Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_C/charming_billy1.asp
Contemporary Fiction New York The years following World War II with insights and flashbacks two generations before the war.
Billy and Dennis, cousins and close friends, return from the war, meet two sisters and fall in love. Billy’s girlfriend becomes an obsession for him. The entire family and his circle of friends are told over and over again how wonderful Eva is and how much in love they are with each other and how happy they will be once they can be married. However, before the wedding can take place, Eva must return to Ireland to visit her family.
Dennis, knowing Billy’s desperation to send her money for a return ticket, arranges a loan with his step-father which Billy agrees to repay by working in the step-father’s shoe store at the rate of $1.00 per hour. The money is sent along with shoes for her and her mother and sisters. Billy receives no acknowledgement of the money or the shoes and is beside himself with worry.
Meanwhile, Eva’s sister, Mary and Dennis are still dating. Mary receives a letter from her sister telling her that she has married Tom, her old flame in Ireland. Mary tells Dennis knowing how devastated Billy will be when he hears the news. Dennis is left to tell Billy.
Thinking of the shame and humiliation that Billy will face when his friends and family discover Eva’s disloyalty, Dennis decides to protect Billy by telling him that Eva has died. Of course, the moment the words are out of his mouth, he realizes how fraught with disaster his lie is. There are so many ways to be found out, but the lie has been told and there is nothing to do but carry on, fleshing out the story as new details are required.
Billy is never able to put Eva’s death to rest. His drinking problem escalates into full blown alcoholism. He eventually marries, but he is never able to develop a true marriage with Maeve. The rest of his life is stained with tears shed over a love that could have been, should have been, would have been had it not been for her untimely death.
You may think that I have told the entire story, but actually, the reader learns all this within the first twenty-four pages. The rest of the book is the story of Dennis and how he came to be the kind of person who could tell such a lie; the story of Billy and how he came to be the kind of person who could never let go; and the story of their families and the kind of interdependence that was so much a part of their lives.
What I didn’t like:
It was impossible for me to believe that Billy would not have followed Eva to Ireland. I know times were hard, but in real life, he would have gone.
What I liked:
I enjoyed this compelling insight into life in Irish Catholic families. The book certainly provides an opportunity for some soul searching into the value of friends, relatives to say nothing of the value of truth in relationships. How much misery do we create when we fail to tell the truth?
