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The Maytrees

Jennie Camp, Special to The Rocky

Published June 29, 2007 at midnight

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Plot in a nutshell: The story line of Dillard's novel is deceptively simple: Toby Maytree and Lou Bigelow fall in love when Toby returns home to Cape Cod after World War II. Toby writes poetry, Lou paints and they love each other warmly until the day that Toby announces he's moving to Maine with another woman, whom he later marries. Two decades later, he returns, humbled by life's tides and hoping that Lou's kindness will wash clean the mistrust.

Somehow Dillard allows the Maytrees' love to surpass the menial bounds of time and space, giving Lou a calm repose when Toby returns, asking of Lou what few would ever dare to ask. We sense its enormity, and yet Toby remains befuddled nearly to his death about his role in their relationship. Has he loved Lou? Did he love Deary, his second wife? What markers suggest whether we love or need or simply react?

As Toby realizes late in the novel, something about Lou's depths puzzles and even torments him: "Perimeters edged Deary, and the girls of his youth, and for that matter himself and everyone he knew. Lou held nothing back, and he knew he never reached it all."

Sample of prose: During their early days, Lou mulls the beauty of her and Toby's love: "Theirs was too much feeling to push through the crack that led down to the dim world of time and stuff. That world was gone. They held themselves alert only in those few million cells where they touched. She learned from those cells his awareness and his courtesy. Love so sprang at her, she honestly thought no one had ever looked into it. Where was it in literature? Someone would have written something. She must not have recognized it. Time to read everything again."

Pros: Dillard's prose is rich, as is her dive into the too-often-shallow waters of love and deception. As Lou herself insists, the love she shares with Toby is something fresh, undiscovered and certainly worthy of our exploration.

Cons (though some may consider this a "pro"): Dillard's prose is far too intelligent and poetic to allow for the light skim that many love stories permit. The Maytrees is a slim volume that begs a slow, lingering read.

Final word: Dillard is perhaps best-known for her 10 nonfiction books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. It's been 15 years since her first novel, The Living, but for fans who have awaited a second story, The Maytrees will not disappoint.