Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach was just the book I needed right now. A coming of age story set in South Carolina and spanning the mid-60s to the mid-70s, it's narrated by Mary Katherine Burns who we meet at the age of five and follow through to her high school days. As would be expected it's about the pains and complexities of growing up, about family and friends and relationships, but it's never trite or clichéd. I found myself completely absorbed by the story, racing all the way to the end, yet sad to turn the last page with the realization that there was no more. Although this was a complete comfort read for me, I'm hesitant to give it that label as it somehow seems to diminish the quality of storytelling, and this is an excellent story (named a Notable Book by The New York Times Book Review ), well written and deftly told.
For Kate, Ferris Beach represents everything her small hometown does not--glamor and excitement. When she first meets her seemingly sophisticated older cousin, Angela, who lives in Ferris Beach, she's taken with her and ever after constructs a secret fantasy life far more romantic than Angela's reality. She's too young to see beyond the glitter she imagines. There's an underlying tension in her family when it comes to Angela that it will take Kate years to understand.
It's when Misty Rhodes and her family move from Ferris Beach to the house across the street that she finally gets a tangible taste of the world beyond her tiny neighborhood. They become instant friends dealing with all the ups and downs life has to dish out no matter how their lives might diverge as they grow up. Misty's mother, Mo, is so unlike her own, and to a young girl attractive in a way your own mom can never be. She causes quite a stir when she puts a rock garden in her front yard instead of grass and paints her shutters a bright "peacock" blue. She's almost more a friend than a mom, cool and hip with her faded cropped jeans and painted pink toenails.
Kate's parents are an unlikely pair--she compares them to Jack Sprat and his wife. Tall and fleshy, Cleva comes from a conservative Boston family but has made her life with Alfred ("Fred") Tennyson Burns who's lovable but eccentric. While Kate's always close to her father, she feels a distance from her mother that's hard to overcome. It'll take tragic events to make Kate realize that what's behind the glitter isn't always solid and true.
I had been wondering where Jill McCorkle had disappeared to, since I never seem to hear about her (Ferris Beach was published in 1990), but I'm happy to see she has a new collection of short stories coming out this fall, Going Away Shoes (her first in eight years). Ferris Beach is also being reissued (though I'm not sure what to think of the cover design as it doesn't seem to capture the feel of the story at all). I highly recommend her. Ferris Beach is a wonderful story that's hard to put down. She knows how to tell a good story, with what felt to me, fully realized characters. Even those people not entirely likable still seemed to have some endearing quality to them. Though not at all complicated the story is nicely sophisticated and nuanced yet flows in an organic way. Some of my enthusiasm might come from the fact that this was a nostalgic sort of read as I could imagine the time and situations. Kate and Misty would have been older than me, but I still remember the days of shag carpet and matching appliances in the 'avocado' color scheme. I don't think I would ever want to go back, but it was nice revisiting! Ferris Beach will definitely be a book I pick up again.