Almost by Elizabeth Benedict

It seems I keep running into writers whose inspiration to tell their stories grows from the revelations they make at AA meetings.  Dave Robichaux, the violent and recovering hero of a series of detective novels by James Lee Burke, finds himself in meetings when his frequent life failures tempt him or drive him to drink.  Sophy Chase, the protagonist and narrator of Elizabeth Benedict’s novel Almost finds relief, to the point where the novel’s turning point takes place at an AA meeting, in hearing and telling her story. 

Sophy’s tale of love and loss and redemption takes place on a Martha’s Vineyard look alike called Swansea Island.  Sophy journeys there after learning of her estranged husband’s sudden and mysterious death.  Leaving her lover Daniel and his family in Manhattan, Sophy meets an ex-lover, his young girl friend, her estranged step-daughters, and assorted other cast members while searching for the story of Will’s death and, within it, the chance for her to rediscover herself.  Sophy, a once and future successful novelist, is perhaps at her best working as a ghost writer.  It is in discovering her own story and telling it that she enters into a world of self-discovery in the captivating island setting.  Supported by her gay friend, Henderson, whose arrival on the island sets in motion the steps to recovery, Sophy gains courage and focus as she faces the ghosts of her own past.

The book is, perhaps, a little too writerly, not literary but writerly.  Sophy is writing her story for the reader and comments about it as she goes.  She takes us into her confidence while withholding from us the truth she may be having trouble facing.  At the same time, she manages to throw in too many obvious chapter ending foreshadowing comments, the sort fiction writing teachers encourage their students to include.  Nevertheless, Almost contains some very good writing.  Benedict fills it with insights into the places where various relationships bump up against each other and make life too complex to fully understand.  Sophy’s coming to terms with the complexity and lack of closure of a life in process may be the greatest lessen she learns as a woman and hopes us to learn as readers.