Close to Hugh
Close to Hugh by Marina Endicott, published by Doubleday Canada on October 16, 2015, is a 464-page novel that explores the intertwining lives of two generations in a small town during a pivotal week in autumn. The story centers on Hugh Argylle, a fifty-something art gallery owner, who faces a life-altering fall that prompts him to reassess his own existence and the struggles of his friends. As they confront personal crises, including dying parents and troubled relationships, Hugh feels compelled to help them navigate their challenges.
Readers will find a blend of humor and poignancy as the narrative unfolds over seven days in September, highlighting themes of friendship, art, and the complexities of life and death. Endicott’s writing captures the distinct voices of both younger and older characters, offering insight into their simultaneous journeys of reinvention. This edition presents a rich exploration of what it means to endure hardships and the responsibilities we hold toward those we care about.
Official synopsis Publisher
This witty and compassionate national bestseller shows us how two generations in a seemingly ordinary small town navigate extraordinary rites of passage during a single, fateful week in autumn.
Close to Hugh is a glorious, exuberant, poignant comic novel about youth and age, art and life, love and death–and about losing your mind and finding your heart’s desire over the course of seven days one September.
As the week opens, fifty-something Hugh Argylle, owner of the Argylle Art Gallery, has a jarring fall from a ladder–a fall that leaves him with a fractured off-kilter vision of his own life and the lives of his friends, who are going through crises (dying parents; disheveled marriages; wilting businesses) that leave them despairing, afraid, one half-step from going under emotionally or financially. Someone’s going to have to fix all that, thinks Hugh–and it will probably be him.
With exquisite insight and surefooted mastery, Endicott manages something surprising: to show us, with an unerring ear for the different cadences and concerns of both generations, two sets of friends on the cusp of simultaneous reinvention. And, as always in Endicott’s wonderful fictional worlds, underpinning the sharp comedy and keenly observed drama is something more profound: a rare and rich perspective on what it means to rise and fall and rise again, and what in the end we owe those we love.
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