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Modern Lovers: Emma Straub’s Hide and Seek of the Heart
The newest novel from the author who brought us The Vacationers is a story about growing up and coming into our own—and then doing it again in mid-life. Emma Straub’s Modern Lovers features a set of college friends now in their forties: Elizabeth and Andrew, who are married, and Zoe, who is married to her longtime partner, Jane. Way back in the ‘90s when they were students at Oberlin, Zoe, Elizabeth, Andrew, and their friend Lydia made up alternative band named Kitty’s Mustache. They were angsty, full of rage at the status quo, and nearly all sleeping together—you know, college kids. Fast forward a couple of decades later, and Elizabeth, Andrew, and Zoe have put down roots within shouting distance of one another in post-hipster Brooklyn. As for Lydia, she became alternative royalty and then tragically passed away at a young age. When some Hollywood producers come around wanting the remaining band members to sign off on a biopic about Lydia, old tensions begin to resurface.
Elizabeth and Andrew have been together ever since their halcyon days at Oberlin, and now have a son. Harry is a sensitive 17-year-old who is wise beyond his years. Zoe and wife Jane have a child of their own—a spirited girl named Ruby, who is a year ahead of Harry at the artsy private school that both attend. Ruby is brooding, spontaneous, and dating someone else—a combination Harry cannot seem to resist. As Ruby and Harry’s childhood friendship edges toward something more, their parents’ long-hidden worries and resentments slowly emerge. Soon, it becomes clear that there is a great deal between the lifelong friends that remains unresolved. While Elizabeth and Andrew’s marriage seems idyllic at first look, the two often come face to face with the fact that neither knows the other as well as they once thought. Jane and Zoe are no less complicated—their intense bond is punctuated by periods of deep uncertainty. Zoe and Elizabeth have been best friends for years, but they suddenly find themselves struggling to find common ground, and the tension that has always existed between Andrew and Zoe threatens to ignite a firestorm. All the while, Ruby and Harry are fighting to make their own mark on the world—testing out rebellion, individuality, musical taste, and questionable fashion choices, just as their parents once did.
Straub does an expert job of showing us the parents through the eyes of their children and vice versa. The juxtaposition of the two points-of-view is an artful device, and one laced with paradox. The parents seem to be constantly lamenting the foolhardiness of youth—saying, in effect, “Please don’t make decisions you won’t be able to reverse, because you don’t even know who you are yet.” The irony being that the parents themselves often struggle to know who they are—and often reach back in time for the identities they each crafted during young adulthood.
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If the first question of Modern Lovers is, “Who am I,” the second is surely, “Who are you?” The friends (and lovers) have as difficult a time figuring one another out as they do themselves. Each person constantly questions whether the other is the same person they married or befriended years ago. The thing is—it’s not clear whether or not it would be a good thing if they were. This theme is repeated throughout the parent-child relationships as well, with each parent wondering what happened to the sweet, loving toddler that used to inhabit the space now reserved for a surly teenager. The teens, too, wonder where their uncomplicated, nurturing parents have gone, and why they have been replaced with needy malcontents in the throes of mid-life crises.
While these characters are compelling, it is important not to confuse “compelling” with “likable.” These characters are often downright irritating—they are self-absorbed beyond measure, considerably privileged, and decidedly unaware of either fact. Yet, somehow, they are intensely relatable. Each persona is so well-crafted, so believable and vulnerable in her or his imperfections, that the reader can’t help but identify with them all. In sum, Modern Lovers offers a unique window into a particular cultural time and place—with characters that promise to remain memorable well into the future.
Modern Lovers is on shelves now.