Richard Yates: Cold Spring Harbor

Hi

This is my second novel by Richard Yates. 
You can find all my Yates’ reviews here.
Cold Spring Harbor has only 178 pages.

“When the Shepards' car breaks down in pre-War New York City, a chain of events is set in motion that will transform the lives of the beautiful but stupid Evan Shepard, his doomed lover Rachel, and both their families. Fated to play out the mistakes of their parents, Evan and Rachel quickly discover the betrayal behind the dream, and desperately try every avenue of escape, only to find that all paths lead back to the small Long Island coastal town of Cold Spring Harbor, and to each other. But if there is no better chronicler than Yates of the quiet tragedy of thwarted suburban lives, Cold Spring Harbor is a testament to the absolute necessity of dreaming; for Yates's protagonists, hope may be all there is.”

Cold Spring Harbor is a brutally honest tale of a group of people all connected in a way, but still so very alone. And that loneliness seeps through every word Yates wrote. It’s heartbreaking at times but it is frustrating too.
Cold and disturbed relationships, self-centered, delusional people, there’s not a real likeable character in the whole novel. But the writing evokes empathy for those lost men and women. They all seem to be so human, so normal.

The novel flows effortlessly and I finished it in well under three hours.

Definitely recommended! Though Revolutionary Road is still my favorite.

Happy reading!
Helena