Idle Curiosity

by Martha Bergland

A tiny old man dressed in a red-and-white-striped bathrobe stands outside the white clapboard hotel that for ninety years housed the transients of Half Moon. A former farmer, and ex-husband of two very different women, Ed Check surveys the land that used to be his. He thinks about his daughters: the one who stays close to home and who "keeps what she thinks and feels so deep inside her that it's too far from her face to have any effect"; the one who has come home without her husband and is falling for the new optometrist in town, Nelson Alvin (rhymes with ball peen). But how could he know that his youngest daughter, whom he hasn't seen since she was a small child, is currently on her way to delivering him his biggest surprise. She is working her way down a list of "musts" before she can call him: "wait for bruise to clear up / let roots grow out, cut off blond / get two outfits and a suitcase." As lives unravel around him, Ed's age-old practice of looking out for his own is put to the test and earns him a pacemaker. To everyone's surprise however, family ties prove to be longer, and stronger, than expected. Despite their status as "grown-ups" Ed finds his daughters need him now more than ever.

Genres: Fiction

184 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

After her retirement from teaching English at Milwaukee Area Technical College, Martha Bergland took a break to write an article on Lapham for Milwaukee Magazine. This break became five years of studying Increase Lapham. She has written two novels, A Farm Under a Lake and Idle Curiosity, both published by Graywolf, and is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Glendale, Wisconsin.

(from http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/...)

Reviews

[Marne Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The action of this book starts immediately after Bergland's previous novel, A Farm Under a Lake. But the point of view has shifted from Janet Hawn to her 80-year-old father, retired farmer Ed Check. At first I felt that Bergland had changed Janet's character too much between books, but then I realized that I was missing the point. In the first book, we got Janet's view of herself from the inside, and in this book, we get her father's view of her from the outside. No one ever really knows anybody, and a lot of the assumptions he makes about her are simplistic, which is why her character seems to have diminished and become less interesting. Just as in the masterful first novel, character and place are much more important than plot to this story. However, I didn't feel it was quite as good as the first one, which is why I'm only giving it four stars.

If you want more plot summary than I've provided here, see the reviews in Publisher's Weekly (http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1...) and Kirkus Reviews (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...).

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting story. So many fine characters - lots to chew on and digest. I love her descriptions (A couple cuddled in bed form "a vase in the darkness"). This book is part of a trilogy and some characters are more developed in other books. I find this distracting ... I prefer one long book to three short volumes.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd time reading this...I know the author as a college classmate (7:30am Metaphysics class!)...

Our library book club "assignment" is to read a Wisconsin author...why not read one I knew way back before she was published.

And I do like her fiction...maybe because we both grew up in Illinois close to farms...it rings true.

[Ricci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story of what it means to be family.