When Madeline was Young by Jane Hamilton

This book had a particularly unusual premise, and Hamilton did a superb job writing a complete story around it. The story is about a family comprising a man, his mentally challenged first wife, his second wife, and the two children from his second marriage. It is told from the point of view of the man's son, and spans about forty years of the family's saga.

Madeline, the title character and first wife, was involved in an accident during their first year of marriage, and subsequently lives as a perpetual eight-year-old. When her ex-husband remarries, she remains in their life, and becomes like a third child in their family. His second wife is unusually accepting of Madeline, calling her "lamb", rarely scolding her, and even allowing her to join them -- chastely -- in the marital bed, as one would a young child.

The book addresses some of the ethical and logistical issues around the care of the mentally ill. There is discussion on long-term care for Madeline, the decision to provide her with an eight-year-old's fantasy bedroom and toys, concern around her relationship with men, and other similar difficulties. However, more central than any of that was about placing the situations and concerns faced by this family into familiar territory. It's a story about a family, not about a family with a mentally ill child.

More specifically, it might be a story about the son, the narrator, more than about anyone else. Several portions of the book focus on the son's life growing into an adult, and how his childhood circumstances informed his own marriage. He makes many remarks about his own life and his impressions of the world, and it is clear to the reader how certain individual incidents as a young adult shaped his worldview. Significant portions of the book discuss his history with his wife, his daughters, and growing into being a man. Some of his most memorable comments relate to how women always reach out to other women, and how his daughters (predictably) despised his wife during their adolescence.

The one weakness in the book was the narrator's daughter Tessa. Tessa was bright, tough, and clearly his favorite daughter. Of her, he writes, "When she looks at you, it is best to clear your mind of insincerity...Tessa is a predator when she listens, the girl taking your full measure." Unfortunately, neither his favoritism of her over his other daughters nor her virtuous irreverence seemed realistic. More likely, Tessa is Hamilton's ideal self or child incarnate and poorly hidden.

That aside, I remain a huge fan of Jane Hamilton's. She has a way of making the mundane stand out as unique and the weird seem reasonably normal, which served her well in this book. At the end of the book, she describes a scene between the husband and Madeline, after his second wife has died, "He gave her a quick pat before he helped himself to an indeterminate kind of sandwich, turkey or ham or egg salad, whatever was most oozing mayonnaise."

I looked forward to picking up this book each night, and I think you will too.