Commitment by Mona Simpson: Coming of age in difficult times

I missed Commitment in hardback, knowing it would require time, thought and attention that I didn’t have when it was due to be published, but unusually, Mona Simpson’s American publicist contacted me, and I suggested a review for the UK paperback publication. Beginning in the early ’70s, it tells the story of the Aziz family who live in the shadow of their mother’s illness when she slips into a profound depression after her eldest son leaves home for college.

To render utopia, you first had to figure out a way to redistribute wealth.

Diane grew up in an orphanage, every advancement a struggle. Now divorced, she’s a nurse, proud of her degree and determined that Walter, at least, will do better. When she stops going to work after he takes up his university place, sleeping, more often than not, neither Lina nor her brother, Donnie, quite understand what’s happening until Julie, their mother’s friend and colleague, steps in. Diane is admitted to a mental institution, her family offered the hope that she will recover within a year by a kindly doctor. Walter continues at Berkely, more attracted to architecture than the pre-med studies he’s enrolled to follow, making friends, falling in love, aware of his siblings’ difficulties but apart from them. Lina’s fierce determination to win a place in a prestigious college far from California eventually come to fruition leaving Donnie with Julie, adrift and ripe for falling into trouble when she leaves for Michigan. As the years roll on, Diane’s hoped for recovery never materialises, Walter settles for a life that turns out to suit him well, Lina carves a small niche for herself as an artist and Donnie first loses then recovers himself. Throughout it all, Julie remains stalwart, the friend who is finally recognised as family.

It settled on Lina as she watched, like a moth landing on her wrist. Happiness. 

Hard to avoid getting bogged down in a lengthy synopsis for this richly detailed novel which explores a multitude of themes through the lives of three young people all deeply affected by their mother’s illness and absence. Simpson slips smoothly between Walter, Lina and Donnie telling their stories as each of them struggles in their different ways: Walter’s need to ensure the family’s financial security; Lina’s conviction she’s inherited her mother’s sickness and Donnie’s fall into addiction. Julie’s quiet generosity and dedication are a constant background hum without which the family would have fallen apart, the very embodiment of the novel’s clever title. This is an immersive often erudite novel whose three main characters evolve over the decade or so it spans until it eventually arrives at a satisfying conclusion. It’s one which repays attention handsomely, leaving the reader with a good deal to think about. I’m glad I waited until I could give it the time it deserves.

Corsair: London 9781472158161 416 pages Paperback