Rosecrans Baldwin

Rosecrans Baldwin has crafted a story of loss and coping and memory and mis-remembering. He tells the story of Victor Aarons, a researcher who is seeking clues to a cure for Alzheimer's disease. His wife, Sara, died in an auto accident several years ago yet Victor is still not able to effectively deal with either the loss or his life. He buttresses his days with people who are equally fractured - a girlfriend who is a researcher but also tries her hand at both poetry and burlesque fantasies, show more a crotchety aunt-in-law, a god-daughter with a ivy-league education who can't figure out what to do and plays at being a chef.

It took a while for me to develop an appreciation for this story. I wanted to know more about Sara but Victor's memories of their marriage do not have fidelity with notes that she wrote as part of a counseling exercise. So he is an unreliable narrator. I wanted to know more about Victor's relationships but he is blinded to the subtleties of interaction and conversational clues. So his interactions with coworker Lucy, his girlfriend Regina, and his goddaughter Cornelia often are near-misses and truncated.

However, as more of Victor's backstory is filled in, partly by those notes from his wife and partly by his dogged efforts to dredge up some accurate memories, it becomes more apparent that he is struggling to simply make it through each day. While he fills the time with long work hours, wine, Ambien and long swims, none of this can assuage his grief. And he is neither willing nor able to confront his feelings directly.

I am not sure why the various women in his life tolerate him. He was unable to recognize, much less express, his feelings for either Sara or Regina. He is not supportive to Lucy and he is only slightly nicer to Aunt Betsy than her bitter, estranged son. At times he is downright creepy with Cornelia, his goddaughter.

In summary, this is an interesting read that is redeemed by the beginning of closure that Victor eventually achieves. However I do wonder if his life after the final page will be much of an improvement or if he will revert to coasting on the surface, never diving deep. show less

This is a book about Paris and being a fish out of water. Baldwin's insights on the latter - (the difficulties with language etc...) are entertaining and universal. His observations on Parisian life are fresh and incisive. They neither descend into cliche nor over-correct by focusing on the banal. Instead he offers a cast of tightly observed characters from his working and social life in the city. The book frequently prompts a delicious hilarity - especially when Baldwin deploys his trick of show more translating directly, and without warning, from his poor French back into the actual English. The work made me feel good about Paris and about life in general. show less

Fieldnotes:
1 International Move to Paris
1 Ex-Pat Couple Trying to Squeak by with Barely Passable French
Several Loud Parties
Several Affectionately Frustrated 'Only In Paris' Moments

The Short Version:
A quick read about a man who (along with his wife) heads off to Paris to write a novel and to work in advertising (particularly luxury brands) on the Champs-Elysees. Neither of them speak much French, there's a ton of red tape and messiness. The book covers all the travails of trying to sort out show more life in Paris (though it would have been nice to include some sight-seeing), sometimes it's funny, sometimes a bit crass, but always with a clear affection for the city, the lifestyle, as well as the Parisians they meet and befriend.

A more pleasant version of most ex-pats diatribes, but not something that got my armchair traveller wistfully eyeing the calendar for another trip... show less

I definitely wanted to like it more than I did. The written dialogue is frequently clunky, almost as if rather than holding a conversation the characters are just throwing words at each other. Maybe that's reflective of Victor's malaise and difficulty relating to other people but it made for a sometimes irksome reading experience.

Cornelia, the young dreadlocked liberated vegan hippy and live-in goddaughter, I thought was a largely unnecessary and weak character. Her provacative presence in show more his house seems meant to be the impulsive spark that finally, years after his wife's death, helps drive Victor to his emotional breakthrough/breakdown, but besides the character being annoying, I found this dynamic and relationship unconvincing. In addition it forced the inclusion of scenes featuring her father, sadly another annoying pest of a character who even Victor, his childhood best friend, can't wait to be rid of. Better to have struck this part of the novel out and found another means of propelling Victor out of his emotionally deadened rut.

Yet Baldwin clearly has talent and parts of the novel do shine, enough to keep me reading to the end. As others note, the note cards left behind by Sara that provide her view of her and Victor's marriage are particularly strong. Anyway, as a debut novelist Baldwin is certainly entitled to not yet be at the top of his game. I'll not hesitate to read his second novel.

And if you're looking for an excellent novel about a man dealing with the loss of his wife, consider taking a look at A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias... show less