Item Detail

Limms a portrait of the idiosyncratic Darley family--Oliver, a crochety architect; his long-suffering wife, May; their son, Rubert, a seeker after truth; and Rupert's daughter, Miranda, a medical student who is slowly learning about life's complexities

Tucked away in their suburban home, crochety and tottery, Oliver and May are dwindling into their final declines. Oliver has completed his last architectural project: plans for a total environment in a huge pyramid. May's final project is simply trying to outlive Oliver to spare him being alone. Rupert, their only son, appears for the weekend to announce that he is once again divorcing and leaving his job for no real reason except middle-age malaise. Unknown to him, his daughter, Miranda, a first-year medical student, is coming, too. This account of the weekend they share, plotting and hoping, is a Rubik's Cube of relationships and personalities. History blends with immediate concerns as futures are sorted out. The story is slight, but creates a sort of ironic tableau of three generations caught up in the changes wrought by time. Ann Donovan, Curriculum Librarian, Central Washington Univ. Lib., Ellensburg Copyright 1986 Cahners Business Information.