Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau

 Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau

Pulitzer Prize Winner that has not won my heart

Notes on a book say more about the one who writes them down than about the author or the novel that could be a masterpiece.
My limitations make it difficult to enjoy new books, at least in this recent period, what with spring macaws and all that.
It is also a question of very subjective, flimsy feelings, with empathy going the way of –The Executioner’s Song, The History Man and Twenty Four Hours in the Life of a Woman- to name just a few of the books that I have started lately and seem to enjoy.
Albeit I liked the first parts of Keepers of the House.
Indeed, I regret the fact that the character of the grandfather did not stay at the center, throughout the entire novel.
His adventures in the swamp have conquered me and I was sure that this book will be very much to my liking.
Wrong.
For this beloved character of mine, if not abandoned, makes room for a young Native American that he meets.
Then we follow what happens to the new family resulting from the relationship between the rather older man and the young
It must be stated again that it is not in any way the fault of the book.
There is nothing wrong that I can think of.
Now that I look at the description of the book, as available online, I read about the outraged community.
They were upset that the main character William Howland has intimate relations with the black maid, Margaret Carmichael.
This is not a reason for me to dislike the novel, on the contrary.
In fact I have read and sympathized with their plight, when one of the children is sick and the doctor has qualms:
-          People here will avoid me
-          Well
-          If they find out that I have treated a Negro
-          Damn them
This is not the dialogue, but just what I have left as a message in my head and I was outraged by the racism.
And the scheme that was concocted was very much to my liking.
They devised a strategy that would keep the story teller in bed, for she is white and then they would claim she was the one treated by the doctor.
William Howland makes a bet that he will find the laboratory where illegal alcohol is prepared, somewhere in the middle of a swamp.
Notwithstanding the difficulty, the gritty man finds the place, with some luck and helped by a skinned animal.

In different circumstances I probably would have loved the whole book.

As it is, I just loved the chapters with William Howland inside.

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