Lauren B. Davis is one of my favourite authors; she consistently challenges and engages me with her books, and her latest is no exception. Even So explores the “challenge and necessity of loving difficult people,” something we can all relate to. As Lauren says in the introduction to her novel, “it’s relatively easy to love people who’ve been harmed, but what about those who do harm?”
Angela has everything she could possibly want: money, a husband, a son she adores, a beautiful house, an expensive hobby, and a volunteer position at the food pantry. But since her son Connor had gone off to boarding school she’d been feeling restless.
She had wanted all these things she had, had wanted exactly this way of life, and she had it. So now, having accomplished so much, she thought with a snort, what was she to do with this one life–with the years to come?
And for the last few years, she’s felt the increasing distance between herself and her husband, Philip. “In fact, the extent of her distaste for the man to whom she was married came as a bit of a shock. She could just about manage sex after a bottle of burgundy on a Saturday night had put a little Vaseline on the lens, but, in the full-on glare of morning’s bathroom light? No. No, she very much did not want to have sex with Philip… No wife should be thinking this about her husband. But there it was.” So when Carsten showed up at the Pantry one day and showed interest in Angela, she was ready to risk it all. Being with Carsten was “all she could think of, even while the sounds of her husband’s mourning clawed up the stairs and clung to her clothes.”
How reckless she was with all the fragile things she held.
Sister Eileen runs the Pantry and has been watching Angela, noticing her lateness for shifts, her obvious attraction to the new landscaper. When Angela comes to her for guidance, she remains outwardly non-judgemental, but struggles internally with the way she really feels about Angela. How can she convince Angela of God’s love for her when she doubts her own? Especially after the tragedy caused by Angela’s carelessness.
The nun shut her eyes, begging God to tamp down the fires of her disapproval.
As a mother, Angela’s story is painful to contemplate. (“Connor slid into the shade cast by her desire. She could barely make him out in the shadows.”) As I read, I was thanking my lucky stars that Angela’s life was not my own. Of course, we all want to believe we wouldn’t make the same mistakes as others, but how can we be so sure we wouldn’t? And if we were to make similar mistakes/choices, we would want to know someone loved us anyway, wouldn’t we? As Lauren B. Davis says in an interview with All Lit Up, “I believe love should not be dangled as a reward for good behavior. We love, and are loved, because love is a tool of mutual healing.”
Even So is not a fairy tale with the proverbial happy ending; it’s a realistic exploration of what carelessness can look like in the real world. But it’s also a story of forgiveness and redemption against enormous odds.
In a review of Even So at The Miramichi Reader, Ian Colford states that “Readers may not like Angela Morrison, but Lauren Davis ensures they will be captivated by her story.” When is the last time you were captivated by a story with a protagonist who is hard to like?
Other books by Lauren B. Davis that I’ve written about here: The Empty Room, Our Daily Bread, Against a Darkening Sky, The Grimoire of Kensington Market, and The Radiant City
Consumed by Ink 
This sounds like a candidate for your Literary Wives series. Not available in the UK but I live in hope.
You’re right – a great one for LW!
Do you know if any of her books are available there?
Apparently they are so I’ll add this one to my list. Often, I can only get something like this through Amazon who are dead to me!
Hooray!!
This sounds like a very absorbing story raising difficult issues. I’m unfamiliar with Lauren Davis but I’ll keep an eye open for her work.
Yes, you should! I have loved all her books. I just have a couple of older ones left to read. As well as many new ones to come, I hope!
This sounds really well done Naomi, I’d not heard of this author before but will keep an eye out now.
She’s well worth keeping an eye out for!
One of the qualities of her fiction that I really admire is her compassion towards her characters; maybe some of them are prickly (who among us isn’t, sometimes?) or contradictory (same), but the way she tells the story gives us readers the option of reflecting on our own behaviour and decision-making, an invitation not a condemnation.
I think you’ve only missed one novel along the way…The Stubborn Season…or did you read that one and forget to link it…and some stories. Nearly a complete record: would you say she’s a MustReadEverything author for you?
She is, for sure! And I think you’re right: The Stubborn Season and two short story collections (I think!). They are also the ones I can’t get from the library. Halifax has two of them, but I can’t request from Halifax online – I have to fill out a form. One of these days I’ll remember to do that…
Always her characters are flawed in some way, or lots of ways. But she always makes me care about them. That’s also the reason I imagine Lauren must be a kind person IRL. 🙂
Ohhh this sounds good – you know i like a good marriage story! It’s been on my shelf for awhile so I need to dive in 🙂
I saw today on Goodreads that you are reading it – yay!
And I loved it Naomi! Review coming soon.
🙂
This sounds too intense for me but she definitely raises some interesting questions about the nature of love. I’m trying to think of an unlikeable protagonist that captivated me – many contemporary thrillers feature a main character who is unlikeable and does the STUPIDEST things – but often the plot will sweep my up anyway!
I don’t read a lot of thrillers, but I know what you mean. In a story with a plot that sweeps you away, characters who do stupid things are forgivable!