Monkeys by Susan Minot
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In this luminous story of family life--the first novel by Susan Minot, author
of the highly acclaimed Evening--the seven Vincent children follow their
Catholic mother to Mass and spend Thanksgiving with their fathers aging
parents who come from a world of New England priviledge. As they grow
older, they meet with the perplexing lives of adults. Susan Minot writes with
delicacy and a tremendous gift for the details that decorate domestic life,
and when tragedy strikes she beautifully mines the childrens tenderness
for each other, and their aching guardianship of what they have.
Personal Review: Monkeys by Susan Minot
At the front of the book are both a table of contents , setting forth a
chronology from 1966 to 1979, and a list of characters. The book is slim
and so the reader is surprised at the fussy treatment. Gus and Rosie
Vincent have six children. Dad, (Gus), goes to church Christmas and

Easter only. The rest of the family, Chicky, Delilah, Caitlin, Gus, Mum,
Sherman, Sophie are regular attenders. Dad has weird taste, spam. He
grew up in Motley, Massachusetts. Now the parents and six children live
in Marshport, Massachusetts.
Thanksgivings are spent in Motley with grandparests, aunts, uncles, and
cousins. Ma smokes cigarettes and Pa cigars. The children sit at a
children's table. Creamed onions are served. There are apple, pumpkin,
and mince pies.
The Vincents go to Maine in the summer. In Bermuda, on a real vacation,
Gus, age 10, has horrible cabin fever. Caitlin, age 14, is the oldest.
Sherman and Chicky are the youngest. Grass in Bermuda is scratchy and
rough. The children are told not to bother their father too much. Dad feels
the roads in Bermuda are death traps. On the last day his wallet
disappears and Gus finds it in the hedge.
In Maine Wilbur Kittredge, the owner of an estate in North Eden, is a
special friend of Mum's. At age forty she gives birth to another child,
Rosie, nicknamed Minnie. The Vincent parents met each other on a
double date. Mum asks Sophie to postpone her suicide until age 18,
hoping that by then Sophie would not wish to resort to such means.
Sherman, by now age 12, has an appetite for pot.
A train hits Mum's car and she is killed. For the Christmas after her death
the girls buy presents for everyone. Minnie shows the others where the
decorations are kept. Dad marries a new wife, Pat. Mum's ashes, for the
most part, are dropped into a channel at North Eden. The child characters
in the novel form an interesting group. Their circumstances are realistic.
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