A Desire Path by Shapin, Jan (2012) Paperback

by Jan Shapin

What makes women fall for men who are tied to political causes? “It’s called a desire path,” she said, indicating a trace of beaten earth that disappeared into the woods. “A landscaping term my mother used. Not ‘shortcut’ — that implies convenience. Desire is rarely a convenience.” Set in the Depression and WWIIs aftermath, A Desire Path traces a love affair between Ilse, a New England housewife, and Andy, an itinerant union organizer who has grown disillusioned by the infighting in the nation’s capital. Ilse’s husband, Leo, a powerful Washington lawyer, retaliates by destroying Andy’s livelihood. Still in love with him, AnnaMae, a journalist friend of Andy’s, returns from Moscow to tend an increasingly senile father only to confront the horrific past that first prompted her escape to the Soviet Union. Over the years Ilse witnesses Anna Mae’s flailing adherence to Communist doctrine, even as she comes to see her own marriage as so much empty dogma. She rediscovers her love for Andy and the tension builds as she attempts to break free of Leo’s domination.

Paperback

First published July 7, 2012

About the author

Jan Shapin is the author of three novels as well as several plays and screenplays. She has attended Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Sewanee Writers' Conference, The Film and Television Workshop as well as various other writing programs. She lives in Rhode Island with her photographer husband. You can reach her at www.janshapin.com, through her publisher, Write Words. Inc., or email her at jshapin.writer@gmail,.com

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A Desire Path” is a rare gem of a novel. It offers an intriguing blend of political beliefs and personalities from the perspectives of 3 ordinary people whose lives paralleled the labor union movement of the New Deal Era, the “Red Scare” period of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and on to the Civil Rights Movement and the tumultuous 1960s.

The novel begins in Washington in 1934 with 3 people chatting excitedly over dinner in the Tollman house. There is Andy Craige, a labor organizer from Arkansas, who worked for the United Mine Workers; Anna Mae Sloan, a journalist and writer with strong leftist convictions, whose political consciousness began in the 1910s and were heightened during the decade she spent in the Soviet Union. While not a Communist, Anna Mae saw her role as extolling the virtues of the Soviet system, though she wasn’t blind to its shortcomings. And there is Ilse Tollman, who hails from an affluent background in New England and is married to a lawyer making a name for himself in the Roosevelt Administration while representing union interests in private practice. Andy had previously known Anna Mae (who liked to feel that she could charm the socks off of any man she fancied and get her way with others in furtherance of her career) and wasn’t exactly thrilled to see that she was there. The last thing he wanted to do was “talk to Anna Mae, from whom he had parted on not very good terms some dozen years before. But he did want to meet this Ilse Tollman, whose name rang a bell, and when he voiced that thought they all had a good laugh --- tollman, rang-a-bell.”

This meeting between Andy and Ilse would prove to be pivotal in shaping the course of both of their lives. For what began there as a budding, mutual attraction developed into a fiery, passionate love affair. What I liked most about this novel was the way it was fairly evenly told through the eyes of Andy, Anna Mae, and Ilse. As a reader, I got a tangible sense and deep appreciation of the 3 of them as individuals because of the challenges they faced over time for their political convictions and life choices. This is no polemical tale which makes some novels heavily layered with political ideology and belief a bit hard to ingest and enjoy. Here is a novel about real people who want to make something meaningful of their lives through involvement in larger political movements that defined the eras through which they lived, loved, and struggled to survive and thrive.

“A Desire Path” is illustrative of the dynamics associated with the “human triangle” and what is perhaps its inherent stresses. This makes for a richly engaging novel.

[Michael Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readers of "A Snug Life Somewhere," which author Jan Shapin gave us in 2007, know what to expect in her new novel: Strong, well-drawn characters whose lives are shaped and relationships tested by the sometimes violent political and labor unrest that roiled the nation through much of the first half of the 20th century. Her second novel, "A Desire Path," draws on her knowledge of a period in which the Communist party is a player in the struggle to organize American workers, bringing that period alive for her readers by weaving together the stories of Andy Craige, a disillusioned labor organizer, Ilse Tollman, the wife of an influential lawyer in the newly-created Department of Labor, and Anna Mae Sloane, an American writer whose unsettled personal life and successful career are compromised when she is caught up in Communist party politics in the Soviet Union, the U.S., and China. The characters come together in a chance meeting on the National Mall in 1934, a meeting in which Andy's old friend Anna Mae introduces him to Ilse, and the painful love affair between Andy and Ilse which drives much of this story is launched. Shapin's book is written in three parts, each focusing on one of these characters but populated by the others and by prominent figures of the period - John L. Lewis, Leon Trotsky, Mikhail Borodin, and W.E.B. DuBois, among them - and by some characters and events readers of her first book will recognize. “A Desire Path” is Shapin’s second gift to lovers of good fiction grounded in interesting history.

[Cynthia F Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author has a true flair for dialog, and a gift for shining her light into overlooked corners of our American history, especially where battles were fought over the same issues of economic fairness, political diversity and justice.

Having read her first book (2006) "A Snug Place Somewhere" I wanted to read whatever she wrote next and was pleased to get a review copy of this (2012) one in the mail. In fairness, I feel this should be mentioned, although I would've purchased the book anyway, after having met the author and enjoyed her previous work.

