Lila & Theron

by Bill Schubart

Set in rural America and spanning much of the 20th century, Lila & Theron captures the spirit of the American rural experience, as it relates to their personal stories of love and sacrifice.

From the foreward, “Lila and Theron do not imagine themselves poor, nor do they covet what they don’t have. They are whole in themselves and on their land and progress impinges little on their lives.”

Award winning author and public radio commentator, Bill Schubart, first introduced us to Lila & Theron characters in his 2008 short story collection, The Lamoille Stories. After being influenced by William Faulkner’s acceptance speech on winning the Nobel Prize, he returns seven years later to finish their stories.

“ I believe that man will not merely he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.“

Lila and Theron plumbs the depth and triumphs of the human spirit in a way now lost in today’s obsessions with consumerism and celebrity culture, immersing us in a receding world where neighbors and nature are the gifts and love is often comes with great hardship.

From the

Thelma dies at nineteen giving birth to a son, Theron. When the son first meets his father, he learns his mother’s death is his fault and can only muster the question, “How did she die?”

Looking away, the father mutters, “She died givin’ birth ta you. An’ I lost all her help and comforts.”

192 pages, Hardcover

Published June 6, 2017

Reviews

[Claire Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel, which I listened to, covers Theron's whole life from when he was born to when he dies in only four hours. But so much is packed into this short book: Theron's forstering, his life with his drunkard father, his school days, meeting Lila, and their time on a rural farm making do. There is a lot of stuff about working the land, looking after cows (the 'girls'), and getting by. Schubart makes the years pass naturally and yet manages to stop and look in detail at often tiny and private events, telling them in a very plain matter-of-fact way - like when electricity comes to the farm and Theron buys Lila a radio and they hear music in their house for the first time.
Highly recommended.

[Sandie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Bill Schubart's both his fiction and nonfiction, as well as his comments on VPR. So I had high expectations for this book. A mistake.

I am familiar with Elmore, VT , the setting for this book, and some of the area around it, although I know it in the 21st century. However I had a hard time thinking that early 20th century Elmore would be as uncaring as he described. They would not leave a small child with an alcolholic father without checking up on the baby. And why would Lila go for years without eyeglasses to help her sight. Surely that technology was available at that time. Those are a few of my problems with the book.

There are also problems with bad grammar, you really don't end a sentence with a preposition, especially if it is not dialogue? At one point Theron and Louise were mentioned. Who is Louise? Where did she come from?

The whole book should be rewritten with a more believable plot and a better editor. There is no excuse for such a short book to have so many problems.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story takes the reader back to rural Vermont in the early 20th century where small town denizens and farm folk lived independent, hardscrabble lives, but cared deeply and pitched in to help so that all members of the community had their needs met. It was a peaceful, mellow era before modernization of domestic and farm processes.

Theron is a motherless boy who lives contentedly with a foster family, expecting to grow up with the other children. Instead he is sent back to his father's farm to be raised by an alcoholic, self-centered man who has no idea how to raise his son. But they work side by side on the farm and woodlots, finding joy in the animals and nature, living respectfully but mostly silently together. There is Mags the cat and the "girls" in the dairy barn.

The first half of the book accounts for Theron's growing up years until he meets Lila, a beautiful girl who transfers into his high school. Theron is shy but Lila has her eye on this "serious" and kind young man. The pace of their romance is slow but sure to the reader. The second half of the book narrates the married life of Theron and Lila as they energetically maintain the farm and support each other's emotional needs. Both have experienced parental lapses.

As the marriage proceeds through the years until old age, notes of history figure into their lives. A beloved uncle serves in WWII, and modern mechanization and techniques bring changes to Theron and Lila's dairy herd. Their boundaries become smaller as they keep to the old ways of making do.

I had met Theron before in Bill Schubart's "The Lamoille Stories." This story, focusing on Theron as an old man, is included in the current novel. When I read the story previously (see my review of that book) I pictured Theron as an old, crusty curmudgeon who refused help for his sickly wife. Now that I know Theron's back story from his birth, I have an entirely different view of Theron. And he is a dear. His and Lila's love story is beautiful, and the last two chapters will have readers in tears.

[PsychDoctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

It only took about 5 pages for my Vermont accent to take over and allow me to not have to read the speech out loud to understand what was being said. I was more invested than I thought in the story, as tears were streaming down my face by the end. But it was a hard story to like, giant gaps in time, no sense of order, small glimpses into lives lived, no rhyme or reason to the flow----kind of like life.
Will instantly be familiar to anyone who has lived a life in Vermont and has spoken the the old timers about the way things used to be.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant tale tracks the life of Theron Wright from birth to death, married to his first and only love, Lila, for 70-some years. Schubart deftly captures the essence of life in northern Vermont's rural communities, the spirit of native-born Vermonters, and the nuances of Vermont speech. All make for an authentic, memorable narrative. I don't give many five-star reviews; this work is eminently deserving.

p.65 He becomes a fan of the occasional malapropisms he overhears among rurals, whose oratorical pretenses belie their early retirement from the educational system.

p. 142 They feel an abundance in their lives that doesn't derive from the buying of things.

p. 163 Rena's not accustomed to such out-and-out rejection. Occasionally she encounters reticence on the part of a senior or family members that she attributes to modesty, Yankee independence, or pride, but she usually prevails, patiently explaining that she's only there to help out and does so only to the extent her charge is willing.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This lovely short story is one that requires a broader option of ratings. The writing and style are perfectly matched to the story told. The characters are easily known, the setting recognizable. It's simply beautiful.

My only reaction in a negative sense is the jarring split between the first half and the second; I needed a smoother transition. That said, I could have also enjoyed a longer time with Lila and Theron, and felt that the second half was too rushed.

This is a snapshot of life many decades ago to the near present in small town Vermont. It's also an accolade to a simple life of love. Enjoy it.

[Rachelevelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing a little of this author’s work I was intrigued from the beginning. Also, being a new resident of Vermont in the last chapter of my life, I was also touched by this love story set in the back country of Vermont. My mother and father lived in rural Indiana and although they were younger than these characters by several years, their lives were filled with changing times in farming and they were devoted to each other. The story, although harsh at times, rolled through the years with a very believable and endearing flow.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. This is a short and very sweet book about two Elmore Vermonters living from the late 1800s into the second half of the 20th Century. I loved Theron and Lila as well as the references to the local area and local names. It's interesting to picture life here in this earlier time. I'm not sure that readers unfamiliar with this area would enjoy "Lila & Theron" nearly as much as I did, but I'd be interested to find out.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy the spirit of this book. There were moments of pure brilliance, where the author seemed to capture the personality of this specific place and time, and also its residents. However, I feel as though The author skates over things that could have been more important. Bigger. The best example I can give is that he spends a good part of the book beating up the main character, only to have his uncle become this one great thing in his life, a sort of savior... then in one sentence his uncle is dead. It just felt like something was taken from the readers.

I know this tiny book was meant to encapsulate the entire life of Theron, and maybe I’m missing the mark, but I just wanted a little more.

[Jsarno49 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second half of this book is a beautiful love story between Lila and Theron, Vermonters in the best sense of the word, and the book, as a whole, is a sensitive depiction of life in the central part of Vermont from the early 1900s through the 1960s. Schubart's attention to detail is commendable.

[April Brubach · Rating 3 out of 5]

An absorbing sketch of the life of a backwoods Vermont farmer and his wife. Sadness permeates as does strength of character, but joy and depth are missing in this story.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written in sparse prose, a touching and human story of life in its fullness, a telling picture of life in Vermont in olden days.

[Jayne Cawthern · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming and memorable love story. The flavor of The Grapes of Wrath, Vermont style.

[Lucinda Mccloud · Rating 3 out of 5]

A realistic look of the the lives of two people from Lamoille County Vermont. Tenderly drawn characters, but a little sad as are so many who live and struggle there.

[CLW · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exceptionally sweet book set in a location about 10 miles from our home. The author does an excellent job sharing how Vermont farming and rural life changed in the 1900s.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful history of Vermont's hill farms told as a love story. Poignant, heartbreaking, and affirming all at once.

[Katiecaper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book discarded in a free library box. It takes place very close to where I live. While there are some holes in the story line and a one mistype of a character name I enjoyed reading about the local area in times past.

[Nancy Banks]

Delightful read! The power of connections - no matter how small.