The Grossmans are "an archetypal leftist family." Ben Grossman's socialist politics becomes a liability in 1953 when Senator McCarthy is targeting communist sympathizers. It was time for him to leave his job in the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
Ben had dreamed of being a writer, but with a wife and children to support, his only option is to pass the New York State bar and open a law practice. Long Island, NY is burgeoning with post-war housing in new suburban communities, the perfect place to start his practice.
His wife Addie, however, longs for the excitement of the city. She gave up enough for her marriage and hardly remembers who she was. She never bargained for the sterility and conformity of the suburban desert. Ben and Addie's marriage has been coming apart for a long time, and this decision is one more indication of its disintegration.
Ben and Addie and the kids move in with Ben's folks while they find housing.
Ben's dad tells his grandkids stories of the Cossacks driving his family to find shelter in America. To make ends met, he built a business selling knock-off fashion apparel. Now with heart problems, he wants out, but it comes at a price.
A Long Island Story is a study of a family in crisis, caught in a time when people have an "insatiable need for someone to blame" and a craving for "something to fear and a leader to protect them from it." Addie thinks, "The next thing you knew one of them would be in the White House, as good old H. L. Mencken had predicted thirty years ago: a moron."
Ben must decide on what he really values. Addie must decide what she is willing to give up. And their children must learn to walk the narrow line between personal values and societal demands.
Author Rick Gekoski was inspired by his own family story, based on his childhood memories, liberally fictionalized.
I enjoyed the detailed description of the time, but this is not historical fiction as much as the story of a marriage. The novel is character-driven with psychological insight.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
A Long Island Story
by Rick Gekoski
Canongate Books US
Pub Date 13 Jul 2018
ISBN 9781786893420
