Vinegar Hill, written by Manette Ansay was an Oprah Book Club Selection in November of 1999. Within a few pages, it is easy to understand why this book stood out as a “must read.”
Ansay Paints the Page with Words
Ansay does an amazing job portraying despair and hopelessness to the reader. In fact, it is hard to read the book in large chunks because she has managed to cause the main character’s depressive surroundings to leap off of the page and catch in the reader’s throat. This reader often had to take a step back and take a break from the oppressive house that serves as the book’s main setting before becoming sucked into a superficial funk.
However, Ansay also has a gift for making even the most mundane things appear fascinating. In one instance, an ordinary dusty kitchen pantry is suddenly filled with wonder and meaning when a child takes refuge in it. In another instance, the color yellow explodes from a dish towel into a sea of memories about ever present buttercups.
The Storyline that Trudges up Vinegar Hill
Ellen’s husband James has lost his job. Since they have no income, they are forced to move in with Margaret and Fritz, James’ parents and Ellen’s in-laws. After moving in, Ellen finds herself surrounded by a house that closes in on her, and in-laws that are intolerable. Even though her mother and sisters are only a brief drive away, Ellen feels alone.
Margaret and Fritz are stifling, cruel people who have never liked Ellen. In the same respect, they don’t care much for Ellen and James’ two children. Once, when Ellen leaves the house to take a walk, Margaret tells the children that their mother could be strangled while walking alone. The kids are thrust into a panic that resurfaces each and every time Ellen tries to steal a little alone time after dinner to take a long walk.
A Husband Devoid of Emotion
Meanwhile James has retreated into an unbreakably numb shell and has little personality. Ellen and her children cannot reach him as he has become lulled back into the dysfunction of his youth. Even as an adult with a family, he is still trying to earn his father’s respect and admiration. He has lost the ability to relate to his wife and children.
When Ellen seeks solace in her sisters, they merely tell her that her problems can be solved if she would just lose or gain weight. They assert that she find out what James likes (heavy or thin) and then alter her eating habits to coincide with his preference. Their advice is unhelpful and functions like a broom sweeping Ellen’s problems under the rug.
A Lackluster Town
As if the stifling relatives, dreary house and an uncommunicative husband aren’t enough, the small Midwestern town they live in is boring, depressive and wooden. The town has remained unchanged by the passage of time, and is devoid of any uniqueness or colorful characters. It not only conveys a dreary backdrop, but also serves as a metaphor for Ellen’s husband, James. Both James and the town have no inside, they are just shells. Both the town and James are devoid of life, cold, uninteresting and gray.
Hope amidst the Gloom
Yet beneath these shells, both the town and James hide remnants of happier times. For example, Ellen remembers Christmastime in the town and how pretty the church looked lit up with light. She also remembers family time that she, James and the kids shared with fondness. Like a tiny ray of light peaking through a curtain, there is hope in this story.
Ansay writes a moving story that resounds with feeling. This book is multifaceted and intense, dismal, but absorbing. Start reading this book out of curiosity, finish it out of necessity.
Vinegar Hill was published by Harper Perennial; Second Printing edition (March 1, 1998), ISBN 0380730138.
Melissa Hodges - Ms. Hodges received a BA in English from Ohio State University, and an AA in Office Administration from Owens Community College. She has ...
