Good to a Fault

Good to a Fault is a story about a woman who feels stuck in an unfulfilling life after the death of her parents. Forty-three years old and alone, Clara yearns to do some good in the world, to help others, but also, more fundamentally, to connect with them. Ironically, it is a car crash that jolts her out of her rut: in an effort to do the right thing (she was technically at fault), she finds herself inviting the family to stay in her home while the mother receives treatment for cancer. This novel examines what it means to be good in today’s world, what we owe each other as human beings and the price of charity.

I loved the way this book is written, both its language and its structure. Although it is most often told from Clara’s point show more of view, the novel also shifts to the points of view of several other characters including Darlene, the oldest of the three children; her mother, Lorraine; and Paul, Clara’s priest. Endicott gets into the heads of each of these characters, revealing their thoughts and motivations. Darlene (aka Dolly) was one of my favourite characters—she is first introduced (through Clara’s eyes) with this description: “The little girl sitting on the pavement looked almost happy, as if her pinched face had relaxed now that some dangerous thing had actually happened” (p. 8). Dolly’s life changes dramatically as a result of staying with Clara.

I also loved the fact that each chapter is almost a story unto itself (and each has a title). Although in one sense not much happens in this book, there is a quiet intensity about it that completely drew me in. When I first got the book and read Elizabeth Hay’s blurb on the cover (“A wise and searching novel about the fine line between being useful and being used”), I was afraid this meant the novel was going to be about a well-meaning but misguided woman who is taken advantage of by a downtrodden and desperate family. In actual fact, this book is a much more generous, complex and surprising story than that.

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

Marina Endicott's novel Good to a Fault is one of those rare pieces of fiction that makes compelling drama out of the stuff of everyday life while avoiding sentimentality and remaining true to its author's literary ambitions. Forty something Clara Purdy's uneventful and unfulfilling life is thrown into disarray in the wake of a car accident, but not in the way we expect. Clara, alone in her car, is shaken up but not hurt, and neither are the six members of the Gage family, who occupy the other car. But Lorraine Gage, the young mother of Dolly, Trevor and Pearce, and wife of Clayton, is diagnosed with advanced lymphoma after being examined at the hospital. Clara, a claims adjuster who knows a thing or two about liability--long divorced show more and living by herself in her parents' house after the recent death of her mother--and motivated by a potent mix of guilt and loneliness, invites the itinerant Gage family to temporarily share her home. Soon after this Clayton takes off, who knows where, and Clara is left with the children and selfish, contrary Mrs. Pell, Clayton's mother. What ensues is not high drama but an awakening of sorts. Clara has no choice but to rouse herself from her middle-age stupor and forge emotional connections when Lorraine's recovery takes the better part of a year and she is the sole provider for three children. Along the way various others barge into Clara's life, and after discovering the joy and heartbreak of depending on and providing for other people, once the children are gone Clara finds herself unable to return to the tentative aloofness and crushing solitude of her old life. This is an unpretentious novel that shows us what it is like to place oneself at risk emotionally, to be vulnerable and to live in the world. Endicott's characters experience joy and sorrow and disappointment, they argue and make up, they connect and drift apart. This is real life, masterfully rendered. Essential reading. show less

