In Holly LeCraw’s latest book, it takes more than two halves to make a whole.
The novel, The Half Brother, features Charlie Garrett, his half-brother Nicky, and his former lover May, all teachers at the Abbott School, a boarding school in north-central Massachusetts.
“I was thinking about all the different halves that exist in this book,” guest Annie Thoms said on this week’s episode of “Book Talk.” “All of the children who are half their parents’ children, … children who are half one race and half another race, half one class and half another class, and how much so many of the characters in the book are trying to piece together who they are as a whole from all these different halves.”
I mis-heard her at first. “When you first said it I thought you were talking about haves, not halves,” I responded. “But that works too, right? Because there is a lot here about haves and have-nots.… So much of what drives Charlie is that he feels like he’s surrounded by these haves, people who have everything. He is constantly trying to act like he belongs, but feeling he does not.”
From there we were off, talking animatedly with other guest Jessica Sager about how these “haves” and “halves” play into the question of identity — the fundamental theme of the book, according to LeCraw.
To hear the rest of our conversation, as well as my interview with Holly LeCraw (in which — spoiler alert! — we give all of the book’s many secrets away!), click on the audio above. The episode is also available for free download in Soundcloud, iTunes or any podcast app under “WNHH Community Radio.”