Mid-life crisis – it's a common theme
in literature. Think of characters as diverse as Clarissa Dalloway,
Richard Ford's Frank Bascombe, Emma Bovary, maybe even Captain Ahab.
Hal Lindley, in Lydia Millet's Ghost Lights,
is suffering his own version of this ailment. He's a decent man with
a decent job with IRS, but he feels anxious and disengaged. He
suspects his wife is having an affair with a younger man, and he is
unable to move beyond his mourning for the life his daughter had
before an accident left her paraplegic.
When
his wife's boss goes missing in Belize, Hal impulsively (and
drunkenly) volunteers to track him down. He doesn't even like the
guy, but it's a chance to escape and sort out his life, and also look
like a hero to his family. “Heart of Darkness” lite? Not
exactly. But Hal does encounter far more of an adventure than he anticipated, as unexpected events keep overtaking him. He is forced to
re-examine his assumptions about himself, and each new event seems to
carom him in a different direction.
Hal's
wry sense of humor makes for many amusing and touching moments, but
be prepared for the fact that not every mid-life crisis leads to
satisfaction and enlightenment on the other side.
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