A Book of Common Prayer

A Book of Common Prayer
Name	A Book of Common Prayer
Author	Joan Didion
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Pub date	1977
Pages	272
Isbn	978-0671225678
Preceded by	Play It as It Lays
Followed by	The White Album

A Book of Common Prayer is a 1977 novel by American author Joan Didion. The narrative is presented through the perspective of Grace Strasser-Mendana, an anthropologist observing the life of an enigmatic American woman, Charlotte Douglas, in the fictional Central American republic of Boca Grande. The novel explores themes of American imperialism, personal and national narratives, and the search for meaning amidst political and personal chaos, set against the backdrop of a country on the brink of revolution.

Summary

The novel is a psychological portrait of Charlotte Douglas, a wealthy American woman who arrives in the tumultuous nation of Boca Grande, ostensibly to visit her daughter. Narrated by Grace Strasser-Mendana, a terminally ill anthropologist and member of the ruling family, the story dissects Charlotte's past in Berkeley and her connections to radical political movements, including the Symbionese Liberation Army. As Grace Strasser-Mendana pieces together Charlotte's life from fragments and observations, the narrative becomes a meditation on grief, denial, and the stories people tell to survive. The impending political violence in Boca Grande mirrors the disintegration of Charlotte's own reality.

Background and publication

Joan Didion wrote the novel following her earlier success with Play It as It Lays and her work in New Journalism. Published by Simon & Schuster in 1977, the book emerged from Didion's enduring fascination with Central America, California, and the dissonance between American culture and the realities of Latin America. Her experiences reporting from regions like El Salvador and her sharp observations of the social upheavals in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, including the activities of groups like the Weather Underground, deeply informed the novel's political texture and sense of impending doom.

Plot

The plot unfolds in Boca Grande, a banana republic gripped by insurgent activity. Charlotte Douglas arrives, claiming her daughter is traveling with a guerrilla group. Through the analytical lens of Grace Strasser-Mendana, the reader learns of Charlotte's life: her marriage to a prominent Berkeley lawyer, Warren Bogart, her involvement with a radical named Leonard Douglas, and the tragic death of her other daughter, Marin. Charlotte constructs a fantastical narrative about her missing daughter, Marin, who was actually a member of a revolutionary cell inspired by the Symbionese Liberation Army. The novel culminates as political tensions erupt, forcing a collision between Charlotte's fabricated world and the violent realities of Boca Grande.

Characters

* Charlotte Douglas: The central, elusive figure, an American woman defined by her grief and her capacity for self-deception. * Grace Strasser-Mendana: The narrator, a dying anthropologist from the powerful Strasser-Mendana family, who studies Charlotte with clinical detachment. * Warren Bogart: Charlotte's first husband, a cynical Berkeley attorney. * Leonard Douglas: Charlotte's second husband, a leftist academic involved with radical politics. * Marin Bogart: Charlotte's deceased daughter, whose death haunts the narrative. * Antonio: The revolutionary leader in Boca Grande who becomes entwined in Charlotte's story. * Edgar: Grace's brother-in-law and a key political figure in the unstable government of Boca Grande.

Themes and analysis

The novel is a profound exploration of narrative and empire. Didion examines how individuals, like nations, create stories to impose order on chaos, with Charlotte Douglas representing a certain strand of American innocence abroad. The setting of Boca Grande serves as a critique of American imperialism and the tragicomic failures of U.S. foreign policy. Themes of motherhood, loss, and the paralysis of grief are interwoven with observations on anthropology and the act of witnessing. The title itself evokes the liturgical Book of Common Prayer, suggesting a search for ritual and form in a world devoid of clear meaning, much like the Anglican liturgy provides structure amidst doubt.

Reception and legacy

Upon its release, the novel received significant critical attention, cementing Didion's reputation as a major voice in American literature. Reviewers in publications like The New York Times and The New Yorker praised its incisive prose and complex portrayal of American character. While some found its protagonist frustratingly passive, the book has endured as a key text in Didion's oeuvre, often discussed alongside Salvador and The White Album for its political acuity. It is frequently studied for its stylistic precision and its unflinching analysis of the intersections between personal and historical catastrophe, influencing later writers examining similar landscapes of power and disillusionment.

Category:1977 American novels Category:American political novels Category:Novels by Joan Didion Category:Simon & Schuster books