When Clara Purdy is involved in a minor car accident, is it a mix of misplaced guilt and personal dissatisfaction, or simply an altruistic wish to help someone less fortunate, that prompts her to take in and care for the homeless Gage family? Good To A Fault is a thought provoking novel that examines some intriguing moral and social questions.
After years of dutifully caring for her parents, 43 year old Clara discovers that she is dissatisfied with the emptiness of her life but is at a loss to know how to change it. The collision prompts her to open her heart and her home to the homeless Gage family but the situation grows more complex when Lorraine is diagnosed with late stage Lymphoma. What was a temporary impulse to help the family show more get back on it's feet becomes a daunting responsibility when Lorraine must remain in hospital for treatment and her husband Clayton abandons his family to Clara's care. Clara finds she is unable to, nor wants to, leave the fate of the family to social services and so chooses to keep the three children, Dolly, Trevor and Pearce and their grandmother, Mrs Pell with her. While Clara fleetingly regrets her impetuous decision she finds that she enjoys caring for the children, and with their father gone, their grandmother indifferent and Lorraine desperately ill, Clara begins to fantasise about keeping them to raise as her own. Endicott so deftly explores the blurring of the line between altruism and egotism, when the desire to help someone else becomes a means to satisfy your own needs is it still the right thing to do? As the reader you can not help but consider what choices you would make in the same situations. I like to think I would do everything possible but I think if tested, uncomfortably, my generosity would have limits.
Good at Fault is not only a thematically rich novel but is also populated with interesting, authentic characters who evoke compassion, distaste, love and resentment.
One of the biggest struggles for me was the inherent conflict between Lorraine and Clara. Lorraine is desperately ill, she has no resources to help herself or her family, yet she is nothing if not practical and so she is willing to take Clary's offer of help. It's not so much a matter of taking advantage but more taking what is available and making the most of the opportunity to ensure her children are cared for. I sympathise with her motives, I can not imagine being so isolated at a time when need was greatest, still as Clary's attachment to the children grows I, like Clary, begin to resent Lorraine's claim. After all Clary offered the children opportunities and a level of care Lorraine can't but, and it is a huge but, Lorraine is their mother and she does love her children, she just simply can't shower them with the trappings that a middle class mentality consider to be indicators of good parenting. This thread really challenged my thinking and honestly, I felt ashamed that even if for only a moment, I felt Clary deserved the children more than Lorraine.
Good At Fault engages the reader in both an internal and social debate about a wide range of issues and I think it would be an ideal read for a book club. While I felt it dragged a little in places, it provokes thought and emotion and I found myself ruminating on it long after I had put it down. A compelling read, Good At Fault is a wonderful novel. show less

In a moment of distraction, spinster Clara Purdy crashes her car into one which contains a homeless family – in fact, the car was their home. When mother Lorraine is taken to hospital, she is diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Feeling somewhat responsible for their current predicament, Clara takes the rest of the family (three children, including a ten-month-old & their paternal grandmother.)

Clara is a good person—good to a fault, it seems. Clara invites the whole family to live with her while Lorraine has medical treatment. The husband/father takes off soon after with no notice, leaving Clara with granny & the kids. There are emotional entanglements and other consequences of Clara’s practical goodness.

From Amazon: “What, show more exactly, does it mean to be good? When is sacrifice merely selfishness? What do we owe in this life and what do we deserve?”

I find Marina Endicott’s novels to be consistently enjoyable. Thank you to Trish at Desktop Retreat who reminded that this remained unread. Recommended.

4½ stars show less

Loved this book and all the characters in it, even those people who were so flawed and determined to be crappy. All seemed so well fleshed out and real. Loved the way the narration switched around from person to person to give all different viewpoints of the story and let you see inside their thoughts and feelings.

I kept wishing it not to end while at the same time reading in every spare second to see what was going to happen. I haven't been that involved in a story in a very long time and it was wonderful to be so immersed in this story.

This was an interesting read. I found myself contemplating how far I would go to help someone in need and was also comparing what I thought my reactions would be, in contrast to Clara's. My only complaint regarding this novel has to do with the ending. I found it too pat and happy. and really wished Endicott had gone all Lionel Shriver on this story's ass and continued with her point that life is messy and, sometimes, painful.

Another from the Canadian pile, thanks to Miriam Unruh.

I loved this book about a woman who takes in a family after crashing into their car and the mother is dosicvered to have cancer. My only quibble is that we never had quite enough back story about Clara's parents or former marriage and the local priest was a little too good to be true. But I found the story heartbreakingly moving and the open-ended resolution just right. Why do we do the things we do? What motivates us to do right? Is there selfishness in acts of altruism and is that so wrong? And what are we owed for our goodness? This novel posits all the right questions.