Valeria Luiselli
Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli chronicles a mother-daughter journey that takes place after the mother’s divorce and the completion of her European book tour. The mother and her twelve-year-old daughter eventually head to Sicily.
The narrative unfolds from the mother/author point of view, exploring her interiority as she struggles with writer’s block. The plot is thin. The narrative meanders. The journey through Sicily incorporates a discussion of various topics, including classical mythology, the nature of memory, mother-daughter intergenerational bonds, family legacies, the impact of climate crisis, migration, the plight of refugees, time travel, the structure of a novel, reinvention, and an interrogation of beginnings, middles, and endings. The final section gives voice to the daughter as she writes to her grandmother.
Sicily is set against the backdrop of erupting volcanoes and creeping wildfire and ash. The Greek god Proteus, the shape-shifter, plays a prominent role throughout the narrative. The mother and daughter embark on a journey to return a small mosaic tile of Proteus to an ancient villa where it was found and appropriated by the author’s grandmother. At the time, she had disguised herself as a man so she could participate in an archaeological dig. After her deception was exposed, she absconded with the ancient tile depicting Proteus. This ancient tile triggers discussions about shifts in perspective, predictions, presentiments, the fluidity of identity, origins, and time travel. The words of Pliny pepper the narrative as the daughter enjoys reading his words aloud to her mother. The novel ends with a series of photographs documenting the journey and the people they encountered.
The three generations of women—mother, daughter, and grandmother—banter back and forth. The dialog between mother and daughter is authentic and entertaining. The daughter is witty, curious, astute, and intelligent. The writer’s grandmother is an ever-hovering presence in the background.
The novel’s strength lies in a narrative voice that is engaging, reflective, and prone to philosophical musings. The narrator creates a sense of immediacy similar to that generated by the stream of consciousness technique whereby her thoughts shift from one topic to another, unfiltered. The novel may not be for everyone because of its weak plot. But it is a perceptive exploration of the identity of three generations of women—those starting out; those drawing to an end; and those in the middle of life, situated between two generations, in the process of reinventing themselves and their relationships.