The History of Great Things

Structured as an interweaving of two faux-biographies, The History of Great Things by Elizabeth Crane is the most refreshingly honest portrayal of a mother and daughter relationship that I've read in years. Lois's career as an opera singer has always been her driving force in life. Unfortunately, this force has left little time for developing a close relationship with her daughter, aspiring writer, Betsy. When Lois falls ill, it appears the clock is ticking on this strained relationship, inspiring Betsy to perform an experiment - the two will write each other's life story, as they imagine it would have happened. Piecing together the facts they know about each other and filling in the holes with the fiction they believe could have happened, a mother's and daughter's true feelings about each other begin to shine through.

Taking the story one step further, Crane brilliantly structures the novel as if each author is taking her turn reading their chapter to their subject, and adds in the conversational objections, questions, and clarifications the mother-daughter duo interject at their defenses. This takes the reader beyond a simple view of the women through each other's eyes and actually shows them the depth of their strained relationship via their interactions. It becomes clear very early in the novel which character has paid more attention to their subject's actual life and personality - or at least which one imagines they have - though the reader can certainly sense a shift in the women's understanding of each other as their stories unfold to reveal Lois's illness and continue on to reveal their predictions for the future.

This novel was at times touching, hilarious, and frustrating. Sometimes it was all of these at the same time as I tried to sift through the fiction to reveal the facts and decide for which character I should feel more sorry or more hopeful. However, as wonderfully as Crane portrays this mother-daughter dynamic, what she does even better is force the reader to further evaluate their own relationship with their parents. A must-read, if you aren't afraid of what you may discover.