Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
An Ohio mother thinks about her four children, husband, cats, and chickens as she bakes numerous tartes tatins for nearby eateries. As well as her personal regrets and America’s disgraceful past. She is surrounded by people obsessed with open carry, phony news, dead lakes, and a ton of internet advice on how to survive, perform the duties of a veil toss, and become more like Jane Fonda. But what happens when you keep stepping on your son’s toy tractors, your survival depends on stolen land and broken treaties, and no one, not even the Abominable Snowman, comes to your aid when you have a flat tire on the interstate. When can you start using profanity?
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
72 used from $2.09
Free shipping
Amazon.com
Ducks, Newburyport opens up a terrifying and humorous world for you to explore with a stream of consciousness and irresistible warmth. This work is both heresy and a revolution in the novel because it is a heartbreaking critique of American barbarism and a lament for how we are blundering into an environmental disaster.
In a single nearly 1,000-page sentence, a middle-class housewife from northeastern Ohio tells the tale of her life, her family, and her thoughts on the atrocities of contemporary Trumpian America. Instead, her thoughts are divided by commas and the phrase “the fact that,” whether they are about the Open Carry nutters, the pies the narrator bakes in her home business, spousal abuse, or trying to get someone to stop and assist her to mend her flat tire in the middle of a snowstorm. As strange as that may sound, the cadence and atmosphere it produces make the narrator’s thoughts fascinating. I found it quick and simple to read.
Both the characters created by Ellmann and the plot that gradually develops are totally credible. Since she is defined by the inner monologue that we all have but few ever give voice to, the primary (unnamed) character is as realistic a person as you are ever likely to encounter in fiction. Like all of us, she finds life to be both tough and thrilling. Despite having a life confined by her family, job, and house, she is actively interested in the world and the opinions of others, particularly those with whom she disagrees. She is a strong introvert who internalizes situations that make her feel stressed, angry, or embarrassed.
