Ever drive over the Veterans Memorial Bridge in the dead of winter and instinctively look out over Chautauqua Lake to see if there are any boaters out? It’s a seasonal thing. Chautauqua is a county defined by seasons, each with its own character and its own beauty. As the evenings fall ever earlier, you may find yourself thinking wistfully of those boats out on the lake and those endless summer days. If that’s the case, we’ve got a book for you: Wish You Were Here.
On one level, Wish You Were Here is a meticulous character study of a family at a crossroads. After the family patriarch dies, members of the Maxwell family meet for one last summer vacation at their cottage on Chautauqua Lake.
On another level, Wish You Were Here is a nostalgic postcard of the summer season in the Chautauqua area. Author Stewart O’Nan has vacationed on Chautauqua Lake since he was a boy and his knowledge of, and appreciation for, Chautauqua Lake and it's landmarks is evident and, somehow, reaffirming.
The characters get the full Chautauqua Lake summer experience: having dinner at Webb’s Resort, watching the Stow Ferry, stopping at Hogan’s Hut, walking around the Chautauqua Institution, buying rotisserie chickens at Lighthouse Point Grocery, taking a trip to Panama Rocks, spending a rainy afternoon at the Book Barn, the list goes on. The references aren’t forced or gratuitous. O’Nan has clearly spent time around the lake and has a reverence for the area.
O’Nan is a keen observer and a fearless storyteller. He deftly portrays the struggles of family members as they weigh their shared past with their uncertain futures. His style is subtle. His well-developed characters are multi-dimensional: at once strong and flawed, clear and complex.
The book is full of small moments that are powerful in their universality. We can relate. And when those small moments happen to take place while rocking the afternoon away on the Lenhart Hotel’s front porch…well, we can relate all the more.
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TAGS
Wish You Were Here, Stewart O'Nan, Chautauqua Lake, novel, landmarks, seasons, book, author, book review |
