Set in the early Seventies, when I was a tween, this is the first of a proposed trilogy of novels by Franzen. He sets out to examine the cycles within families, reoccurring patterns influenced by some combination of nature and nurture, the telling and retelling of family stories, and how traits, quirks, and tendencies repeat with their own twists. Meet the Hildebrandt family, Russ and Marion, and their children Clem, Becky, Perry, and Judson, living in New Prospect, ILL, fictional suburb of Chicago. Russ is assistant pastor at First Reformed Church, who, at 47, feels unfulfilled in career, marriage, and life. Son of a Mennonite family, he chose his faith and career after alternative service during World War II at a Navaho reservation. This was the time when he met Marion, and all life choices were made to bring him to his current situation. Not yet a full pastor and feeling a bit of a fraud as his wife essentially writes his sermons, Russ is out of touch with the young members of his teen fellowship group, Crossroads. In fact, the teens despise him, finding him too pious, with a perv vibe. Russ looks at Marion, now dumpy mother of three, and wonders how he got stuck. Russ’s solution is to hotly pursue carnal knowledge of young widow Frances Cottrell, with whom he imagines all will be made wonderful, and he’ll get his mojo back.

Clem is a first year undergrad at university, when as a result of conversations during his first intense relationship with a sexual partner, feels he is a hypocrite to claim a student deferment and avoid the Vietnam draft, and decides to head home at Christmas break to tell the folks he is declining that deferment. Becky, an eighteen year old high school senior, is having her own crisis of faith. After being the popular girl in everyway, yet holding herself chaste, she finally experiences feelings for Tanner, a folksy rock singer at her place of employment, a coffee shop called the Grove. Becky wrestles with her stirrings of sexuality, chastity, and what God wants for her life. Perry, a fifteen year old wunderkind, with serious addiction problems, starts out smoking a ton of pot and selling to younger kids to support his habit. Trying to kick the pot after his parents learn of this, he winds up abusing a combination of alcohol and speed, leading to disastrous consequences for the entire family. Perry also wrestles, in his self-deluded way, with questions of conscience, and whether he is despicable or good. We do not learn much of Judson, just a sweet kid in this novel, who will doubtless play a bigger part in the next generation novel.

We finally learn Marion’s backstory, of which her family and Russ are totally unaware. Marion’s father died when she was just a young teen, her mother feckless and unsupportive, her sister already left to pursue a theatrical career in New York, and after a tragic affair with a married car salesman in Los Angeles leaving her pregnant, is repeatedly raped by a conman who arranges and pays for her abortion. This catastrophe leads to a stay in a psychiatric facility, where she has a complete mental breakdown. Recovering enough to live in Arizona with her uncle, Marion joins the Catholic Church, where she seeks redemption and purpose in life. Here she meets Russ, and never shares her past with him or their family. Marion’s background is shared with the reader via revelations to her therapist, whom she sees surreptitiously.

Circumstances come to head during Christmas of 1971, decisions are made that will come to full fruition during the annual Crossroads spring break service trip to the Navaho reservation. This novel describes a genuine sense of the feelings and responses of each family member: Marion, knowing her past, feels responsible for Perry and his struggles, can relate to Becky and her difficult decisions, understands Clem and the way sex and love can shift your judgement. None of her children understand why their mother would be able to deeply understand them, and discount her advice as simple maternal love, always taken for granted. Russ is so absurd, so ridiculous you will either laugh at his buffoonery or despise him for his selfishness. His children are smart enough to have the same reaction, and try to ignore him when they are not humiliated by association.

I am eager to see how Franzen handles the leap forward to the next generation, when Judson will be thirty, and likely an important part of the next generation, having memories of what transpired here, and watching patterns repeat. I really enjoyed the time machine trip back to an era I could really relate to, before cell phones and the web, and with better music. Moreover, the angst of teens trying to separate from parents, make their first independent choices, suffer and survive those choices, and carry the invisible baggage of preceding generations, was fascinating. The struggles of midlife, trying to course-correct and find purpose in remaining years of life, and witnessing your children make their first steps and mistakes, all are relatable. Finally, the changing sibling dynamics, as children grow and change, and small resentments become large relationships issues to be negotiated, and how differently parents treat each sibling, all readers with siblings will appreciate that exploration here. Highly recommended.