen to the adult’s conversations. They monitor these conversations for implications of any changes in their lives, knowing they are hostage to the whims of adults. They fight like siblings, explore like feral kids and suffer the reprimands of Gram just like their mothers did. In spite of their harsh upbringing, their lives have a surreal charm that allows them to build confidence and imagination.
As a debut novel, this is a masterpiece for Chase. The textures are rich and this family is so relatable. Some of these family members are each of ours. We recognize our own in each of them. A win very well deserved.
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