The Legacy of “Couples”

I’ve wondered if the people of Ipswich felt similarly betrayed by the publication of “Couples.”  In that case, however, Updike changed the name of the town (to Tarbox) while writing characters that were thinly veiled personas of real people.  ”

A few years ago, a local book club invited me to join their meeting to discuss “Couples” by John Updike.  As the co-owner of his last local bookstore, I guess they felt I might have some insight to offer on the man and the legend. (I’m not sure I did — I never actually met him — but I was delighted to be invited and greatly enjoyed the discussion.)  “Couples,” a novel about ten couples grappling with various issues of marriage and infidelity, was based on Updike’s real social set and it caused a major stir when it was published.

I was thinking about “Couples” recently while reading “The Shampoo Effect” by Jenny Jackson.  In the book, the main character, Caroline Lash, arrives in Greenhead, MA (a clear stand-in for Ipswich) for a writing residency sponsored by the late Palmer Preston (a clear stand-in for John Updike).  Caroline starts dating a local boy who introduces her to his circle of friends and very quickly disrupts the status quo.  We get to know the friends — the couples — and their various issues of marriages, sex, friendships, and parenthood.  This is a book that wears the influence of “Couples” lightly on its sleeve.

“I became intrigued by the idea of [Updike], a writer in a small town, mining his social set for material, and the way making art might lead to betrayal,” Jackson wrote in an essay for Literary Hub.  Jackson took the inspiration of “Couples” and created something modern and fresh with a true updated commentary on the state of contemporary relationships.

Jackson, an editor at Knopf, currently resides in Brooklyn, but she grew up in Ipswich and still has family in town.  Readers stumbling across Crane Castle, Appleton Farms, and the Clam Box in the pages of “The Shampoo Effect” can rest assured that the author knows what she’s talking about.

I was also thinking about “Couples” during a recent controversy over a different book, “Valley of the Moms” by Boxford author Hannah Selinger, which is set in Hamilton, MA.  Some residents have taken umbrage with how their town has been portrayed.  Many other residents I’ve spoken with have thoroughly enjoyed seeing familiar landmarks littered throughout the story of a mom who has a run-in with the local PTO.  The novel is a domestic suspense story with commentary on how wealth can corrupt a community and, in order to get a point across, Selinger takes some liberties in how the good people of Hamilton might actually act.  It’s a murder mystery, after all.

Watching the conversation online, I’ve wondered if the people of Ipswich felt similarly betrayed by the publication of “Couples.”  In that case, however, Updike changed the name of the town (to Tarbox) while writing characters that were thinly veiled personas of real people.  In the case of “Valley of the Moms,” the town name is real, but the characters and the events of the book are not actually based on anyone who lives there or anything that happened there.

58 years later, the legacy of “Couples” lives on.

The real take-away for local readers is that there’s no shortage of books this summer with local settings that add a layer of appreciation to page-turning stories.  Both of these novels are love letters to the beaches, landmarks, restaurants, and people of the North Shore.

More books recently published set locally:

Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Beach Thriller by Jamie Day

Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson

All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Murder in Salem, Massachusetts by Robert Fitzgibbon

Hannah Harlow is owner of The Book Shop, an independent bookstore in Beverly Farms.  Harlow writes biweekly recommendations for us.  See more of what she recommends reading at thecricket.com.