Night Train Blues

Overcoming several cliches of plot and character, Hower's third novel (after The New Life Hotel and Wolf Tickets) is a coming-of-age story that offers a penetrating and graceful examination of a dysfunctional upper-class Connecticut family. Narrator Jerrett (Jerry) Langley recalls when, as a sensitive young boy, he tried to deal with his parents' fractured marriage in the quiet postwar bedroom community of Ridge Haven. His mother has turned to alcohol in response to the marital shortcomings of her husband, a philandering Wall Street businessman who takes a rigid and repressed approach to home life. Jerry finds comfort in the companionship of the family nanny, Miss Gilly, while his older brother, Robert, rebels with a vengeance. After joining the Air Force, he goes AWOL and takes to the road to live the hard life of a hobo. Pivotal events include the fateful party at which Jerry's mother learns of her husband's infidelity; her subsequent suicide attempt; a family vacation in which the parents take Jerry to Haiti to conceal their firing of Miss Gilly; and Robert's final reappearance in Ridge Haven. Despite the tiredness of this terrain, Jerry's eye for emotional detail slowly imbues the familiar with depth and an unexpected clarity, culminating in a powerful vision of hope and acceptance. (June)