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Reviewed by Louise Leetch
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Delphine Short, red hair and freckles, just never fit in. In Justin Kramon‘s debut novel, Finny, her father expostulates with interminable quotes from Spinoza, Rousseau, and Aristotle and pops Pepto-Bismol pills.
Her mother “just got along” in their Baltimore suburb. She kept a tidy house, socialized with the neighbors and struggled to ensure that her husband’s life had as little stress as possible. Finny hated to comb her hair or, honestly, wash in general and she was incurably and inexorably sassy. Then she met her soul mate, Earl. At last, someone she could talk to, someone who shared her opinions, her outlook, and just perhaps, was as lonely as she.
Kramon has won numerous honors for his works of fiction and justifiably so. This novel takes us through Finny’s life, sometimes gently and in great detail, and then quickly fast forwards through life’s tedious bits. The love between Earl and Finny suffers more slings and arrows than your everyday romance; but then this wouldn’t be much of a story without them, would it?
When Finny’s mother hears that she has been seen kissing Earl, she packs her off to Boarding School in Massachusetts. The trauma of leaving Earl opens up a world in which Finny is surprisingly comfortable. Her Dorm Mother, Poplan, proves to be a true surrogate mother, watching out for the pitfalls eighth graders encounter. Her roommate, Judith, leads Finny down more than a few paths, not always with Finny’s best interests at heart. Judith is a delightful study in herself, well deserving of her own book.
Kramon illustrates the streets of New York, Boston and Paris as if he had lived in those cities all his life. It’s his delicious way with a phrase that makes this a great read. After a death, Finny thinks, “he’s gone now, drained from the world like bathwater from a tub.” The author’s side-splitting description of the couple who seem to be trying to out-sneeze each other will have you in hiccupping giggles.
It is a super summer book; buy it as a beach book or a rainy day book, but buy it. You can easily read it after breakfast, through lunch and finish before dinner—nap included.
Louise Leetch divides her time between Chicago and Wisconsin. Both houses are just crammed with books. She collects her reviews on her GoodReads page.