The Good Parents

Another novel that's been lurking in my wardrobe pile for a shamefully long time. I bought The Good Parents on the strength of loving Gilgamesh (though I can't now remember much about that first book!), and Joan London's writing is so quietly beautiful.

The Good Parents is not exactly an eventful book, in fact it's quite static, written in small vignettes that focus on each character in turn, which has the effect of making them all seem isolated in their own separate world. When eighteen year old Maya vanishes, her parents Jacob and Toni at first wait passively for her to return, then each find their own way of dealing with her disappearance. Gradually we learn about Jacob and Toni's own youthful pasts, the baggage of their histories that they carry with them, the ways they've tried to escape. This novel is all about attempts to escape -- from parents, from expectations, from responsibilities.

Reading The Good Parents is quite a meditative experience, like sipping a flavourful soup -- you want to hold each mouthful for a while before you swallow it. (Forgive my strained metaphor, I'm blaming Covid brain...) There's not much plot, is what I'm trying to say, but the beauty and gentle strength of the writing makes up for it.