The Easter Parade by Richard Yates

As acerbic as drinking vinegar and sometimes as sharp as squeezing lemon juice into a papercut, Yates wrote of the Age of Anxiety – the decades (hell, the lifetimes) where women were meant to accept the social norms of family life no matter how abnormal things might be behind closed doors. He manages to hint at something that’s going rotten in suburbia, by writing the most amazing female characters. How does he get inside their heads so expertly? How does he manage to make men seem both manipulative and pathetic? Reading this is like being in a slow motion car crash – we know it’s going to end badly but we can’t stop it. “Make better choices!!” we scream at the characters, but to no avail.

Just like his earlier Revolutionary Road pulled the rug out from under the construct of the perfect marriage, The Easter Parade looks at the dysfunction of two sisters and the different paths their lives take. It’s a short book that fast forwards through 40 years; showing the optimism of the sisters’ youths through to troubled middle age where careers turn out to be just jobs and getting beaten by your husband turns into the highlight of your day, because someone pays you some attention. It’s a book heavy with sadness and a sharp reminder for women to never take life granted; before you know it, you’re the crazy old lady who used to be pretty and coulda been a contender. The writing itself is sublime – every word is used for a reason and there is something very special about reading a book this well written. It’s taken me a while but I’m very glad I found you Mr Yates.