Book Review: "The Optimist's Daughter" by Eudora Welty

   As I sit down to write this review, I admit I'm a little at a loss as to where to begin.  This was a short novel, yet a complicated story!  Eudora Welty, a proliferative writer from Jackson, Mississippi, won the Pulitzer in 1973 for this one, and I'm not surprised.  But I came away from reading this one feeling that to truly understand all the author was trying to say here, that I would have to re-read it in its entirety.

   The writing style is distinct -- you can almost taste the home-brewed iced tea and feel the front porch breezes while you turn the pages.  But this is not an uplifting novel, at least not until you reach its conclusion.  The term "Optimist" in the title certainly is given a different spin in this particular work than the usual definition!

   Laurel McKelva has been called back home to her little Southern town.  She's been a designer in the big city, arriving in her dress suit and heels.  Her father, her hometown's revered judge, has a "scratch" on his eye that turns out to be much more serious -- he needs immediate surgery to remove the malignancy.  Dr. Courtland is given the go-ahead by Laurel to perform the procedure, against the whinings and whirrings of Judge McKelva's foolish little wife, Fay.

   A keynote to good storytelling is making the reader stop and think . . . and Welty succeeds in this from start to finish.  Reading through the text quickly is tempting, since it is so short, but doing so will cause you to miss important details to the story.  I found myself going back to re-read paragraphs here and there.  It was a bit like solving a puzzle, but the mystery here was not a detective story, but rather the task of piecing together these well developed, complex characters.  A daunting task, but worthwhile!

   Laurel is the strong one, to a point.  She has lived through much sadness and pain, and takes on the care of her father during his hospital recovery without question.  Even the surgeon, Dr. Courtland, second-guesses himself since he couldn't save Laurel's mother, Becky, when she became ill years before.  Judge McKelva, the "optimist" . . . well, you'll just have to read about him to figure out the meaning of the word in this context!  I won't spoil it for you.  And his silly second wife Fay, who is more interested in attending a Mardi Gras celebration than letting her husband lay still and heal properly.  You'd just like to smack her for her stupidity and self-centeredness, except you know with people like that, talking sense into them is never going to work.

   As a backdrop to these main protagonists, Welty brings in a collection of folks from the old neighborhood.  Those of us from small towns ourselves can relate to these men and women easily!  Some think they know everything, others gossip like chattering birds -- and none are really helpful to Laurel during a tough time!  It adds some much needed comic relief in an often deep, sometimes depressing tale.

   Of course, the story is not called "The Optimist", but rather "The Optimist's Daughter".  This is about Laurel, first and foremost, and her journey.  An excellent story, but certainly not light reading.  The writing style is old-fashioned.  I was surprised to learn the book was written as recently as 1973, even though I knew Welty was not from long ago and far away.  You feel distanced from it somehow, a little dream-like yet realistic.  As you read it touches you, and while a bit overwhelming at times, it draws you back until you've reached the end.  And once you've turned the last page, you'll still be thinking it over for days!  Now, that is skilled writing.