The past seven or eight years have brought a host of post-9/11 novels. Some are good, some are bad. I like that most maintain the delicate balance of public tragedy and a new world order with people who still need to live their lives. A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore seems to almost privatize the public and publicize the private. So I've been processing it the past couple days and am still not sure what I think.
Tassie is the protagonist; a good, Midwestern girl entering her sophomore year of college as 9/11 takes place. She takes it in stride, instead worrying about what any 20 year old would worry about-- finding a job and finding a boyfriend. She takes a job as a nanny for a bourgeois yet very liberal older couple who are adopting. Sarah and Edward bring Tassie along to meet various birth mothers and finally end up with a mixed race 2-year old. From here the story takes off: Sarah becomes a mouthpiece for every liberal stereotype-- she worries about Emmie facing racism and so forms a support group of like minded (sometimes) parents. But as Tassie brings Emmie everywhere, she bears the brunt of public reaction-- is she the young mom? The baby daddy must be black (bringing positive and negative reaction). She absorbs it and meanders between her Sufism class and her boyfriend's (of dubious heritage and ethnicity himself) house, all the while forgetting that her younger brother is threatening to join the army after graduating high school.
A Gate at the Stairs is dialogue rich and Tassie's carte blanche viewpoint makes us realize our culpability with so many pre and post-9/11 social issues. It's a compelling read and a great way to get back into novels after reading so much non-fiction. It raises questions without providing answers.
This is a vague review...readers and comments welcome!
Netflix stars: 4/5
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