THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2019 // 19
BOOKMONGER
Novel spoofs leisure class in wacky island idyll
Evan James may have
been born in Seattle, but
in peripatetic pursuit of his
writing career he’s roamed
from the Iowa Writers’
Workshop to fellowships
in Bulgaria and the state of
Georgia, a teaching gig in
New Zealand and side trips
to Southeast Asia.
Although now settled
in New York, James chose
the Puget Sound region
for the setting of his debut
novel, “Cheer Up, Mr.
Widdicombe.”
This modern comedy
of manners focuses on a
wealthy family that has just
relocated from the Bay Area
to Bainbridge Island.
Carol Widdicombe
hopes that this move will
do her husband good — she
believes Frank is depressed.
(In fact, he has been sulk-
ing some because an annual
retreat with his guy pals at a
country home in France had
to be called off this year.)
For her part, Carol
engages in a lavish inte-
rior renovation of their new
island place to achieve just
the right note of rustic ele-
gance, and she hires Marvel-
ous Matthews, a recovering
alcoholic, to supervise the
THIS WEEK’S BOOK
”Cheer Up, Mr. Widdi-
combe” By Evan James
Atria Books – 288 pp — $26
overhaul of the garden.
Over the course of the
summer she also welcomes
in an assortment of guests to
cheer up her husband.
Their gay artist son is
back from a year spent
abroad — inconveniently,
however, he is moping,
too, having left an Alba-
nian amour behind. (“If this
is survival, give me extinc-
tion!” he laments with
hyperbolic fl air.)
Carol’s friend, New
Age author Gracie Sloane,
comes for an extended stay
to immerse herself in the
carefully curated bucolic
atmosphere and to work on
a new project about living
authentically.
Michelle is the Widdi-
combe’s effi cient, live-in
assistant. And Bradford,
Frank’s tennis partner and
an aspiring, substance-abus-
ing screenwriter, also seems
to be a fi xture.
This cast of characters
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offers plenty of opportunity
for alliances, romance, mis-
understandings and comic
melodrama. But to be hon-
est, the stray cat that moves
in probably has the most
impact on Frank’s improv-
ing attitude.
James’ writing is a sty-
listic mashup — there
are notes of Noel Cow-
ard’s archness and Maria
Semple’s madcap mania,
and maybe a dash of Jona-
than Evison’s humanity.
Readers will wade
through an awful lot of
internal dialogue, under-
taken by all of the charac-
ters at various points. There
are some laugh-out-loud
revelations, but the self-in-
dulgent refl ection can also
become tedious. This is the
leisure class, and the pacing
is sedate.
The author makes some
gaffes that will be obvious
to Northwest readers.
At one point he writes
that the summer sun sets
behind Mt. Rainier —
although that iconic volca-
nic cone is to the southeast
of Bainbridge Island. And
his characters discuss how
marijuana is legal for medic-
inal purposes — although
Washington was one of the
fi rst states that legalized its
recreational use.
There are other errors,
too, that made their way into
print.
While this novel has
plenty of eccentric charm,
that cannot mask the weak-
nesses that sometimes crop
up in the story.
“Cheer Up, Mr. Widdi-
combe” traces a veritable
rainbow of character arcs.
Ultimately, this zany sum-
mer on Bainbridge Island
proves to be a transforma-
tional experience for all.
The Bookmonger is Bar-
bara Lloyd McMichael,
who writes this weekly col-
umn focusing on the books,
authors and publishers of
the Pacifi c Northwest. Con-
tact her at bkmonger@
nwlink.com