The Lake Shore Limited

Brilliant Work by an Excellent Writer

In her latest book, Ms Miller continues to explore narrative form, each succeeding book of hers being deeper and richer than its predecessors. In the Lake Shore Limited, Ms Miller seems to deliberately challenge the reader by her narrative strategy. There will be readers (both new and old) who do not sufficiently trust the author to make it through to the end. The Lake Shore Limited is a book that must not be rushed and that ultimately (in the last sentence actually) provides an incredible hit of satisfaction. Miller traces the lives of over half-a-dozen protagonists, the story revolving around a single night, but hardly fixed there. The single night is when Leslie and her husband Pierce come with a guest, Sam, to watch a play written by Billie, Billie who was the girl friend of Leslie's brother Gus. The main character in the play is acted by Rafe. Using this as a launching point, following the viewpoints of Leslie, Rafe, Billie, and Sam, we see the story unfold from shortly before 9/11 into the future. It is fascinating how each character sees the past in different ways, not so much contradictory (for each view is true in the sense of how it resonates with that character), but as complementary -- giving a much larger understanding to the reader than any single character has. For example, the simple meeting of Leslie and her husband with Sam offers Leslie's perception of place and weather and incident in terms of what stands out in her memory. Leslie is casual and things that she is being helpful to Billie who might enjoy meeting Sam who might help her recover from the loss of Gus years earlier. Sam, who is anxious and lonely, and still aches from the death by cancer of his wife, is more aware of psychological implications and worries about whether or not he can deal with what is probably going to be an "introduction" to someone he probably doesn't want to meet. Each of these characters are right and wrong about what is happening - but their collective visions gi...