I actually read this book early in January and have just been very lazy in filing my review. As a result, my recollections of it are a little hazy.
The Lay of the Land is the third in a trilogy of novels centred on Frank Bascombe. I haven’t read any of the previous books and I didn’t particularly suffer for it – Ford has a way of introducing you to important information about the characters’ pasts which doesn’t feel like a recap; maybe it does if you’ve read the other two books.
Frank is fifty-five year old realtor based in Sea-Clift, New Jersey. He has a complicated marital and medical past. His daughter is a lesbian giving men a try. His son writes greetings for Hallmark cards. Life is not everything it should be.
The novel is narrated in the first person in a very amiable, laconic voice that is a delight to read. Ford has a way of making discussions of some profundity very congenial to read, and it’s easy to mistake this for frivolity or even lack of purpose. The novel includes some fairly over the top incidents that somehow feel to belong, which is skill in itself.
This is an engaging and enjoyable novel. There’s nothing wrong with that at all.
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