Some people are lucky enough to fall in love at young age and know early on that the other person is their soul mate, the one they’re meant to be with forever. But sometimes circumstances beyond their control drive the couple apart, leaving each person to wonder what might have been. So when fate then brings them back into contact with each other some three decades later, don’t they owe it to themselves to reconnect and get a taste of what they’ve missed out on for the past 30 years? That’s precisely what Charles Callahan and Sian Richards do in Anita Shreve’s 1993 novel Where or When.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): When 45-year-old insurance salesman Charles Callahan opens the Sunday paper and sees a photo of 46-year-old poet Sian Richards in an ad for her latest book, he immediately knows the face. Sian was Charles’ first true love — a full 31 years ago when the two met as teenagers at a week-long summer camp. They formed a deep, special bond during their week together, but since they lived three states apart, they didn’t keep in touch. As a result, both went on with their lives, married other people and had families without giving much thought to each other in the intervening time.
But after Charles sees Sian’s picture, he does something impulsive: he buys stationery and a fountain pen, and sends a letter to her publisher, hoping that it will be forwarded to the poet. It is, and the two immediately fall into a regular, breathless correspondence that is clearly headed towards a whole lot more. Indeed, it’s not hard for Charles to convince Sian to meet him — at an inn that now stands where their old camp used to — and a torrid affair soon follows.
Charles becomes completely consumed by the affair, to the point where he neglects almost every aspect of his home life. His business continues to sink into oblivion, his house is on the verge of being foreclosed, and he barely even takes notice of his wife or children. Sian fares little better in her efforts to pretend that everything is normal. Before long, the two begin to discuss whether or not it would be possible to leave their spouses to be with each other. Charles doesn’t think he could survive any other way; Sian is not so sure she can go through with it.
The rest of the novel continues in this vein, with the main characters reveling in each other’s presence while at the same time trying to figure out how they can prolong their time together. Things come to a head with the spouses, before a surprise ending seals their fate for good.
My Reaction: I did not like this book at all, for several reasons. First, I thought the main characters were incredibly selfish and cloying, not to mention a bit difficult to take seriously. I mean, do people really fall so totally and completely in love at age 14 (in the span of one week, no less) that the experience colors the rest of their lives? And if so, then why didn’t Charles and Sian make an effort to stay in touch? Sure, they lived three states away from each other, and there was no Facebook, IM, or email back then, but they definitely could have exchanged snail mail addresses and telephone numbers, right? The fact that they didn’t, despite both of them crying all the way home because they were being separated, rang completely false with me.
Another reason I didn’t like this novel was for the way the adult versions of the main characters acted. They both immediately jumped into the affair, and Charles in particular acted like a lovestruck teenager more than an adult, what with the way he was completely consumed by thoughts of Sian 24/7. From the moment he wanted to drink champagne and picnic out in the snow with nary a heated blanket in sight, I knew he was doomed. He didn’t even make a pretense of going through the motions in his regular life… all he did was hole himself up in his study, ignoring his entire family, while writing letters and making tapes for Sian. Give me a break. And that stunt about mailing the freakin’ shirt off his back to her? What an eyeroll moment!
Don’t even get me started about how one-dimensional the spouses were, especially Charles’ wife. How could she not know that the mortgage wasn’t being paid or that something was up with Charles? Doesn’t she look at the checking account once in a while? Doesn’t she ever answer the phone when the bill collectors call? Doesn’t she ever see the bills marked “Past Due”? Doesn’t she ever corner Charles and demand answers when he’s acting strangely? Apparently not… at least until the end when Shreve is good and ready for the confrontation scene.
Speaking of the ending, well there’s another thing I didn’t like. A car crash? Really? That just made it seem like Shreve didn’t know where to take the characters from there, and figured wiping out Charles would relieve her of that responsibility.
There’s no question that Shreve is a terrific writer and can tell a story in a compelling, well-paced manner. But in this particular case, the story itself wasn’t all that great to begin with. I recommend steering clear of Where or When in favor of other Shreve titles.
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