Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:58 AM CST
Book Review: 'In A Perfect World,' by Laura Kasischke
Review by Juanita Sherwood
“In a Perfect World” is a timely novel. We should hope that it is not prophetic.
The main character is Jiselle McKnight, an airline stewardess. She is 32 years old and not married. Her mother, Anna Petersen, is a bitter woman who is critical of men in general.
Perhaps Anna had a reason to feel that way, as her physician husband had left her for a much younger woman; in fact, the younger woman had been Jiselle’s best friend, Ellen.
Since Ellen was in her mid-teens, she and Jiselle’s father had been having an affair. A short time after their marriage, the two of them had been killed in an automobile accident. The affair and divorce made her mother critical of marriage, especially Jiselle’s to Mark Dorn.
Mark was an airline pilot, handsome, charming and a romantic dream of many. He had a major personal problem, though: his wife was deceased, and he had three children at home who needed care.
Jiselle was one of the women who yearned for Mark to shower her with attention. When that happened, she was thrilled. When they decided to marry a short time after they began dating, her mother was appalled, especially by the fact that Jiselle had agreed to cease working to stay in Mark’s home to care for his children.
Mark’s family lived in southern Wisconsin in a community where most commuted to Chicago for work and did not socialize much.
In time, Jiselle discovered that Mark’s wife had been hit and killed by a school bus as she was trying to save their toddler son who had wandered into the street. Since then, a succession of nannies had cared for his children. Only later did she accidentally discover the additional role of the nannies.
A flu that began in Phoenix was first reported to have killed those who were in a nursing home; it killed the employees, but left the elderly inhabitants alone. This was a bit unusual, but no one thought too much about it: it was just another segment on a newscast.
As time went by, the “Phoenix” flu became more virulent and began killing others in the U.S. Some who contracted it died horrible deaths, some mercifully died quickly, a few recovered.
Launching white balloons with silver strings attached in memory of lost loved ones who had succumbed to the flu was popular at first, but later the practice was abandoned as the disease gained momentum.
Television newscasts at first reported extensively about the flu, but as time went by, broadcasters tried to soft-pedal the information surrounding the situation to avert a panic.
Eventually, the flu spread to other nations, and the United States was blamed. U.S. citizens abroad were treated poorly, and eventually those who traveled were either banned from other countries, or when they did try to enter for their livelihood, such as Mark Dorn, they were quarantined, as he was in Germany.
Jiselle, then, was responsible for Mark’s children, whom she did not know well, and was living in a community where she knew few inhabitants. At first, Mark called home regularly, but as time went by, less and less often.
She discovered that the man she had married was not quite the man she believed he was. She assumed the responsibility, though, for the children, and eventually, a few other people in the community.
The power became unreliable, and supplies, including gasoline, hard to find….
This is a modern disaster novel, probably very true-to-life if such a situation should occur in our time.
Read this and become acquainted with Jiselle. You’ll admire her.
Sherwood of Charleston is a retired reading teacher.
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