The Maytrees
Annie Dillard
HarperCollins
From Publishers Weekly  *Starred Review.* Lou Bigelow meets her husband-to-be, Toby Maytree, when Toby returns to Provincetown following WWII. In the house Lou inherits from her mother, they read, cook soup, play games with friends, vote and raise a child. Toby writes poetry and does odd jobs; Lou paints. Their unaffected bohemianism fits right in with the Provincetown landscape, which Dillard, who won a Pulitzer Prize for *Pilgrim at Tinker Creek*, describes with an offhand but deep historical sense. Years into the marriage, Toby suddenly decamps to Maine with another local woman, Deary Hightoe; flash forward six years to Lou reading Toby's semimonthly letters (and Deary's marginal notes) "with affectionate interest." Dillard, stripping the story to bare facts-plus-backdrop, is after something beyond character and beyond love, though she evokes Lou and Toby's beautifully. Thus, when Deary's heart falters 20 years later and Toby brings her home to Lou for hospice care, Lou puts up water for tea and gets going. She feels too much, not too little, for mere drama, although people who don't know her misread her. In short, simple sentences, Dillard calls on her erudition as a naturalist and her grace as poet to create an enthralling story of marriage—particular and universal, larky and monumental. *(June)*    Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.    From Bookmarks Magazine  Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard (*Pilgrim at Tinker Creek*, 1975) meditates on the mysteries of marriage and the nature of forgiveness in her second novel. Critics generally praised her erudite, lyrical prose; evocative descriptions of Cape Cod's landscape; and perceptive analyses of individuals and relationships. A few, however, voiced complaints: some character traits aren't believable (for example, Lou and Toby never quarrel); other plot points aren't realistic (Deary suddenly transforms herself from a nomadic beachcomber into a savvy businesswoman); and a few of Dillard's metaphors are clumsy and confusing. However, Dillard's aim-and primary success-is plumbing the depths of love, asking piercing questions, and making profound connections.   *Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.*