Lives camouflaged by words

Self-discovery, melodramatic events and embracing reality are the core subjects of Deborah Copaken Kogan’s second novel, “The Red Book”. A reunion cheat sheet gives the writer both her title and structural framework — the “red book”, an unavoidable crimson book that contains updates on the lives of the alumni, is sent out before big reunions, an anniversary diary that is passed to Harvard alumni every five years asking them to update their basic information, such as address, e-mail, occupation, spouse/partner, children, if any, and a brief summary of the past half-decade of their lives, in which they can write anything they think will be of interest to their former classmates.

The novel is based on the 20th reunion of the Harvard class of 1989, where, over the weekend, the classmates’ true life stories are revealed, from careers to family and relationships.

The author centres the novel on the lives of four friends, who not only reunite to bring back memories but end up restoring their lives completely.

Addison Cornwall Hunt, a vibrant woman married to a resentful male novelist, is a trust funder living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who finds an escape hatch in art and the arms of another woman. Parenting doesn’t come naturally to her, and she rarely sets limits with her children. Her husband wrote a book that was published ten years ago and has been working on another ever since.

Clover Pace Love, home-schooled in a community by mixed-race parents, always felt miserably out of place, both among the Harvard elite and within the social situation of her prep-schooled boyfriend, Bucky. She is now married to another man and longs for a baby. Unemployed and living off her past earnings, she has a place in Manhattan and in the Hamptons.

Jane Nguyen Streeter, a Vietnamese orphan raised in the American suburbs and now based in Paris, is a “Boston Globe” journalist warped after the loss of her husband and her mother. Her first husband died in Afghanistan working on a story, and she has a child, Sophie, from the relationship. However, she is now living with Bruno and trying to decide whether to stay with him after finding out that he has recently had an affair.

Mia Mandelbaum Zane, an former actress who regrets abandoning her dreams of acting to be a stay-at-home mum, splits her time between Los Angeles and France.

Each of the women covers her life up gracefully for the alumni publication, but when reality strikes, their lives become a whole lot messier. This unforgettable ritual of class reunion acts as a catalyst for some serious life-changing actions, along with some stern soul-searching for the friends.

The author uses this framework to enlarge the lives of the graduates while constructing a collaborative dramatic comedy that entertains as it engages, moves while it excites. The author alerts the reader that no matter how much we sabotage our lives, we can always receive a second chance, thus exploring the idea of perception versus reality.

Kogan, a photojournalist and author, is famously known for her book “Shutterbabe” which detailed her years as a war photographer. “The Red Book”, on the other hand, is an “invented plot”, as Kogan says in her acknowledgments.

At her best, Kogan does a marvellous job with the characters of “The Red Book”, each one dynamic and complex. Kogan manages to tie all of them together, allowing them to reminisce on past memories but at the same time keeping alive the desire for excitement in future. The author’s arrangement of narrative style gives her miscellaneous group a uniquely personal touch. She weaves in some refreshingly comic scenes to break up the intense tension, and at the same time touches upon the familiar themes of love, loss and recovery. So the reader alternates between the role of empathiser, being in the shoes of the character, and the role of observer, dwelling emotionally on the characters. As the narrative takes them through the book, the readers soon become part of the character, and know exactly how they feel, what they are thinking and how they perceive others.

The only place where “The Red Book” falters is the length of its chapters. With only eight in the entire book, each chapter takes up a bit too many pages. The book also starts off at a very slow pace, with too much description. There are a few pragmatic twists, but they are authentic to the story, which makes it worthwhile as a whole. Yet, some readers will say that the detailed descriptions create a strong image for the reader to picture the characters clearly.

Kogan writes the story very well, with every character interesting and the book’s narrative strong enough to hold the reader’s interest till the last page. Besides the four primary characters, the book also brings in their partners, children and old friends from college, which allows the readers to not only understand each of the characters but also the environment and the people surrounding them.

Nasra Al Rahma was an intern with Gulf News.