Adams, farmer though he was, favored the Federalists. The election of 1796 brought Adams to the presidency, with Jefferson as his vice president — an uneasy pairing if ever there was one. By the election of 1800, Adams was badly out of favor with the general populace, and lost the election to Jefferson. The press had been particularly hard on Adams, and Jefferson himself was suspected to be at the heart of that. For the next dozen years the old friends were estranged, but in January, 1812, their friend Dr. Rush effected reconciliation, and for the remainder of their lives, they conducted an affectionate correspondence which ended only with their deaths: by odd coincidence each man died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of The Declaration of Independence.
— ©2011 Julia Sneden for SeniorWomen.com
Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation at Amazon
Images from Wikipedia: (1) Mount Vernon, aquatint by Francis Jukes, 1800. (2) View of the West Front of Monticello and Garden depicting Thomas Jefferson's grandchildren. Watercolour on paper by Jane Braddick Peticolas, 1825.
THE MAP OF TRUE PLACES
By Brunonia Barry
Published by Harper, © 2011, Paperback; 406 pp.
The cover copy calls this an ambitious work, and it truly is. The unusual central character is a challenge for an author to undertake if only because she is a psychotherapist. Thus Ms. Barry bites off a large chunk of study for herself just to be able to write knowledgeably about a pretty sophisticated field. Given the propensity of a large part of the general population to get themselves into "therapy" (if one is to believe the media), a great many readers will know if she makes a misstep.
The story is founded on a nicely nuanced extended metaphor set in a perfect place for that metaphor to develop. The map is not concerned with geography, and the story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, a seaport known more for witches than for celestial navigation in spite of its proud maritime history. The title is drawn from Herman Melville, who lived there, and one of the characters is nicknamed Melville. Hawthorne and his stories of moral anguish lived close to the central family, and the characters are in various ways at sea in the modern world and in their lives.
A Boston therapist called Zee finds herself more shaken than she thinks she ought to be when a patient in her care commits suicide. With little time to come to terms with this, however, she must go home to Salem to look after her father and arrange for proper care for him as he declines both physically and mentally.
This is a real psychological novel, dealing with layers of each personality and supplying an ongoing challenge to the reader. Fortunately, the skillful creation of atmosphere and descriptions of weather and place provide a real sense of having been there, even if one has not. Much of the writing is masterful in its depiction of action against a background that gives it concrete believability.
Present events become quickly entangled in a misunderstood and misrepresented past, overshadowed by Zee’s mother’s peculiar death. Questions become unavoidable as Zee observes how people she has known in her childhood and youth seem to be unwilling or unable to pass on what they seem to know. There are a few tentative peeks into the occult, ample ambiguity, and nicely managed suspense. For the most part, all is made clear through psychological insight.
Zee’s employer and mentor stands at the sidelines, often speaking like an incarnation of every psychiatrist one has ever seen on TV. Barry manages not to make her sound menacing, and allows her to come across as sympathetic to poor Zee when the going gets rough. Someone with knowledge of contemporary psychiatric practice will probably understand her rather aloof behavior.
Zee’s ill-fated engagement to a man who has not much to offer to any romantic is an interesting thread because of the amount of time it takes this supposedly aware therapist to discern what she needs to know about herself. There’s nothing wrong with Michael, so long as the object of his attention doesn’t expect any spiritual or sexual bells or whistles. Their absence tells the reader early on that he won’t last, and the man who supplants him is a real sailor — advancing the notion that the most important maps are of places other than those on the surface of our planet.
Possibly this story could have been shorter. For an ordinary reader without a background in psychology, it may contain more intricately devised emotional gymnastics than are necessary to the plot or clear to the reader. And, like much in psychology, there’s more than enough elaborate explanation of insights that seem really to be basic common sense.
The Map of True Places is an interesting, satisfactorily suspenseful story, very competently told. One of its best features is the title with all its connotations. No heart-stopping car chases or bloody combat, but enough mystery to keep it moving with plenty of impetus.
— ©2011 Joan L. Cannon for SeniorWomen.com
The Map of True Places: A Novel at Amazon
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