The Monsters of Templeton Lauren Groff

Publisher: William Heinemann, 2008. Review Date: 28/03/2008.

A Flavour of the Book: “I longed to go to Templeton, to see the lake my father spoke of with such poetry, to know the natives, to meet old Natty Bumppo, the funny sharpshooting hunter he told so many stories about. I wanted to see the vast beast in the lake, Old Sad Spirit in the tongue of the natives, even though my father scoffed at the myth, saying only women and fools saw it…”

The Authortrek View: This is an excellent debut novel. Willie “Sunshine” Upton arrives back in Templeton in disgrace, having become pregnant with her PhD supervisor, Dr. Primus Dwyer, and having attempted to kill his wife. Thankfully, her arrival is more or less unnoticed, as the body of a huge prehistoric monster has been found in the local lake. This event leaves the town in something of a flux for a few weeks, as the media descends upon it, and speculates wildly as to the monster’s origins. Willie’s mother, Vi, is most upset at Willie’s arrival, as she has done everything possible to bring her up right, even to the point of denying her sugary snacks such as ice cream. Vi never wanted Willie to make the same mistakes in life that she had done. However, it’s not long before Vi has revealed to her daughter that Willie is in fact the result of a liaison with a local Templeton man rather than several men from the commune that she was living in San Francisco prior to her own return to Templeton. Vi has vowed never to reveal the identity of Willie’s father, but she does not count upon Willie’s excellent research skills, as the one clue Vi gives away may hold the answer to Willie’s paternity… Although the lives of Willie’s predecessors are well-documented, since they played such an important role in the founding and maintenance of Templeton, there are rather a lot of them to go through, each of them with their own extraordinary quirks. What’s certain is that there is more than one skeleton in Templeton’s closet…

This is an exuberant novel based on Lauren Groff’s own home, Cooperstown, which is mainly famous for having been the locale of the great nineteenth century novelist, James Fenimore Cooper. Indeed, Lauren Groff has included many of Cooper’s most famous characters in The Monsters of Templeton. Even if you haven’t read any of his novels, most readers will be familiar with the characters of Hawkeye, Cora Munro, and Chingachgook from 1992 film of his most famous book, The Last of the Mohicans (although the plot of the novel differs somewhat from the film). Lauren Groff even reveals Cora Munro’s ultimate fate in The Monsters of Templeton. So, American readers more familiar with James Fenimore Cooper will get more from this novel than readers elsewhere, but Lauren Groff has created such a great work of fiction, that The Monsters of Templeton more than stands on its own. It’s filled with quirky characters such as the seemingly immortal Aristabulus Mudge, and stylistic thrills, such as the collective voice of the ‘Running Buds’. Willie’s family history certainly is complicated, but it’s also full of drama. In addition to this, one of Willie’s friends, Clarissa, has the misfortune to come down with the near fatal (but fascinating) disease Lupus. The Monsters of Templeton is a mesmerising and enthralling debut from a very talented author.

You can read a resume of the book on our Amazon store below. To find out more about the editor, please visit our Lauren Groff page.

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