For years I’ve been telling people to read Richard Russo as enthusiastically as I encourage them to consume the works of Anne Tyler. Russo is a Pulitzer Prize winner, author of nine novels, two collections of short stories and two memoirs. There have been myriad adaptations of his books, most notably the award-winning Nobody’s Fool starring Paul Newman, Empire Falls, the American miniseries, and Lucky Hank, the AMC adaptation of Straight Man featuring Bob Odenkirk.
Russo is funny. His characters are generally broken but immensely endearing. Escapades, heartache and bad decision-making abound in the lives of some of the best character-driven novels I have read. Somebody’s Fool, Russo’s 10th novel, does not disappoint in delivering another triumph about what it is to be deeply flawed and lovable in small-town, upstate New York.
For those of you who have read Russo, the title of this new work will ring some bells. Somebody’s Fool is Russo’s third book set in the ill-fated town of North Bath. Nobody’s Fool (1993) and Everybody’s Fool (2016) introduced us to the irresistible Sully (Donald Sullivan). It’s important to say that all three books are stand-alone and can easily be read in any order. Russo is adept at bringing the reader up to speed without causing the story to drag. However, if you start at Somebody’s Fool, you will find yourself wanting to read the others immediately. Russo will pull you in and never let you go.
When the story opens North Bath is in the process of ceasing to be. The schools, the town council and the police department are being subsumed into the institutions of its wealthier neighbour, Schuyler Springs. Doug Raymer has decided to call it a day, not wishing to take up the new chief of police post in Schuyler. Instead, Charice, Raymer’s ex-girlfriend and one of only four black residents living in the overly white North Bath (racism forms an important topic in this novel) is taking the job. But when a body is found hanging in the ruins of the once majestic Sans Souci hotel, Raymer is pulled back into all he was ready to leave behind.
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Meanwhile, on the only street in North Bath with houses likely to reach a mildly reasonable price, Peter Sullivan is renovating the home Sully, his now deceased father, left him. He is hoping to sell up and finally escape the town he had never wished to return to. Standing on his porch he watches as a young man pulls up to the curb. As the stranger nears, Peter realises it is his son, Thomas, who he has not seen in more than 15 years. Thomas is not there for a longed-for reunion. His true intention could not be more different.
As these two stories play out over three days we are introduced, or reintroduced, to a host of familiar characters – Birdie, the local bar owner, who wonders if the Horse tavern really has another summer in it; Carl, the washed-up businessman and philanderer; Officer Miller, who wants to do the right thing but hasn’t a clue how to; and Rub, Sully’s one-time best friend, who has mysteriously lost his stutter. Sully, though long past, is not forgotten. His wonderful escapades and sayings are scattered throughout, even managing to commandeer the book’s closing line.
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How the male mind works has always been central in Russo’s fiction. Often touching, it can also be quite comedic. And while this predominates in the characters of Raymer and Peter, Russo also turns his gaze to Ruth, Sully’s former lover; her daughter Janey, previously married to an exceptionally violent man; and her autistic granddaughter, Tina. The hurt these women bear, and the unspoken love they hold for each other, is poignantly displayed by what they say and don’t say in a chapter entitled Normal that near broke my heart. I have earmarked all 10 pages to return to as an example of excellent dialogue.
The book is narrated between the third and first person. This combination is a departure for Russo but it works well and is compelling in revealing the hidden truths of North Bath.
There is warmth in this novel that touches on many serious themes: racism, depression, domestic violence, OCD and abandonment, among others. But by the end Russo gives his characters a strength that allows them see pathways forward in their changed town and in a very changed United States. Russo has once again written a cast of quirky and endearing characters, making Somebody’s Fool, quite simply, a fantastic read.
Anne Griffin’s latest novel is The Island of Longing
