Book Review: The Last Summer of Ada Bloom by Martine Murray

Murray, Martine. 2020. The Last Summer of Ada Bloom. Portland, OR: Tin House Books, distributed by W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-1947793613. $15.95 USD.

I will tell you right off the bat that any review I write of this book will not do it justice. I am particularly fond of coming-of-age novels, and have been since reading To Kill a Mockingbird all those years ago; so you can imagine that when I discovered that the main character, Ada, has hints of Scout Finch about her, that this book would be a surprise to me and something I enjoyed.

Set over one long, hot, dry summer in a small Australian town, it centers on the Bloom family, Martha and Mike, the parents, and Tilly, Ben, and Ada, their three children. The novel is book-ended by scenes at an old windmill that Ada finds at the beginning of the novel, and the symbolism of that is an example of the careful and thoughtful way the author has crafted her writing. Secrets are slowly revealed, and the innocence of each character is lost in some way by the end of the story. Though not always an easy read, nevertheless, this book is one I closed with a satisfied sigh, grateful to have been immersed in its pages for a little while.

The novel is light on plot, but is instead a deep examination of a family on the verge of falling apart, the slimmest strands holding them together. Ada is around 10 years old, and her life is set "just so." She roams the area around her house, with their three-legged dog, PJ, poking things with sticks and conversing with the trees she has named William Blake and Emily Dickinson. But things are changing in the family, and one act of betrayal will set in motion a narrative where cracks are revealed in all of their lives.

I loved the character of Ada Bloom. Her thoughts are beautifully rendered, and she's the best part of the book, other than the outstanding writing. Her older sister, Tilly, is also fully-developed, and reading the ups and downs of their relationship is something else I really enjoyed.  Ben is less developed, but the fact that he's his mother's favorite plays an important role in one of the unexpected twists in the novel.

Speaking of mothers, Martha was my least favorite character, and I wasn't much of a fan of the dad, Mike, either. They are deeply flawed characters, selfish and self-absorbed, and sometimes it was hard to read their stories. But each of the characters has a chance to examine deep crevices inside themselves, and they process the events of the book in a way that was understandable, if not completely satisfying.

I mentioned the writing, and here is where I will fall short in my review. I cannot write like this author does. I haven't read many that I would say can. My advanced reader copy (courtesy of the library marketing department of W.W. Norton) is highlighted, underlined, and dog-eared.  I will just give one example from Ada's voice and I think it will explain the appeal, for me, at least:

She drifted into a tender, sad mood because of the way the light and dust slowed time to a halt and opened up a soft hole of memory. And she had a sense that something had happened and would never happen again...It was the dying light that made her sad, because time died over and over again. Each day threw out its last lone note of beauty like a plaintive howl, and then it was finished.

There are pages and pages of this kind of writing that just wrapped itself around me, making me so appreciate the written word. I had been unable to read for weeks after the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic, too distracted and anxious and scared to focus on reading fiction. But when I finished The Last Summer of Ada Bloom, and turned the last page, I let out a sigh I didn't realize I had been holding.

I highly recommend this book for those who love literary fiction and exemplary writing. It may not appeal to everyone, because as I mentioned, some of the characters are fairly unlikable. But that's the way reality is: we are not always given the best parents; betrayals and tragedies occur and we have to process them; there is no stopping childhood - we have to grow up. But Martine Murray has a way with language, and I feel that I was carefully tended to by her as I was reading. "This," I thought, as I closed the book "this is why I read."

I've read a number of remarkable books published by Tin House over the last few years. I can also recommend A Key to Treehouse Living by Elliot Reed, another coming-of-age novel, but written in glossary form; Costalegre by Courtney Maum, loosely based on the lives of Peggy Guggenheim and her daughter Pegeen; and Biloxi by Mary U. Miller, in which you will meet curmudgeonly Louis and his rescue dog Layla, and be glad you did.

Happy Reading. And wash your hands.