Richard Yates was always interested in failures and outsiders, and in Cold Spring Harbor, originally released in 1986 and the last novel he would write, this is no different. The theme of the book is typical Yates - lonely lost characters struggling through life anyway they can, marriages that are falling apart, people who get drunk to numb whatever pain they’re feeling.
The story centres around two families, the Shepards and the Drakes, who meet up by chance when the Shepards car breaks down. What begins as a joyous union soon beings to turn sour, with sadness meeting each character perpetually. There is one mans feelings of being trapped by marriage and his child, a mentally unstable woman and her unrequited love, a teenage boys feelings of inadequacy – each of them dreams of escape and a better life, only to wake to reality every time.
The characters, as in all of Yates stories, are brought to life by the faultless dialogue, each scene brought to life by Yates sparse yet descriptive sentences. There are no excess words, no overindulgence, it’s kept sharp and clear and with the last few pages beautifully understated and totally breathtaking. Though it may not be as critically acclaimed a novel as his debut Revolutionary Road, this book should still not be ignored.
There is no happy ending to this story but that’s okay – life isn’t all about happy endings and anyway, a happy ending wouldn’t have fit here. Richard Yates was a man who suffered through two divorces (with his wives winning custody of the children on both occasions), TB, alcoholism and depression, finally ending with his premature death caused by smoking induced emphysema. For him, sadly, there was no happy ending either.
