The Monsters of Templeton

 I am still reading this book. Although it's very good, it's taking me a long time.  Last week, I wrote " In this novel, Willie Upton returns to her suburbean  home town of  Templeton, New York, from an archeology mission in Alaska, the same day a horrific yet beautiful beast surfaces on Templeton's Lake Glimmerglass. Willie doesn't return to "recharge," and she certainly doesn't return home because she adores her home town. She returns because 29 year old Willie Upton is pregnant with her married professors child. Scandalous, I know. Not only this, but she attempts to slaughter her professors wife in a Bush Plane. However, this isn't really relevant. At least not yet. It's all just leading up to her returning to Templeton." Since then, the one of the main things of this book has entered the plot. Vi, Willie's mother, tells her that her father is not the random chicago hippie like she grew up thinking. In fact, he is a respected templetonian man with a family. Of course, this comes as a shock to Willie. Her father could be anyone! One half of the source of her life lives in her very town.  You see, Willie has roots in Templeton. Marmaduke Temple, the founder of the town, was an ancestor of her. But the Temple family has two sides. The side with Marmaduke's wife, and their children, and their children's children. Also, the is the side in which supposedly quaker Marmaduke Temple has an affair with his slave. (This is in the last 1700s.)It's the Temple's and the Averall's. However, another shock. Willies unknown father is also a descendent from Marmaduke Temple. So, Willie starts a mission. Tracing bake to her ancestors, she finds everything she can about her family.

           Now, I want to talk about Vivienne, or Vi. Willie's mother. I have mixed emotions about this character. Sometimes, I really like her, and others times, I hate her. My feelings contradict each other, just like Vi's "sides" contradict each other. All Willie's life, she grew up with a hippie mother who completely believed in equal rights for everyone, who lied to Willie by telling her she was allergic to sugar to keep her from eating it. She grew up with a mother who found some religions insulting. But when Willie comes back, everything is different. Her mother has gone eats fatty foods, and is church-crazy. We soon find out though, one reason she's so religious now is her relationship with the fat, greasy minister.

           I think the reason this really bothers me is because it's obviously not who she really is. Vivienne is drastically changing herself for her new boyfriend, when it used to be leaping from one partner to another. I understand how in a relationship, people would change small things to make their partner happy, but what Vi did isn't right. She's  basically masking herself for the satisfaction of, as Willie calls him, "Reverend Milky."

          So, what if she really has changed? If she isn't truly masking herself, I still find her new personality annoying. Because she is completely going against herself. I  personally think she is masking herself, because it's impossible to just completely change your view on everything. Her two opposing opinions just clash.