Constance

March 4, 2013
In his new novel (after Trauma), McGrath demonstrates the power of his craft with a thoroughly unlikable protagonist, hell bent on not only her own destruction but also that of everyone around her, escalating a pattern of familial dysfunction that she has the power to stop, yet chooses not to. Hidden motivations cause Constance Schuyler to interfere in her sister Iris’s love life and marry Sidney Klein, an older man. As the newly wed Kleins learn a dark secret about Constance’s father, Constance’s destructive tendencies blossom into full-blown revenge. Parts of the novel are set in 1960s Manhattan, with the dark heart taking place upstate at Ravenswood, the rotting house where Constance and Iris grew up. The story, told in present tense, sometimes by Constance, sometimes by Sidney, reveals Constance as an unreliable, unlikable narrator, but a character more infuriating than tragic, and it’s difficult to understand Sidney’s motivations for wanting to save her; she doesn’t seem worth saving. Despite McGrath’s demonstrable skill, the reader will be left with mild irritation rather than catharsis. Agent: Rogers, Coleridge & White (U.K.).

January 15, 2013
Unhappy families being unhappy in their own way...again. McGrath's hyperanalytical approach to traumatic family relationships runs deep. Constance Schuyler, a cool, iconic blonde in a Hitchcock-ian mold, lives in New York. At a literary party, she meets her future husband, Sidney Klein, 20 years her senior and an intellectual professor. He's smart and analytical, and it doesn't take him long to learn of Constance's scarred relationship with her father, Morgan Schuyler, a doctor who lives up the Hudson in a quirky and depressing home called Ravenswood. (Think Manderley.) Although Constance seems to hate her father and tries to get away from him, her marriage to Sidney suggests she's looking for a father replacement (repetition compulsion complex, she wonders?). Constance's kid sister also comes to New York and gets involved with cocktail pianist Eddie Castrol. Iris is much more comfortable with her sexuality than Constance, but the older sister breaks up the relationship, leaving Iris to moon about and feel sorry for herself. Then, over one Christmas vacation, Morgan drops a bombshell--he's not really Constance's father. Her real father is the husband of the housekeeper, and he committed suicide--or perhaps was thrown under a train--shortly before Constance was born. In another strange psychological and erotic twist, Constance turns to Eddie for a brief but intense sexual relationship. Throughout the novel, McGrath moves us from Constance's to Sidney's point of view, sometimes lurching the novel forward by having them use the same words to characterize what's happening in their lives. A novel of fierce rages and great tenderness, exhausting in its emotional intensity.

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June 1, 2013

With a host of personality problems, bad memories, repressed urges, and long-standing grudges, Constance Schuyler Klein navigates a crumbling 1960s New York City. Married to professor and author Sidney Klein, whom she resents, idolizes, and compares to her distant and dominating father, Constance also meddles in the affairs of her younger sister even as they reminisce about their mother's tragic death years earlier. News of their father's physical and mental deterioration draws Constance back to the family's home north of the city, where he reveals a long-hidden secret about her past that begins her spiral downward. Haunted by memories of her mother, father, and a couple who had been previously employed by the family, Constance delves into her mysterious past and uncovers a convoluted murder story in which there are no innocent victims. VERDICT Best-selling author McGrath (The Grotesque) expertly explores and exploits the dark motives and sinister forces surrounding his characters, who are set adrift in a world they cannot comprehend. Working on multiple levels, the novel offers meaningful commentary while combining the sensibilities of Tennessee Williams and an old noir film to create something even more atmospheric, just for the fun of it.--James Coan, SUNY at Oneonta Lib.

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