The Most, by Jessica Anthony
I read The Most twice, back-to-back. This novella (133 pages) seems simple on the surface: it concerns a housewife, Kathleen, in 1957 who decides to spend all day in the swimming pool of the Newark, Delaware apartment complex where she lives. The first time I read it, I was pulled in by the question of why she is spending the whole day in the pool. By the end, I didn’t quite have an answer, so I read it again to understand the nuances of the novel, and I was absorbed the second time too. The language is clean and spare, hinting at deep regrets and passions.
The entire novel takes place during one unusually warm Sunday in November, although we learn the backstories of Kathleen and her husband Virgil through the thoughts and memories they have on that day. The first chapter introduces many of the characters, settings, and life events that will come up repeatedly later in the novel: Kathleen, Virgil, their two boys, the church that Virgil has recently decided to attend every Sunday, Virgil’s job as a life insurance salesman, Kathleen’s past as a tennis champion, Virgil’s love of jazz music and saxophone playing. The point of view dips into Kathleen’s and Virgil’s heads in a fluid way, and occasionally retreats to a longer, more omniscient perspective.
So why has Kathleen decided to spend the whole day in the pool? I won’t give any spoilers, but here are some quotes that give clues:
“It was Virgil’s idea to bring the family to church each week. It’s what people did” (p. 22).
“She made the decision that if she ever got married . . . it would only be to someone who hated conflict as much as she did” (p. 32).
“Kathleen’s reason for being in the pool wasn’t anyone’s business but his own” (p. 43).
“In the end, Kathleen always arrived at the same conclusion: she married Virgil Beckett because he was easy” (p. 52).
“She knew that if she saw him [Billy Blasko, her former tennis coach] in person, he would ask her to marry him, and she did not want him to ask. She was afraid she might say yes” (p. 52).
“Kathleen turned down Randy Roman [tennis scout] not because she loved Virgil Beckett more than tennis but because she hated losing” (p. 74).
The title refers to a tennis maneuver that Kathleen’s Czech-born coach, Billy Blasko, taught her. The word “most” in Czech means “bridge.” The move involves enticing the other player closer and closer to the net, and then sending the ball far out of reach. In the end, both Kathleen and Virgil have to grapple with the consequences of choosing what seemed, at first, to be the easy life.
The author photo above is from University of Maine–Farmington.