Genre: Historical, Literary Fiction
Audiobook

I was thrilled to learn that this Absolution: A Novel by Alice McDermott was set in 1962. I have recently become fascinated by 1962 with the discovery of my mom’s nursing cape awarded on her graduation from nursing school in 1962. I have longed to hear the stories that I didn’t know I needed about 1962. What was it like - attending school? dating my dad? starting a first job looking sharply professional in that cape?

Told in the forms of letters - we are first introduced to Patricia who is living in Saigon in the early 60s while her husband is working there. We are immediately immersed into the life of a woman in the 60s from the hairdo, to the girdle, to the role of a lovely and helpful wife. A simple garden party is presented as a bit of a battle for Patricia who here meets Charlene and her daughter Rainey (who is the recipient of Patricia’s letters and who responds back later in the novel). Our journey through Vietnam culture (through the experiences of white women) begins.

Cringey moments abound as Patricia works with Charlene to “help” the Vietnamese people. In spite of the fact that she is painfully honest about her mistakes, we at least have the privilege of hearing the story after Patricia has some time to reflect. I’m not sure if she has achieved or even needed absolution.

Since it has been the summer of Barbie, the inclusion of the Saigon Barbie element seems timely. Through her we get a sense of how Charlene works, get to know Li, and get a throughline to the end of the novel. She quickly becomes a symbol of Charlene’s thoughtlessness and Patricia’s confusion. And then she shows up in a plastic container in a closet. (Oh the things we keep!) I appreciate how well McDermott creates an innocent/unreliable narrator, highlighting the complexity of her transformation further. The setting here is so fully alive as well. From the oppressive heat to the horrific nature of the asylum for lepers, I felt very immersed in the landscape and time era of the novel. I read the audio version read by Jesse Vilinski - she does a superb job of bringing the content to life.

I have just recently also completed Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. As with Tom Lake, I value how the author explores the realization and impact of slices of one’s life. I am fascinated by how Charlene enters her time in Vietnam, what she learns there, and how she reflects on it much later on in her life. That’s what makes McDermott’s writing so good for me. I am challenged not only by the content of the novel - which is difficult - difficult time in history, for women, for the US, for the Vietnamese, but also by what she makes me see in my own life during the current time. This book challenges me to reckon with my own preconceived notions. So the cool thing here is that the reader gets insight into history, insight into relationships, and/or insight into themselves - wherever the novel takes him or her. Reminds me why reading is so cool.