Review: That Old Cape Magic

Russo, Richard. That Old Cape Magic. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009)

Marriages and weddings provide the dramatic backdrop for the latest novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo. Fifty-five year old Jack Griffin watches as his thirty-year marriage to Joy quietly unravels. At the same time, he finds himself obsessed with remembering the eccentric and ultimately unsuccessful marriage of his late parents. The story opens with Griffin and Joy arriving separately at the wedding of a friend on Cape Cod, where they had honeymooned. Their daughter announces her engagement there, with her wedding to take place a year hence, in Maine.

In the course of that year, Griffin and Joy separate, Griffin's mother dies, and Griffin carries the ashes of both parents in the trunk of his car, unable to bring himself to dispose of them. Meanwhile, he reminisces about his childhood visits to the Cape with his parents, and he recollects scenes of his life with them. His "conversations" with them, even though they are dead, are more real to him than what happens around him.

Russo paints hilarious portraits of Griffin's Ivy League-educated parents who spend their careers teaching in a large state university in Indiana. Their devotion to Cape Cod and their competitive marriage provide plenty of opportunities for comedy and irony. The wedding of Griffin's daughter is another laugh-out-loud episode in this novel.

Set against the humor, though, is Russo's serious examination of what holds a marriage together and his illustration of how easy it is -- through lack of communication or pride -- to let go of a union built by two loving people over many years.

This book is more reminiscent of Russo's Straight Man than of his novels of middle class life set in New England and New York, like Empire Falls. It is also considerably briefer than many of his books, but it is funny, meaningful, and satisfying. Highly recommended.