A review by nothingforpomegranted
The Guest Book by Sarah Blake

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book was stunning, a masterful rendition of historical family novel with shifting timelines and perspectives. The writing, particularly in the second half, was nearly lyrical, and the suspense of the story increased with each page I turned, desperate to understand the family history being revealed. This is set in three distinct timelines, primarily the latter two: 

In 1935, Kitty and Ogden Moss Milton have just lost their eldest son in a terrible accident that continues to traumatize them for the rest of their lives, though their remaining children are essentially unaware. On a whim and in an attempt at comfort, they buy an island off the coast of Maine, a quintessential New York family of the Gilded Age, summering in Maine each August for generations. 

In 1959, the Miltons have returned to the Island with their twenty-something year old children, whose adulthood and love lives and passions have shifted the energy at the island. Moss, the second son, is a musician, desperate to play music and write the new song of the nation, hoping for change and inclusivity. At the same time, he is learning to fit in the slots carved out for him, working in his father’s investment bank and preparing to inherit the Island. Joan has fallen in love with Len Levy, the man who saved her from an epileptic fit in Penn Station and who turns out to be her father’s newest superstar employee. Their love is deep and fierce, but complicated by Joan’s refusal to marry anyone and burden them with her seizures and her infertility, as well as Len’s dawning comprehension that his being Jewish impacts his place in the social world. Evelyn has most embraced the culture, joyfully planning her wedding to Dickie Pratt, from a neighboring summer island home, at the end of the summer.

In the early aughts, Joan’s daughter, Evie, and Evelyn’s children are forced to reckon with the reality that the Island may no longer be within their reach. Generations of Milton wealth have dwindled, leaving the cousins uncertain (and in disagreement) about how to proceed. Evie, the historian, is desperate to hold onto the Island precisely as it is. Despite the sound financial arguments made by her cousins and her husband, she is unwilling to let go of this place so beloved by her recently-deceased mother and so central to family lore. 

I was certainly most invested in the 1959 story, and I think I would have been happy to read a book that stuck primarily with those characters; however, Blake artfully drew parallels between the stories, making connections for the reader that only very slowly became clear for the characters. There was a bit of mysticism in the weaving of this story, and it pulled at my heartstrings in all the right ways. A wealthy New York family is often a good starting point for a book I’ll love, and this was no exception. 

If you liked…

The Age of Innocence - wealthy people behaving questionable, New York wealth as a character, place-based, Gilded Age with troubles

The Great Gatsby - the Gilded Age and unrequited love 

The Street Sweeper - shifting but overlapping timelines and perspectives that touch on race and antisemitism in profound, quiet ways