If ever a novel was destined to be heralded as the ultimate summer read, it is this one. Set in a sultry American beach town in 1984, Liza Klaussmann aims for dreamy intoxication with every line. Three former friends return to their hometown, Wonderland, to pick through the debris of their complex relationships, former hurts and glories, and to consider the possibilities for a redemptive third act. As teenagers they had fled to LA and against all odds established a hugely successful record label before everything, inevitably, fell apart.
The dissection of the intimate dynamics between these characters is where this novel most successfully delivers. If Klaussmann had dedicated the narrative to a deeper exploration of these central relationships, the novel may have felt more cohesive and robust. Instead, a spiralling out to include a secondary set of characters, frequent jumps in the timeline, and constantly shifting points of view all contribute to an unsettled reading experience that distances, rather than engages, the reader.
When Klaussmann allows the story to unfold without interference, it finds a more compelling rhythm. Too much time, however, is spent labouring over excruciating details that don’t serve the story, enhance characterisation or capture the world of the book in a dynamic way. This tendency to over-describe, along with excessive detailing of the weather, the sounds of summer and a dedication to repetitious, rich, atmospheric prose, weakens rather than strengthens the text.
Occasionally there is a perfect detail, sensation, or observation that stood alone would have had so much more power. It is interesting, however, to see the intertextuality at play that comes with the filming of Moby Dick at Wonderland as Klaussmann is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Herman Melville. To its credit, the novel does gather momentum as it progresses and becomes more confident in its structure as it reaches its conclusion.
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For those nostalgic for the mood and soundtrack of the 80s, there is ample material here to transport them to another time and place. A restless summer novel, readers looking for escapism, or longing for another chance to reignite sparks from the past, may find what they are looking for here.
