That Old Cape Magic (adult book)

That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo is my first experience reading Russo's work. I still have Empire Falls sitting in a TBR stack somewhere. (I'm not sure it can be called a stack anymore if it has been there for a few years). Not knowing what to expect, but reading one blogger's account of being able to read it in one sitting, I had high hopes. And, after finishing it last night, I would agree that Russo's book is entertaining and could easily be read in one sitting if I didn't have three small children and a job.

Griffin, the narrator of this book, recounts his childhood summers on the Cape with parents he believed to be entirely unhappy in their marriage and with their careers. In the first portion of this novel Griffin and his wife Joy are going to the Cape for a wedding. Griffin's intent to scatter his father's ashes while there, never occurs and there is a lingering unhappiness/disatisfaction with his life. In the second portion of the novel a year has passed and Griffin returns to the Cape for his daughter's wedding. In the span of a year his mother has passed away (although he hears her voice frequently talking to him) and he is now separated from Joy. His thought processes that are revealed and his look back at his childhood are what moves this book along as Griffin tries to come to some peace about his life.

While I still have to get through a fairly large library stack, Empire Falls might have to be put on a TBR pile close by because I definitely want to read more of Russo's work.