- If Jack’s in Love was published September 29, 2011
- Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
- 368 pages
The backdrop of If Jack’s in Love is a quaint southern neighborhood nestled in Virginia in 1967. Jack Witcher is "one of them." You see, despite his smarts and general niceness, Jack is an outcast due to his unfortunate affiliation with the Witchers. His mother is not a handsome woman and his father and older brother, Stan, act and live in ways that provide the family with the label "trash." It doesn’t help that Jack’s father’s collection of junk litters their sparse lawn and that the house has a chipped and wasting away paint job.
The story begins with the elder Witcher losing his job and getting into a fight with a neighbor. Soon, Jack finds his father at home on the couch watching soap operas all the time. Because of this, Jack's homely mother has to begin work as a cashier at a local market where her boss continues to make eyes at her. Stan, Jack's older brother, indulges in his hippie mentality and love for lust while also bristling with a dangerous temperament.
I can’t lie. I laughed uproariously through the first 100 pages of If Jack’s in Love. Jack’s narrative voice is pitch perfect for describing his dad and brother’s shenanigans and the chapters whiz by like a light summer breeze. As Jack begins to share about his first love interest, Myra, with his only friend, the local Jewish jeweler, Moses Gladstein, the novel feels like a perfect summer escape.
But then Wetta brings in the darkness. Circumstances, like Stan, begin to boil when he is accused of the disappearance and possible murder of Myra’s older brother, the golden child of the neighborhood. This complicates Jack’s relationship with Myra, and their adolescent puppy love world is soon darkened again by the storm of family feuds, class issues and teenage angst.
Wetta has a deft touch at balancing the laugh out loud moments with some of the darker plot twists. All the characters feel authentic in their motives, words and actions throughout, and Jack’s relationship with his family members, Gladstein and Myra are written with compassion and heart. Some of the best scenes are between Jack and Mr. Gladstein at the jewelry shop as they to discuss ways Jack can win Myra's love.
My only harp against the novel is the downer of an ending. In fact, even Jack’s even keeled voice changes and becomes bitter in the last chapter. Perhaps that was Wetta’s point -- even the best of us can get soiled by humans’ bad behavior toward each other. But I was hoping that, even after all that he had to go through, Jack would find some peace and contentment. The last scene with him and his father leaves a cold ache where a novel of this style feels like it should put a warm blanket over the heart rather than tear the sheets away.
In any case, Stephen Wetta is an author to watch and If Jack’s in Love is a worthy read for 2011.
Reading If Jack's in Love for book club? Use these book club discussion questions on If Jack's in Love.
