Splendid Omens

By Robley Wilson

It's 1993 and Alec Thompson is traveling to Maine, to witness at the marriage of his painter friend, Webb Hartley. When Alec arrives at the wedding scene, he is surprised that no one-including Pru Mackenzie, Webb's 30-year younger bride-to-be-is on hand to welcome him. He soon learns the reason; his best friend has suffered a fatal heart attack, and the wedding is off. Webb's death sends Alec in search of Jenny Grant, Webb's first wife, to announce the news. The journey takes him from Webb's Maine farmhouse to a northern California horse ranch and leads him through both men's pasts, from college to the present. As he re-explores the events that had bound the three of them-both men had been rivals for Jenny's affection-Alec discovers, in the murky context of those days, that their lives were far more entangled than he had imagined. What Alec learns-and what Webb apparently wanted him to know-cuts to the very essence of the rest of Alec's life. Understanding what happened thirty years earlier is more important to him than ever. Along the way, Alec's quest introduces him to a precocious twelve-year-old, an ultra-sophisticated divorce , a Native American psychic. All are part of Webb's legacy for Alec to comb his memory, and the memories of everyone still living, in order to realize the truth. Vivid, poetic, and written with the same care and craft as the author's elegant short stories, Splendid Omens is both understated and shocking-and a deeply beautiful book that examines how different versions of the truth are like holograms that can re-create a life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312321678
• ISBN13: 9780312321673
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 1.1" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Intriguing Choices

This was quite an enjoyable novel with some intriguing twists. I also found the relaxation between Webb and Alec questionable. I wondered if they could actually have remained friends through all of it. I guess I found some of it just unbelievable but it did hold my interest and wonder. I also found Pru to be strange and unreal but perhaps that just because I haven't been exposed to this genre before. All in all, I enjoyed the book and it held my interest to the end.

Splendid Style

I have to take issue with the previous review, which is all about plot. Characters and style are what drive this novel. Wilson's style is quietly dazzling, and I found I had to read the book in one sitting because I wanted to know the truth that the characters are driven to pursue. If, like me, you appreciate New England in general and Maine in particular, you will love this book.

intriguing tale

While traveling to Maine to attend the fourth wedding of his long time best friend painter Webb Hartley, retired literature professor Alec Thompson reflects back on his only marriage that lacked passion and was filled with abstinence until Harriet died a decade ago. At Webb's farmhouse, Alec learns that his pal suffered a heart attack and died. Webb leaves behind a grieving stunned Pru and their small daughter. He also left a request for Alec to inform his first wife Jenny Grant that he died. Alec would prefer not to as Jenny was his only true love. Decades ago in Baltimore, Alec caught Webb and Jenny in a compromising position. He fled before his roommate and his beloved could explain.Reluctantly Alec honors Webb's wish traveling to Jenny's Santa Barbara horse ranch to break the news to her. A saddened Jenny tells Alec that he was her only love and that what he saw was his best bud consoling her following her discovery of a corpse. He will learn a lot more about their triangle and life.Though well written, this reviewer could not understand why Alec and Webb remained friends and why if they were best buds didn't Webb force Alec to listen to the truth. Once fans accept that relationships seem unnatural, SPLENDID OMENS is an intriguing tale as each key person and several secondary players met on Alec's quest seem real and add depths to the plot. Alec the narrator is the center of the morality tale as he ponders what could have been if he handled the pivotal moment of his life differently.Harriet Klausner