What to Keep Book

Throughout "What to Keep," even though the characters all reveal deep flaws that would tend not to endear them to the reader, I found myself consistently rooting for them to connect; to make the leap across the divide inbred in their relationships, and of course exacerbated by separation and literal distance.

Late in the book, Denny, the main protagonist, is trying to explain to her mother, Lily, that a play Denny had written was not about her; the explanation is going nowhere, and Lily grows more and agitated and confrontational. Finally, Denny, at last, hits the spot:

"…it's about how easy it is to screw things up with the people you love." It gets through to Lily. It connects directly to her heart, much like this book does.

So often, the relationships depicted in works of art, whether they be film, a book, a play, even a song, tend to resolve exactly and boringly right where we expect them to. That is not the case at all in this book, and at the book's conclusion, I can't imagine a reader who has made it to the final page being disappointed.

In "What to Keep," the circumstances each character is placed in call to mind the famous quote from Heraclitus: "A man's character is his destiny." Yet, each character in "What to Keep" struggles mightily, if not always willingly or successfully, with their flaws and foibles, to avoid the logical result of Heraclitus' dictum. In the end, some of the flaws are dispatched with more ease than others. But it is the struggle to truly determine in one's life what is important, what keeps us whole and at peace, and what tethers us to those we love, that is the goal. It is, as the other cliché goes, the journey that matters, and "What to Keep" is a lovely 24-year journey that leaves you emotionally entangled with the wonderful characters and holds you steady, hoping for their journeys to come to a satisfying and positive end.