So Long at the Fair

So Long at the Fair by Christina Schwarz is told in alternating storylines, one taking place in 1963, the other in present day. As the stories unfold it becomes clear how these stories relate and the character's complicated relationships with one another are revealed. The main part of the story has to do with present day Jon and his wife Ginny, who Jon is cheating on with Freddi, a coworker. We follow them though one hot, sticky, summer day, as they go through their day and encounter various other people who also seem to have a history of relationship troubles. There is even a stalker, Ethan, who follows Freddi around. His behavior veers from disturbing to terribly frightening to downright funny. He is bit of a food snob and being sort show more of one myself, I found it humorous to read about his preoccupation with table manners and food in general.

I cannot really say that I enjoyed this book, mainly because I am not really interested in reading about infidelity. This was an ARC supplied to me by the publisher which is why I continued with it. It is certainly a readable book, and a well-told story which leads to an improbable and rather dramatic conclusion. It is a book about relationships, but unhealthy ones, which is perhaps why I never connected to any of the characters or the story itself. show less

So Long at the Fair by Christina Schwarz is a virtuoso performance, a masterfully told tale of deception and self-delusion set in a small Midwestern town. Schwarz writes beautifully, using unusual imagery such as in this sentence: “He’d not, he recalled, even uttered ‘Excuse me’ the time he’d accidentally bumped her with his lunch tray, the contact between the orange plastic and the green wool of her sweater so intimate, so electric it had instantly closed his throat and jump-started his heart.” She also expertly juggles two time frames (plus flashbacks) and seven points of view smoothly and without confusion.

Reading So Long at the Fair is a bit like being a fly on the wall inside a car hurtling along at breakneck show more speed—you know someone is going to get hurt, you just don’t know who or how badly. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say there are several cars all hurtling towards each other and you the reader are inside each one in turn, kept on the edge of your seat as you admire the breathtaking view and dread the inevitable crash.

So I should have loved this book, right? There is no doubt that Schwarz is a talented writer and this book kept me up half the night (literally), so how can I not love it? But I didn’t. Maybe because ultimately adultery is not a subject matter that interests me that much. Or maybe because just about every single one of her characters is self-deluded and there’s not much evidence that any of them (with one exception) grows very much over the course of this novel. Mostly I think it’s because almost all of her characters seemed unsympathetic to me. The world she paints is not one I would care to revisit. But reading the book was still one hell of a ride!

A slightly different version of this review can be found on my blog, she reads and reads. show less

The main narrative of Christina Schwarz’s novel So Long at the Fair takes place in the course of one summer day, and is basically the story of a marriage going through a rocky patch. Jon and Ginny are a childless couple, in their thirties, not really unhappily matched, but no longer head-over-heels about each other. Enter Freddi, Jon’s business associate – unattached and attractive – and things start to unravel for Jon.

It’s not a bad story, if a bit trite. The characters are well-drawn and interesting, although none of them are completely admirable or sympathetic. But Schwarz’s examination of adultery, love and betrayal is realistic and doesn’t pull punches. If she had limited the book to that story, I’d have given her show more full marks. But instead, she’s chosen to add on a couple of other stories which really just end up littering the landscape – a maddeningly shadowy and prolonged tale set in 1963, centering around Jon’s and Ginny’s parents’ generation. And another, contemporary to the saga of Jon/Ginny/Freddi, involving a creepy admirer of Freddi’s whose attentions become more and more sinister as the story goes on.

All these threads do finally come together in the end, but not soon enough or compellingly enough to stir much interest in the outcome. Occasionally the constantly shifting point of view and timeline had me completely disoriented. Sort of like that Seinfeld routine about moviegoers who can't follow the plots. I kept saying, “Now whose mother is she?” Or “Which one was he married to?” Or “But when did that happen?” I did a lot of flipping back and forth between chapters. I even made lists of characters and did a little family tree chart to try to keep everybody straight.

In the end, I found the book dissatisfying, but not a total loss by any means. I think there’s the germ of a really good novel here. And I admire Schwarz’s writing style – she has an appealing ability to paint wonderfully realistic portraits of character or place in just a few well-chosen lines. Her small-town setting seems vibrant and real, her dialogue authentic. And while I might not recommend this book whole-heartedly, I wouldn’t hesitate to try her future work. I just hope the next book doesn’t leave me feeling quite as puzzled and confused as this one did. show less

So Long at the Fair tracks a day in the marriage of a contemporary thirtysomething couple: a quarrel, the husband escaping to his lover, the wife teetering on the brink of discovery of his affair. Schwarz’s confident exploration of this quiet story in a Midwestern setting feels pleasingly old-fashioned, like a satisfying trip home.

That’s not to say it’s a simple trip. Indeed, the main story is intercut with backstory and subplots (including one that seemed to come out of nowhere and another that seemed unresolved) -- and then is interwoven with a 1960s story about the couple’s parents. At times, keeping the relationships straight feels as complicated as connecting great-aunts to second-cousins. But if the reader is willing to do show more some heavy lifting with a careful reading, Schwarz does not disappoint. show less

This story takes place in Wisconsin in the space of one day with memories of the past impacting the lives of the married couple, Jon and Ginny. Jon is having an affair with a coworker, vacillating between her and his wife. Thirty years earlier, the events of one summer still impact the lives of many people.

I chose this book because I still remember how much I liked Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz, so I was disappointed. The shifting times lines became confusing. I also felt little empathy for the characters in the past or the present.

So Long at the Fair by Christina Schwarz is a novel that goes back and forth between events that happened to two generations of the same families. The bulk of the story centers on present-day Jon, a married man who is having an affair with a co-worker. The book is filled with foreshadowing and innuendo in both time periods, with the final outcomes being somewhat anticlimactic. The characters are not particularly developed, and the plot is fairly predictable, but it may be fine as an easy beach read for someone who enjoys chick lit.

The main story in So Long at the Fair takes place over the course of one Saturday in the lives of Jon and Ginny, a married couple who had been high school sweethearts. Their relationship has stagnated and Jon is having an affair with a co-worker, which has progressed to the point where Jon must make his choice between the two women. Jon begins his day hoping to re-ignite his passion for Ginny during a day-long road trip to a nearby county fair, but ends up stomping off in anger to spend the day with his paramour (Freddi) instead, when he finds out that Ginny wants to re-schedule their outing because of previous business commitments.

In addition to the main story, we have the flashback story of Jon’s parents (Clark and Hattie) and show more Ginny’s parents (Bud and Marie) in 1963 as Clark and Marie try to force Bud into a confrontation with the local playboy (Walt) who refuses to admit that he raped Hattie.

Through the course of this single Saturday, both Ginny and Jon reminisce about their high school days and the accident that injured Ginny and brought the two of them together. Meanwhile a second co-worker of Jon’s (whose wife previously cheated on him) conveniently sets the stage for Ginny to discover Jon’s affair with Freddi. And if that isn’t enough going on already, an old boyfriend of Freddi’s is stalking her (and now Jon) in a deluded attempt to win her back.

Obviously there is a lot going on in this book and sometimes I found it necessary to go back and re-read a chapter or two to make sure I had the story and the relationships straight. Each story ends with a subtle twist and a sense of openness that makes it seem more like the beginning of a story which is yet to come. show less