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Fay Weldon's latest book, RHODE ISLAND BLUES, takes Sophia, a 34-year-old film editor whose aging grandmother has decided to go into a nursing home and follows her on the strange odyssey she makes as she learns more and more about her family life. When grandmother Felicity calls her to the decidedly unglamorous shores of Rhode Island due to illness, Sophia leaves behind her exciting if a little empty life in the London film world and comes to America. An unsuspecting traveler, she meets up with some pretty strange situations when she gets here.
This is Weldon's 36th book --- yes, that's right, 36. She isn't that old yet so she has been working very hard. But in recent years, she has been unable to match the temper and tenacity of her book THE LIFE AND LOVES OF A SHE-DEVIL, known on this shore for a rather ill-fated movie adaptation. The book, full of piss and vinegar, as they say, showed Weldon's exacted commitment to writing about women's lives in a viscerally honest and imaginative way. RHODE ISLAND BLUES tries to follow in that path but, ultimately, doesn't succeed quite as well.
The story of the woman and her grandmother is very uncomplicated --- but the endless cast of supporting characters becomes too dense, too difficult to follow after a while. Weldon writes in these intense little snippets, and it takes forever for her to get through one person's story so that something else can happen. It's an unfortunate, burdensome approach --- the main story calls for simpler statements. Particularly when you find out that there has been child molestation in the family history, just one of the many obstacles Sophia must hurdle if she wishes to maintain a little bit of her family legacy.
Some of the side stories are particularly gruesome and strange --- like the one about the nurse in charge of the old folks' home, who not only indulges the head doctor in his bizarre little sadomasochistic fantasies but also kills the irritating and less profitable of the patients. Sophia's journey looks weak in comparison.
RHODE ISLAND BLUES is set in a place where Weldon doesn't seem quite comfortable. Although there are moments of great clarity between the grandmother and granddaughter that keep the reader moving through the book, one is constantly looking for more of these episodes and less of the side stories. Hopefully, next time around, Weldon will stick to the main story and we'll all be the happier for it.
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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