Leeway Cottage

This was the one of the two books i took for the plane ride to chicago, not knowing what my mood would be. the other was The Devil Wears Prada which ended up winning out for the plane ride itself. but the book that i read upon arrival, lying on the floor because i didn't have a bed, was this beautiful, elegiac narrative of family and a place that occupies their hearts.


Beth Gutcheon has apparently composed multiple narratives around the characters who form the social world of this novel, but this is the only one i've found so far. eastern establishment meets new york/cosmopolitan bohemian and falls in love. annabee become sydney, abandons her cosseted life and uptight society mother to marry the danish pianist who accompanies her singing lessons in her new life in new york. world war two dawns and laurus (the pianist) cannot leave his family in denmark to their fate, so joins the danish resistance based in london, while sydney has their first child and builds a home for them in new york. threaded throughout is the maine summer home that has always stayed in annabee's heart, the musical community that resides nearby, and the growing circle of friends brought to the cottage by each. it is a beautifully haunting tale of family lost and found, love that changes in inexplicable ways, and the growth that can only take place across generations.

the story of the danish resistance is one that i had not known before reading this book and which provides fascinating insight into how a people could come together to protect their own. though laurus must stay in london, we are given his family's story as they struggle to save themselves and their friends across the sea. theirs is the story i wanted more than sydney/annabee's and laurus and his sister are the characters i found myself most attached to, but in her imperfections, sydney provides a remarkable representative of a certain american lifestyle during the same period that is unexpected and poignant. it's a story awkwardly couched in the memories of sydney and laurus's children, but i found it both deeply touching and very informative despite my dislike of its structure at times.