The Engagements

Author: J. Courtney Sullivan 

Publisher: Vintage, 2013

My Source: Louisville Free Public Library

Diamonds, engagements, relationships, weddings, and marriages are the themes of this book. The novel begins in 1947 depicting the life of Frances Gerety, a copy writer for the N.W. Ayer advertising company. As the author notes in the Acknowledgements, Ms. Gerety was a real person who wrote the famous tag line, “A Diamond is Forever” for the De Beers diamond company. Ironically, Ms. Gerety marketed diamonds to engaged and married couples yet she herself was never engaged nor married.

Frances ran a finger over one of her new honeymoon ads. Other women never seemed to think about what came next. They were so eager to be paired up, as if marriage was known to be full of splendor. Frances was the opposite: she could never stop thinking about it. She might go out to dinner or out dancing with someone new, and have a fine time. But when she got home and climbed into bed afterward, her heart would race with fear. If she went out with him again, then they might go out again after that. Eventually, she would have to take him home to be evaluated by her parents, and vise versa. Then he would propose. And she, like all the other working girls who had married before her, would simply disappear into a life of motherhood and isolation.

The remainder of the book bounces around between Ms. Gerety’s life and the fictional lives of four other sets of compelling characters across different decades. It almost felt like an unrelated collection of reoccurring short stories. Late in the book, the author seamlessly and artfully reveals the ways in which the stories are united. I was pleasantly surprised by the connections.     

  

The reader first meets Evelyn and Gerald, a wealthy retired couple living in the 1970’s who have been married for many years and watch their only son dissolve his marriage and family for a new love. Evelyn is disappointed in her son for many reasons including that she doesn’t believe in divorce, and because she is losing her grandchildren and the daughter-in-law she thought of as a friend.

Next up is James and Sheila, a 30-somethig married couple with two children living in the 1980’s who work too much but still struggle financially. James became an EMT because his musical career didn’t take off and subsequently feels like he never meets Sheila’s expectations.

Third is Delphine and P.J., a newly engaged couple in 2003 with a 20-year age difference trying to stay connected despite their age gap and different cultural backgrounds. Delphine, who moves from France to the United States to be with P.J., tries to assimilate, but never quite feels at home in his country.

Finally there is Kate and Dan, a committed 30-something couple in 2012 with a 3 year-old daughter and no intention of marrying despite pressure to do so from all around them. Kate’s parents’ divorce when she was a teenager soured her on the idea of ever marrying.

The author does a beautiful job of describing the settings by name dropping towns, local restaurants, and famous landmarks. I felt like I was being transported to the different places in the stories. I personally enjoyed this because one of the locations is Boston and I grew up in Walpole, a suburb of that city. One of the characters volunteers at the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, and another one eats at Papa Gino’s and shops at the South Shore Plaza.  As a self-proclaimed Francophile who visited France as a teenager, I was delighted that Paris is one of the other cities. The descriptions of the Seine and the outdoor market with fresh fruits and vegetables, wheels of cheese, and flower stalls were vibrant and alive. In addition, she highlighted the decade in which the characters lived by discussing current fads and fashions of the times. Some of these include EST meetings and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dolls in the 1980’s. One that made me laugh out loud was the real PTA pamphlet from 1970 entitled, “How To Tell If Your Child Is A Hippie And What You Can Do About It.” The place and time became as important to me as the characters’ personalities.

This book made me reminisce about my own engagement story and reflect upon my happy marriage. I truly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who believe in the institution of marriage and to those who do not. Anyone who has ever loved someone can relate to some aspect of this book.

                                                   

                                                          Rating: 5 out of 5 high fives      

           

 Bonus: According to imdb, the movie version of the book is "in development."