Books like Ten North Frederick

Ten North Frederick by John O’HaraThere is here, in the biography of Joe Chapin, nothing that could not have been seen or heard by the people whose lives were touched by Joe Chapin’s life. Whatever he thought, whatever he felt has always been expressed to or through someone else, and the reader can judge for himself the truth of what the man told or did not tell.Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction in 1956. Wow what a spectacular novel, another one for my six-star bookshelf. O’Hara is known as the truth-teller of the mid 20th century life of the upper middle class. His writing is sandwiched somewhere — both in the age he lived and the subject matter — between say Edith Wharton and John Updike. His characters are always drawn with clarity. They avoid speaking about the things most important and precious to them. I think this is the key to O’Hara’s realistic dialogue, its often what is not said.The novel begins at the funeral in 1945 for the main character, Joe Chapin, a prominent lawyer in Gibbsville PA. We don’t know how Joe died but it appears to be heart related. Joe has a wife Edith, son Joe and daughter Anne. The rest of the book goes back in time and proceeds from Joe’s childhood, to his courtship with Edith, and then on through their lives. The novel eventually ends at Joe’s funeral and comes full circle. Joe does not fulfill many of his dreams but rather than being depressing it reads as being very real. There are no devilish plot twists in this book and most of the plot is telegraphed in advance. So in summary it’s a story about well drawn characters and of course the house at Ten North Frederick that anchored several generations of Chapins. Illicit affairs figure prominently in this book which is typical of the O’Hara novels that I’ve read. While none of the characters, including Joe, are heroes by anyone’s measure they are not despicable either. I could not help but feel for each of the characters who were having the affairs — all people who would probably be well heeled guests at your dinner party. Five stars. I also loved O’Hara’s first novel, Appointment in Samarra.