David Long (1) (1948–)

Hartford, Connecticut (1973). Miles Fanning and Caroline (Carly) Lamoreaux are typical teenagers, skipping out on choir practice for the sake of young love. Only Carly does not meet Miles at the prescribed spot nor is she ever heard from again. Fast forward twenty-four years later Fanning is the founder of SunBreak Records and still does not know what happened to his old girlfriend all those years ago. He has since married and moved to Seattle, Washington. In all honesty he hasn't thought show more about Carly all that much. Life has carried him in a different direction...until suddenly Carly's sister, Julia, sweeps into his life, dragging the memory and mystery of Carly behind her. Julia's line of questioning is off-putting and abrasive; the way your teeth feel when you bite down on eggshells in an otherwise fluffy omelet or finding sand in your ice cream. Julia interrogates Fanning like his soul has committed a serious crime. She is a strange woman to whom Fanning cannot help but be drawn. What I found so interesting about The Daughters of Simon Lamoreaux was the lack of detail about the investigation into the disappearance of Carly Lamoreaux. Miles Fanning is an obvious suspect but once he is cleared, the reader does not get a sense of urgency to find Carly. It led me to think more about the title. The focus is on the father, Simon. Does he hold the key to the mystery? In the end I found myself saying, yes, he does. show less

David Long is a master--a master craftsman of sentences and a master storyteller. He's proof-positive that the outlines of the story don't matter as much to make a good read (the story here is pretty simple: about a transgression in a marriage), as it does how the story is told. Each of the characters here is fully-fleshed, so that in coming to know them, the reader comes to feel what they do. Fully flawed, they become very real.

There's wisdom here, too. I usually give my books away after I show more read them. This one is a keeper. show less

"The Inhabited World" is an unusual ghost story in the sense that the ghost himself might be the most confused character in the novel and that the word “ghost” is never once mentioned in the book. Evan Malloy finds himself trapped in and around the house in which he killed himself ten years earlier, having no idea why any of this is happening to him. All he knows is that he is unable to leave the property and that the only things he knows about since his death are events that have show more occurred under his direct observation (although he sometimes reads newspapers and computer screens over the shoulders of the current residents of his old home). He has no idea if his father is still alive or how his wife and step-daughter have managed since his death but does know a few things about world events, not a combination of knowledge that gives him any comfort.

Author David Long recounts Evan Malloy’s story in flashback, the story of a young man who ruined his first marriage by giving in to the temptation of a short affair with a co-worker only to eventually be given a second chance at happiness years later when he remarries his ex-wife and creates a new family with her and her daughter. But even this regained happiness is not enough to keep Evan from being overwhelmed by a depressive state that only ends when he pulls the trigger of the pistol that his wife brought to their second marriage.

It is when Maureen Keniston moves into the house that Evan finds himself caring for one of the house’s new residents for the first time. Maureen has come to the house as part of her effort to hide from the doctor at whose hands she has suffered an abusive relationship for the past two years. Evan feels a certain kinship with the woman and her situation and, although she is unable to sense his presence, Evan feels so protective of her that he attempts to give her the advice she needs in order to remain strong enough to break off the destructive affair.

Eventually the reader comes to realize that Evan Malloy may not be a ghost, after all, and that he is something more akin to Maureen’s guardian angel. Perhaps the reason for his own personal purgatory has been revealed to him. Considering his subject matter, David Long has managed to turn what could have easily been a depressing book into a rather inspirational one that requires his readers to look at life through the eyes of someone who has been there and realizes that he gave up on it too soon.

Rated at 3.5 show less

I really enjoyed this, very thoughtful meditation on suicide and the transient choices we all make. A good love story, too, if you don't require a happy ending.