I started turning down the corners of the pages from page 215 on. I do this whenever I want to return to savor the nuggets once a book is finished. What struck me were the realizations the characters were having.
Take Ilse, the lawyers' wife who is like so many women we know, the stay-married-no-matter-what; and Anna Mae the crusader, who is a bit more unusual, but still a 'known' type; and then a man like Andy Craige, the disillusioned loner by the end of the story. These are the kinds of people whose real choices, concerns, chances, and personality quirks went into creating the kind of country we have.

Readers unfamiliar with the history of the Labor Movement (like i am) might have to bone up a bit on those times. A crucial period in the US, and not well documented or understood, in part because so many were too afraid to even own much less read a single book about Communism. The ignorance is immense! As is our continuing naivete about the hardball game played by the die hard capitalists.

I felt there was a deeper symbolism, in the way these female characters typified the (sub)cultures they belonged to.
Ilse being like the USA, ultimately not prepared to sacrifice, tho' 'disgust' is what she ended up with, also apparent in our politics if you look deeply!
Anna Mae, the complicated yet simpler one, emotional to a fault, like so many crusaders who rationalize the deeds done by those in the creeds they pledge themselves to. Does she typify Russia or China?

Jan is also introducing us to Anna Louise May, the actual woman who went to the USSR and China, whose story inspired the character of Anna Mae.

The characters have taken up residence in my mind, and they're not done with me yet. These were men and women of their time, and yet their experiences ought to warn and/or inspire today's women and men. We need to re-examine where we are at, and what we believe in, and whether we are on a 'desire path' or not.
What about the men or women who follow politically motivated people of today and tomorrow?? In gender reverse, would it also be true of a man who followed a woman the way Ilse follows Andy in this Desire Path.

I would not call this book light entertainment as it is more educational than that! And if you wonder about the Occupy movement, or any other citizen response to the political situation we're in, read the Desire Path to help envision alternatives.

[Tia Bach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is based on three main characters' lives and how they constantly intertwine. Ilse, Andy, and Anna walk their own journeys with intersecting paths. Ilse is married but not in love until she meets Andy, and Anna is a friend to both of them and a journalist struggling with her own ideology. Set during a time where many feared Communism, their story is an intricate lesson in the politics of our past.

Broken into three parts, the book focuses first on Andy's story, then Anna's, and finally Ilse's. I found myself most drawn to Ilse--she was flawed but hopeful, wanting to find a way to put love over her choices. Her daughter, Helen, was another character that pulled on my heartstrings. Andy grew on me in his utter devotion to Ilse. He never gave up on her, even when she gave him no reason to hang on.

I wanted to like Anne, but I found that her character jumped all over the place. Unfortunately, the timeline of the story does that as well, so I often found myself confused and distracted from an otherwise interesting story. Readers who love historical fiction will find the intricate layout of the era quite fascinating, but I just wish I had more time with Ilse as the main character. Having to wait so long to finally get insight into her character was tough. In the end, I found myself wishing for an Andy and Isle story more than Anna's.

Still, I give kudos to the author for taking on more recent history and infusing it with an interesting and enduring love story. And I loved the idea of the desire path, that it's not a "shortcut--that implies convenience. Desire is rarely a convenience." Such a true statement, and one her characters discover. Life doesn't always hand us what we want in a beautifully wrapped gift.

Note: I received a complimentary copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Shoshanah · Rating 3 out of 5]

One reason I always love reading historical fiction is because I love learning about new eras in history. While this story spanned quite a bit of time, the majority of it dealt with The Red Scare, something I haven't really read about. I found the pieces of history interesting, and think I'd enjoy reading more books dealing with the subject matter.

But as to this story, it's told in three parts from the point of view of three characters. There's Andy, whose trying to forge a relationship with her daughter after leaving his ex-wife, Ilse, the woman he has an affair with, and finally Anna Mae, the woman who introduced the two. Each part had it's moments, but by far my favorite was Anna Mae's section, which involved her relationship with the Communist Party and dealing with her ailing father.

Overall, I'm not sure I go the point of this. I think maybe I wasn't quite smart enough for it? It jumped around constantly in time, which made it almost impossible to figure out how all the stories fit together. I think part of that could have been because different characters viewed the same situation differently, since a lot of the time it seemed like something out of Andy's story never seemed to happen in Anna Mae's story. But again, it could also be something I just didn't get.

As I've mentioned there were aspects I enjoyed, but overall I wasn't a huge fan. I do think if the novel as a whole were more chronological it would have flowed better, but for me, it just didn't work.

Disclosure: I was provided this book through TLC Book Tours. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Irl Cramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story, set in a period of ideological turmoil, spanning the 1930’s to the 1950’s, gives us three characters who are pulled by their political ideals and their personal feelings. Once again, as in her first novel, A Snug Life Somewhere, Jan Shapin has brought her deep knowledge of labor and left-wing political history to serve as a backdrop to the lives of her unique characters: Andy, the labor organizer; Anna Mae, the passionate journalist who believes deeply in the communist ideals; and Ilse, the most passive and conventional of the three in her lifestyle but not in her feelings. These three intersect throughout the book in different times and in some widely spread-out places from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to the streets of Moscow to the back roads of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is these interactions among them and among other characters close to them that form the warp and woof of the story.

Shapin brings her deeply felt writing style to her descriptions of the characters, their feelings, and their back stories. Under her sure pen, they come to life and make us care about their fates. This book will give you much to think about and talk about. A good choice for reading groups and solitary readers alike.