Phillips, Jayne Anne Lark & Termite
Vintage see Random 2009 282p 14.95
978-0-375-70193-1 hs/adult VG-BN
Alternating between two story lines detailing a six-day period in July nine years apart, “Lark and Termite,” juxtaposes small town life for teenaged Lark and her physically/mentally challenged brother Termite against their father’s last tour of duty in Korea. This is a reissue of a title that was a National Book Award Finalist. Jayne Anne Phillips has been compared to William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, and Toni Morrison.
Overlapping plots and shifting narrative may be daunting to all but avid readers. Two story lines parallel a six-day period in July. One takes place in 1950, when Lark’s father serves a tour of duty in Korea. The other takes place nine years later, during which Lark details the struggle her life is in a small West Virginia town.
Alternating between the two story lines, Lark knows little of either parent and struggles to raise her mentally and physically disabled blind brother, Termite. Social Services is constantly threatening to take Termite away. This situation is juxtaposed with the last hours of Robert Leavitt, stationed in Korea in 1950.
The characters are richly, intimately detailed. Of particular note are the observations made by Termite, who is mute and Lark, who is entering adulthood. Corporal Robert Leavitt describes the initial chaos that introduced the Korean War (a war many readers know little of beyond watching episodes of M*A*S*H*). The complicated relationship between Aunt Nonie and Lola (the mother) is also explored.
Conflict Welliver, Hilary
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