On a snowy night, Bernard Doyle, the former mayor of Boston, drags his two adopted sons to a lecture by Jesse Jackson, Sr. Doyle is white and his sons, Tip and Teddy, are black, but Doyle is by far the most interested in Jackson’s lecture. Tip would much rather be back in the ichthyology lab with his fish samples, and Teddy would rather be visiting his great-uncle John, a retired priest recently in the news for supposedly curing the sick.
Outside the lecture hall, a sudden accident brings two newcomers into the lives of the Doyle family members, in Tennessee Moser and her daughter, Kenya. The aftermath of the accident includes a stunning revelation which will alter all the lives of those involved.
Ann Patchett is an author I have mixed feelings about. Her novel Bel Canto was my favorite read of last year, but otherwise I have found her books a little lacking. She tends to gather characters together either through a single incident or a common location and then go in-depth on their characters rather than developing a compelling plot. In Run, the action unfolds mainly over the course of a very busy day, making the constantly rising stakes seem absurd in context. Patchett has also overcrowded her short novel with characters, some of who get the short straw. Tip and Teddy have an older brother, Sullivan, who is Doyle’s biological son. He has a compelling backstory full of tragedy, but when it comes time for Patchett to wrap things up, she seemingly forgets to point to a way forward for him, unlike the others. Similarly, subplots like the one about Father John’s media frenzy and another about Tennessee’s best friend are given such meager attention it makes the reader wonder why Patchett didn’t cut them out entirely.
Patchett writes beautiful prose, and the novel touches on some serious subjects, like race and class, but it doesn’t really get into either in depth. This lack of daring, combined with the rushed nature of the plot, makes Run an ultimately unsatisfying read.