Underburn: A Novel

by Bill Gaythwaite

Iris Flynn is an acerbic, self-sufficient seventy-three-year-old widow with a minor past as a B-list actress and a streamlined kitchen inspired by Marie Kondo. But her composed and simplified existence is disrupted when her son Frank lands on her doorstep after his rental home is destroyed in a wildfire, the latest in a string of personal setbacks for Frank. He arrives with Logan, his young and handsome boyfriend, a featured extra on a teen soap opera with a loyal Instagram following.

Soon, news from Iris’s estranged family in Maine forces everyone out of their comfort zone. Iris convinces Frank and Logan to travel with her to the potato farm from which she made a quick getaway fifty years earlier, unleashing a funny and poignant family saga about secrets, forgiveness, and the shifting map of the human heart. Underburn is an extraordinary story about family resilience, missed connections, and second chances that assures us it’s sometimes okay to create our own Hollywood endings.

Genres: Fiction, Realistic Fiction

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Tom Holehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully observed first novel from short story writer Bill Gaythwaite about family secrets and coming to terms with your relationships. Iris, very much in the mold of Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, is our heroine. Living in Los Angeles, she's a faded and acerbic Hollywood "star", whose estranged adult son comes to stay with her with his much younger boyfriend in tow. This odd trio eventually end up in a reunion with Iris's married sister in Maine, a woman she's been out of contact with for 50 years. I simply loved this book. I loved its characters, its sentiments, its valuable messages. At under 300 pages it is one of those rare stories I wished had gone on a little longer. Simply put, this is my favorite new novel since HELLO, BEAUTIFUL.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one I'm rounding up from 3.5 stars. It starts off with a great deal of Basil Exposition...but when the action finally switches from California to Maine, the novel takes off in a more powerful, more evocative direction...and one that earns its satisfying ending. This is definitely a more-than-meets-the-eye novel.

[Kim Alkemade · Rating 5 out of 5]

​Schitt's Creek meets Olive Kitteridge in this charming story of an acerbic, widowed Hollywood actress estranged from her family whose solitary life is shaken up when her adult son and his younger boyfriend appear at her door after a California wildfire​ leaves them homeless. When the death of the actress's mother prompts the trio to travel to rural Maine, family secrets are revealed and old wounds aired. ​Like a warm hug after a difficult time, ​t​his lovely novel brought me into the minds and hearts of a​n endearing cast of characters in a fractured family ​desperate for healing and reconnection​.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in love with Iris, the 73 year old central character in Bill Gaythwaite's first novel, Underburn: widow, former Hollywood almost-star, by way of the potato fields of Maine, though she leaves these origins in her long ago and far away past. She's so loveable in her rigid vulnerability. Somehow Iris is the embodiment of Maine in California--never as much of a transplant as she thinks. This is a novel of place as much as character. Both place and character(s) are so vivid; and I especially love the ways that place transforms character (at least in part!).

Iris is compelling because she's a rare and true portrayal of a complex woman in her 70s. And there is much more in her past than in her future. The (mythical) Harborville, Maine of the past (to Iris!) is bleak and backward. And there's no soda fountain (except a thwarted beauty pageant) of discovery to transport her to Hollywood. Harborville's transformation later to the quaint seaside town with posh edges of today is fun and true to life.

The trigger for this novel is a terrifying fire that destroys the California home of Iris's son Frank and his new partner, Logan. These refugees move in with Iris and the story begins. I really enjoy the (developing) relationship between Frank and Logan. I say developing because it seems that Frank can't really fully give until he knows himself more, and Maine and a lost family history (including a lost beloved partner) are key to that. His losses abound, but that also positions him in a place where transformation is not just possible, it's inevitable. And Logan, a minor TV and internet star, is a hoot. I love the doppelganger aspects of Logan with Iris, especially as neither of them actually get to a height of fame in their own times. There's a tantalizing closeness to it, for each. And a celluloid (or digital) preservation of the beauty of youth that is a gift and a burden.

Gaythwaite's plotting here is impressive in the way each character's storyline intersects and diverges creates a mystery to solve over the course of the novel. The return to Maine following a death (of a grandmother adult Frank didn't even know was alive) prompts the collisions of all characters with one another, the past, and the possibility of a changed future. Frank's outburst: "I had a fucking grandmother?" is just great! Stepping into a full family in midlife is as much opportunity as it is a dilemma.

Iris's rather natural tendency toward elegance makes her as remote as a masthead on a ship in the harbor, and her younger and decidedly less glamorous younger and estranged sister Celeste's homebound and homespun nature provides a grueling contrast.

