The Bottom Line
Pros
- Groff’s characters and story are utterly compelling and bewitching
- 'The Monsters of Templeton' shifts between contemporary narrative and historical flashbacks
Cons
- Groff’s story loses some steam towards the end
Description
- Willie Upton returns to her hometown of Templeton to sort out her life after a disastrous affair.
- Willie goes on a historical and genealogical hunt to find the identity of her father.
- A mysterious sea monster lives in the nearby Lake Glimmer, giving the book its title
- 'The Monsters of Templeton' by Lauren Groff was first published by Voice in 2008
Guide Review - 'The Monsters of Templeton' by Lauren Groff - Book Review
Lauren Groff’s debut novel, The Monsters of Templeton, is based on Groff’s hometown of Cooperstown, New York and draws heavily on the works of James Fenimore Cooper, the famous 19th-century novelist whose family founded Cooperstown. Don’t be intimidated, though: knowledge of Fenimore Cooper is not required to appreciate this astonishingly well-crafted novel.Willie Upton is a not-unfamiliar character in contemporary literature -- a young, well-educated woman who returns to her mother’s house after a disastrous love affair. However, Groff’s deft writing and obvious love for Cooperstown turn Willie’s story into something unique and memorable. The atmosphere Groff has created practically vibrates off the page; there’s something so inviting about the world of Templeton and all its characters.
The novel’s structure centers on Willie’s explorations of her ancestors through their diaries, their letters, and the novels of Jacob Franklin Temple, the novel’s version of James Fenimore Cooper. A few of the passages in The Monsters of Templeton are narratives from Fenimore Cooper’s characters, which will intrigue fans of his work. Even for those who have never read Fenimore Cooper, though, Templeton is a town worth visiting.
