Ducks, Newburyport

DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT

by Lucy Ellmann

 

Award: James Tait Black Winner 2019

 

Nominations: Booker Finalist 2019, Carnegie Longlist 2020

 

Date Read: August 12, 2023

 

I don’t even know where to start with this book. It took me so long to read and I usually plow through books like butter. This is an incredible accomplishment and a definitively unique voice and style. I am shocked it didn’t garner more attention but perhaps that’s because it’s so damned long.

 

The stream of consciousness about the world crumbling around our ears, gun violence, the environment, and the treatment of animals, to name a few of the terrors afflicting America right now; these obsessive thoughts are couched in a homey kitchen where our narrator bakes pies to try to add to the family’s income. They have four kids that She cannot believe are all hers because there are just so many.

 

In between the rants about the evils of the world, we also follow a mountain lion that has wandered into territory where a mountain lion has never been seen before. Her cubs are stolen from her and as a result, she scours the Midwest in search of them. The sightings of this lioness cause hysteria large enough for the schools to shut down and everyone to remain in their homes. This entire sequence is about the relentlessness of a mother’s love and dedication.

 

Also throughout, we learn about Her history and having Stacy, her daughter, with her first husband, Frank. Frank turns out to be a deadbeat and she leaves him, becoming a single mother. She then meets and marries Leo, having three more kids with him – Ben, Gillian and Jake. Although She is often overwhelmed and over tired, She is dedicated to her family.

 

The recurring lament of Mommy speaks to the loss of her mom too early. She was sick and slowly died in front of her eyes. And as she continues to mourn the loss of her mother, she begins to truly understand the role she plays in her kids’ lives. How incredibly important she is, regardless of how her kids see her now.

 

Of course, things happen. There’s a flood that Her and kids are stranded in. Stacy runs away. She returns. Ronny, the annoying guy that drops off chicken feed for her 15 backyard chickens, loses his grip and comes in her home, threatening her and the kids with an automatic weapon. He shoots up the house but Stacy ends up rescuing all of them, becoming the hero.

 

I cannot imagine how long it took her to write this tome but it’s one of the most interesting and unique books I’ve read in a long time. I tend to agree with another reviewer that she could have lopped off a few hundred pages but the sheer relentlessness of this and the madness, noise and lamentation are unbelievably profound.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Gentleman In Moscow

Image
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2018, Goodreads Finalist 2016, Kirkus Finalist 2016   Date Read: February 24, 2017   From Kirkus Reviews:   “Sentenced to house arrest in Moscow's Metropol Hotel by a Bolshevik tribunal for writing a poem deemed to encourage revolt, Count Alexander Rostov nonetheless lives the fullest of lives, discovering the depths of his humanity.   Inside the elegant Metropol, located near the Kremlin and the Bolshoi, the Count slowly adjusts to circumstances as a "Former Person." He makes do with the attic room, to which he is banished after residing for years in a posh third-floor suite. A man of refined taste in wine, food, and literature, he strives to maintain a daily routine, exploring the nooks and crannies of the hotel, bonding with staff, accepting the advances of attractive women, and forming what proves to be a deeply meaningful relationship with a spirited young girl, Nina. "We are bound to find comfo
Read more

An Island

Image
AN ISLAND by Karen Jennings   Nomination: Booker Longlist 2021   Date Read: December 10, 2022   A short but mighty novel, An Island explores the concept of home, family, identity, the impact of political upheaval and the immigrant experience, when one’s suffering is so intense they move from one shitty country to the next. Samuel has finally found a peaceful home on an island somewhere off the coast of Africa. He was hired as a lighthouse keeper and after a tumultuous life, most of which was spent in prison as a political prisoner, he has carved out a life for himself on this island, enjoying a tranquil existence that basks in the quiet tasks of daily living.   Only after exploring Samuel’s life does the reader understand why such an isolated, spare and lonely existence satisfy him, with no desire to escape but only to grow deeper roots. His life witnessed the end of the British occupation, the installation of a brutal dictator and yet another dictator after the first was poisoned. Sam
Read more

The Changeling

Image
THE CHANGELING by Victor LaValle   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2019, LA Times Finalist 2017, PEN/Jean Stein Finalist 2018   Date Read: July 21, 2024   From Kirkus Reviews: “A  tragedy thrusts a mourning father into peculiar, otherworldly corners of New York City. When Apollo and Emma have their baby, Brian, it feels like both reward and challenge for the new dad. Apollo, the son of a single mother, had been scraping by as a bookseller who hunts estate and garage sales for rare first editions, so even the unusual circumstance of Brian's birth (in a stalled subway train) seems like a blessing, as does the way Apollo stumbles across a first edition of  To Kill a Mockingbird  (inscribed by Harper Lee to Truman Capote, no less) shortly after. But after some young-parent squabbles and inexplicable images on their smartphones foreshadow trouble, the story turns nightmarish: Apollo finds himself tied up and beaten by Emma, then forced to listen to the sounds of Brian’s murder. LaValle has
Read more