Old Lovegood Girls

Godwin’s disappointing latest (after Grief Cottage) examines the trajectory of a friendship between two college roommates from 1958 to late 1999. Feron Hood, secretive and self-contained, is a survivor of a tragic and abusive past and finds comfort in her relationship at the Southern Lovegood College with Merry Grace Jellicoe, a confident tobacco heiress with an open-hearted innocence. Using alternating viewpoints, correspondence between the two, and occasional scenes of reunion, Godwin tracks the push-pull dynamic of their friendship. In 1968, Feron, an aspiring writer living in New York City, grows jealous of Merry for publishing a short story in the Atlantic Monthly. Merry’s success fuels Feron’s creative impulse, while Merry is intrigued by her friend’s experiences in New York. Though Feron purloins Merry’s personal history for her own writing, Merry’s loyalty to Feron never wavers. Beyond the envy, Feron develops into a genuinely devoted friend, and eventually helps Merry with her family’s tobacco business. Repetition of language and dialogue from one scene to the next and dull descriptions of the writing process unfortunately blunt an otherwise moving reflection on long-term friendship. Godwin is not at her best here. (May)