THE MONK DOWNSTAIRS, by Tim Farrington, HarperSanFrancisco, paperback, 284 pages, $14.95.
Although it was published in hardback last year, I somehow missed this clever, funny and satisfying novel with the catchy title. The story has a divorced mother, Rebecca, putting a downstairs apartment up for rent to earn some extra money for her and her little daughter, Mary Martha.
Rebecca is surprised when a man who has been living in a monastery for 20 years asks to rent the apartment. The predictable happens quickly — Rebecca falls in love with the monk, who has relinquished his contemplative life. And, even more interesting, he falls in love with her.
It is not a problem-free relationship; they have their differences at first. But they work them out.
There is that unmistakable feeling that neither Rebecca nor Michael are going to have another chance at romance. They are, after all, both fortyish. Rebecca, whose ex-husband was notoriously wild — and still is — finds herself amazed that a man could be so interesting and compassionate as Michael appears to be.
For his part, Michael comes out of isolation slowly, but eventually develops a deft touch
with both Rebecca and her daughter. Since Rebecca has been cold to religion for some time, Michael softens her up. Eventually, they meet somewhere in the middle, where their future together takes on resplendent potential.
The author, Tim Farrington, speaks from experience. For two years, he lived as a monk near San Francisco, so he is able to convey the tricky nature of leaving a monastery for a more active life in the world. Thus, Farrington suggests in his story the troubles and joys of weighing the "contemplative life of quiet prayer" against "a vigorous life of service in the world."
The original working title of the book was "That Good Part," a phrase taken from the New Testament story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10. The epigraph to the novel is, "But Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Farrington is referring to the two sisters in the Bible story who have opposite interpretations of how life should be lived — one busy serving her Lord and the other sitting at his feet in devotion.
Farrington sees Rebecca as the symbol of action and Michael as one who knows the quiet life of devotion, but who is foggy about how he became disheartened. He initially tells Rebecca that he left the monastery because of a quarrel with his abbot. But the truth is, he struggled for a long time with what he thought was a loss of balance. So the ideals considered are thought-provoking, and the story is a clever one about two people falling in love.
The dialogue is breezy and witty — especially coming from Rebecca, who is a very appealing character. And as Michael becomes more balanced, he becomes fun-loving, while still protecting his spiritual base.
Though a small complaint, the constant and unnecessary references to smoking in an era when much of the culture has come to grips with its deleterious effects, is irritating. Rebecca and Michael are constantly lighting each other's cigarettes, then inhaling rigorously — thus distracting the reader from an otherwise brightly-written, upbeat novel.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com