What's planned as a peaceful summer weekend instead stirs up all its
participants' insecurities in this beautifully modulated novel of
relationships, Cameron's fourth work of fiction (after the story
collection Far-Flung, 1991). John and Marian, 40ish and filthy
rich, wait in their lovely upstate New York home for the arrival of art
critic Lyle, the lover of John's half-brother and Marian's very dear
friend Tony, who died of AIDS exactly one year before. Lyle has in tow a
new partner: a poor, young, half-Indian landscape painter and waiter
named Robert who has rescued him from the severe depression that
followed Tony's death. Marian is upset that Lyle would bring a
last-minute mystery guest to this anniversary weekend and dinner party,
which will also include an Italian neighbor, Laura, herself put out by
the surprise appearance of her actress daughter, Nina. Cameron exploits
these tensions skillfully while probing his characters' vulnerabilities.
Marian is an anxious hostess and mother, fearful her baby Roland is
retarded; the reserved John feels he is too dull for company; Lyle
flounders without the support of easygoing Tony; Robert feels like a
resented intruder; and Laura believes Nina has exposed her as a pathetic
old woman. Yet Cameron has a light touch; social comedy offsets the
introspection. After a difficult dinner, the novel's climax comes when a
lovers' quarrel with Lyle prompts Robert to bolt for the city, leaving
the others to some painful reassessment. Vigor and directness save
Cameron's portrait of the chattering classes from preciosity; this fine
storyteller is wise as well as clever.
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