The Love You Take

by Robert Wilson

Rating: ****

Told in four parts over the course of the 1970s, The Love You Take is a late coming-of-age novel focusing primarily on Andy Watson, from small-town Strasburg in Virginia as he matures from college student to married father.

Surrounded by a select group of eclectic friends, all of whom have their vulnerabilities and moments of self-reckoning, Andy navigates the decade of Nixon, Vietnam, and socio-political unrest while wrestling with the responsibilities of adulthood and the emotional consequences of his often-flawed decision-making.

None of the characters in The Love You Take are particularly likable, but in the novel’s context, it’s their often-unintentional unpleasantness and self-serving conduct that make them so readable.  None of them act with planned malice; their actions are borne of immaturity, misguidance, and, occasionally, desperation, motivations which make this story deeply human and relatable.

Part One takes place in May 1970, in the immediate aftermath of the Kent State University shootings. Against this backdrop of campus Vietnam War protests and walkouts, Andy is a first-year student at Concordia College, Virginia, somewhat directionless yet searching.

The story unfolds through Andy’s third-person perspective. Events and observations shared by an omniscient narrator lend a sense of detachment. Andy always seems not quite fully invested in or cognizant of the emotional landscape surrounding him, and the narrative style reflects and heightens this disconnection.

When he finds enigmatic, free-spirited Susanna Agincourt, it ignites a sexually charged relationship that filters through the next ten years of Andy’s life, despite only lasting a month.

Concordia is also where he forms lasting friendships, chief among them is with Professor Hal Wainwright and his beguilingly beautiful muse/lover, John Brockenbrough, known as “Saint John”.  All of Wilson’s vivid, faceted characters step from the page, involved in their own intrigues or circling around Andy’s.

But especially the seemingly perpetually good-natured Hal, whose Sybaritic pursuits, great fun at first, become symptomatic of a self-loathing emptiness that tips his escapades into recklessness and sleaze.

But this story is Andy’s, and he is guilty of moral drift, adding layers of meaning to the novel’s title. The events in Key West, 1975, when he had been married to Shelley, his childhood sweetheart, for only six months, begin in amusing, farcical fashion. But Andy’s subsequent childish, voyeuristic behavior and his near-fatal comeuppance hint at deeper complexities and subconscious discontent that surface again a year later.

Shelley is a little nebulous, appearing on the edge of the narrative, although she is very much central. Her dynamic with Andy occasionally takes on a maternal tone, and her reactions to his blunders are sometimes puzzling.

Large areas of the story are revealed through retrospective conversations among the various characters, with time gently shifting back and forth.  Dialogue is wonderfully natural and authentic, shot through with individual nuance and colloquialisms.

Wilson moves the decade on in leaps and bounds, maintaining momentum. He cleverly utilizes the period, which is fundamental to Andy’s trajectory, soaking the narrative in 70s sepia-toned hedonism, popular culture, and fashion.

The conclusion is abrupt and slightly ambiguous, suggesting a sequel. Nonetheless, The Love You Take is well-written, absorbing, and sharply convincing. Highly recommended.

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