Parenting is a subtext of this book. Nobody is perfect here. Every position is somewhat valid, but the distance between the positions is what makes for the most productive tensions. I enjoyed the way those tensions played out, and I enjoyed the vulnerability of all the characters, including the most current generation. There's funhouse mirror-effect that occurs when one generation tries to clearly see the other. It's not possible. But beautiful to observe.

Finally, this novel needs a Hollywood treatment. I can't help but cast the characters and scout the settings. I can't wait to see it!

[Michael Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iris, a widow in her seventies, leads a quiet self-sufficient life in a California town until her middle-aged son Frank and his boyfriend the much younger Logan move in with her after they lose everything in a wildfire. Their stories are told from multiple points of view. We learn Iris had a brief career in Hollywood and has retained her beauty. Frank now works at a rehab center at which he was originally enrolled for treatment of his addictions, and young Logan who frequently verbally spars with Iris is currently an extra, with an online following, on a teen student show. All three travel to Maine to attend the funeral of Iris’ mother, the grandmother Frank never knew. There, they encounter Iris’ estranged sister and her husband, who in his youth was briefly attracted to Iris, and Opal the granddaughter they are raising. Their daughter is among the missing. What ensues is misundertanding about who’s entitled to the money from the farm if it is sold. The mother did not leave a will. A bit of rancor over who escaped and who stayed on the farm and some other poignant memories come to light. All in all, this is a well-told story of chance and purpose. One of the things I found quite amusing is how Iris is surprisingly onto the zeitgeist of current day culture and her run ins with her sister will surely move another reader as they did me.

[Kim McGee · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elderly film star now realtor takes in her son and his young boyfriend after their home is destroyed by a wildfire. Iris is used to being on her own but she makes adjustments. When she gets a summons from the sister she hasn't spoken to in decades, Iris packs up the trio and they travel to Maine for her mother's funeral. With Frank and Logan in tow they descend into Iris's childhood where all of the buried resentments, misunderstandings and emotions surface. It takes some time to understand the family dynamic and mend fences and not without a lot of sadness along the way. Happy go lucky Logan is a wise and uplifting diversion. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Diane OLeary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iris, a former actress, takes in her son, Frank, and his partner, Logan, when their home burns down. These are characters I came to care about - they were funny, smart and had depth. I was interested in all of the back stories and especially enjoyed Iris' knowledge of pop culture and her rage at Logan not knowing about old movie stars (this would be unacceptable to me as well as an old film lover). This is a charming, poignant and amusing story with a rich and satisfying depiction of bonding between multi generations. This is an impressive debut novel and I highly anticipate Bill Gaythwaite's next work.

[Natalie Jenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully engaging tale of both family and the underside of fame, Bill Gaythwaite’s debut novel UNDERBURN mirrors the deceptive richness of the very generational ties it so charmingly explores: the long memories, conflicts big and small, surprisingly pivotal moments, and rediscovered bonds. One rarely encounters characters drawn with such candor, warmth, and humanity: you will gladly cheer and care for everyone as they seek to make peace with the past, while risking it all for a brand-new future.

[Steven Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 for 4 in 2024! I'm so glad I stumbled upon this book on the library website. I hadn't heard of it or been recommended it, and now I see it doesn't have many reviews. Well, it should! This is a surprisingly warm-hearted story that with lived-in characters. I appreciated that the author treated his characters with dignity, whether straight or gay, entertainment industry Hollywood types or rural farmers in Maine. I loved the uplifting ending and thought it was earned, not forced. This book made me smile.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up

Don't give up on this one. I was very leary after the first dozen pages. The novel seemed a predictable take down of nasty people in La La Land. But predictable Underburn is not, perhaps because beneath the snark is something more charitable.

Author Bill Gaythwaite plays with conventions of film and expectations fed by reality television and offers a middle way to navigate through what is essentially a family drama.

Recommended for the writing, character development and the unexpected turns. Just when you think this is going one way, it goes another.

[Denise Tolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read UNDERBURN like I was watching a compelling movie. The characters were so clearly drawn by the author that I felt I must have known them at some point in my life. The book explores topics such as the aging process, how families work, and the regrets, choices, and consequences that are inevitable in every life. But this book is also filled with love, humor, and exquisite writing. Read it and fall in love with Iris, Frank, and Logan. Read it, then go buy a pair of go-go boots!

[John S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Underburn. While, not a mystery, it kept me guessing through the course of the story. I was never sure where we were headed next but the conclusion was very satisfying. The writing is sophisticated but unpretentious. I’m looking forward to Bill Gaythwaite’s next novel.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written tangle of family drama. All the narratives tie together nicely in the end.

[Jill Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice family story

[Abby Kalkstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, not great