The Even Tenor of Our Ways
Brendan Sullivan
Reviewed by Holden Schmale
Brendan Sullivan’s The Even Tenor of Our Ways is a captivating portrait of a Pennsylvanian family that has grown distant, physically and emotionally, with the passage of time. The novel rotates perspectives between six main characters: siblings Will, Kayla, and Gabe, their divorced parents, John and Helen, and Andrea, John’s second wife and the new stepmother of the siblings.
Firmly rooted on the Upper East Coast, the characters are subject to the transportation systems that govern the area. They constantly grapple with train and bus schedules, the need to exit a conversation in time to catch the last Amtrak of the night, whether to stay the night on a couch or Uber back across the city, whether a day trip to New York is feasible. Sullivan utilizes this urgency, creating a propellent atmosphere for the reader.
Apart from the present of the story, we are taken backwards in time to experience formative events in each character’s life, which are not infrequently the same events, from an entirely new perspective. Sullivan avoids letting these moments be self-referential nods, instead digging into the gold mine that this use of point of view becomes in the novel, offering the reader a nuanced look at the events that shaped our protagonists.
We are introduced to the family as a group, yet Sullivan makes sure to round out each member with fully formed and intricate issues separate from those of the whole, as well as a deep roster of secondary characters that deepen our understanding of the emotional stakes for all our protagonists. Maggie, Kayla’s best friend from college, is a magnetic force that pulls her away from home. Will’s relationship with his girlfriend, Liza, forces him to consider the future more seriously. John grapples with an old friend, Marty, who is down on his luck and has turned to him for help. Helen navigates a series of unsuccessful relationships in her new home.
Often, the moments Sullivan chooses to linger in are unexpected and quiet, yet are given great significance, zooming in on everyday occurrences rather than blowout fights. The novel isn’t judgmental towards its characters, rather, it ventures to justify their actions by peeling back the curtain on their past.
The urgency of logistical time intersects with the weight of emotional time, and the characters varying levels of emotional availability are put to the test. They are forced to question their own willingness to turn away from their work, their own problems, and to lend an ear or a helping hand to a loved one. This is only heightened when Andrea’s brother is hospitalized for an extended period, bringing them together in a moment of need.
The answers sought after are often found through a return to the family, imperfect and complicated, but tender and well-intentioned at its core. Sullivan examines the moments that bring us together, as well as those that push us apart. As Andrea says in the novel’s final moments, “It was a mystery, the people who came into your life, and the people who left.”
The Even Tenor of Our Ways doesn’t try to paint a perfect family portrait, it rather aims to paint a wholly imperfect one, creating an intricate web of relationships within this abnormal family, and ultimately represents the bridges that can be created through understanding and tenderness.