The Guest Book

The Guest Book
By Sarah Blake
Viking, 2019, 486 pg., Historical Fiction

"'Wars, plagues, names upon tombs tell us only what happened. But history lies in the cracks between. In the inexplicable, invisible turns - when someone puts a had down, pushes open one particular gate, and steps through. A man saying no instead of yes, two hands grasped on a dark street. A twenty-year-old nun in her cell, eyes closed, praying, touching the word God in a book we recover, over and over and over, so that what we have left is the trace of her devotion. In the erasing of that word' - she paused - ' is a person. That is history.'" (pg. 43-44    )

For me, this quote defines why I love this book, and what I think is part of it's message. The actual plot of this book center's on an island off the coast of Maine and the three generations of the family who owns it. The story moves back and forth between present and past, and is told from multiple characters perspectives. It can be a little confusing. But at its heart Blake seeks to show the human side of many difficult moments in history. I love how this book addresses some of the most difficult points in American history; Jews, the Holocaust, Segregation, and Feminism, but focuses on the humanity of peoples choices. Blake does not spend time criticizing her characters choices (nor does she praise them), but instead she illuminates the struggles they go through in making them - and living with the consequences. She also does not tie up all the loose ends, which I think is appropriate, because in history there are some choices we will never really know. As she points out early on, history, people, may sometimes be found in the act of erasing - in what is not there.

This would be a great book for those who enjoy complex plots and characters. Historical fiction fans may enjoy it as well. Readers should be aware that there is some swearing, death, and sexual content.