Book Review of The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis

UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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Published June 2021 (I received an advanced copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:

Literary Fiction * Books set in Alabama * Books set in Virginia * Coming of Age Stories

TRAVEL INSPIRATION:

The novel begins in Virginia in the 1950s with a passing reference to my town of Roanoke, Virginia. The majority of the novel takes place along the Alabama coast.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: J. William Lewis

The Essence of Nathan Biddle is the first published work by J. William Lewis. Lewis was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama and attended local Spring Hill College before heading north to attend the University of Virginia’s School of Law. After graduating in 1968, he practiced law professionally for nearly 35 years. With the novel set in the 1950s and the author’s graduation from law school in the late 60s, it is probably a safe assumption that his formative years coincided with that of his characters in this novel. With his first published work of fiction, Lewis has made a marvelous entry!

REVIEW OF the Essence of nathan biddle BY J. William lewis

Life has not been easy for Kit Biddle, which is evident from the opening pages of The Essence of Nathan Biddle. Six years prior, Kit's beloved and special cousin, Nathan Biddle, had been sacrificed by his father in a modern-day rendition of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. (For those unfamiliar, the story in the Bible is a test of faith. God directs Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. An angel intervenes at the last moment to save Isaac. Abraham has been proven worthy.) In this novel, however, while Kit's Uncle Nat believes God has directed this action, there is no last minute reprieve, and Nathan's teenage life is snuffed out.

Where the story picks up, Uncle Nat is locked away for his mental illness, and Kit is struggling to make sense of this hole in his life all while confronting the challenges of being a teenager, especially one who is known for having a crazy uncle.

Kit is a teenage philosopher, seeking life’s bigger meaning and purpose but always coming up empty. He explores existentialism, poetry, and various philosophers and is disappointed to discover that none of them hold the answers he is looking for. He is unmoored and comes closest to finding his ideal safe harbor in his relationships with others in the community.

The world of Kit comes to life through his close and complex friendships and relationships, which are painted vividly. His male friendships evolve throughout the course of the novel and involve the best parts of comradery and the worst parts of jealousy and competition over a few of the girls in their class. Kit is enamored with Anna, his first sometime-girlfriend, whom he has placed atop a pedestal of perfection. Anna recognizes Kit’s inability to see her for who she truly is, and that hinders the advance of their romance. Waiting in the wings is Sarah, the younger sister of one of Kit’s friends, who has been secretly enamored with Kit for years. In many ways Sarah is Kit’s salvation, but he is also frustrated that she only sees her own image of him, not who he truly is (in a reverse parallel to his relationship with Anna.

Who is Kit truly? His uncle (who killed his son) is convinced that Kit is actually Nathan based on a mix-up at birth, and the basic facts of the situation support the possibility of this, leading Kit further into confusion over his life. The second half of the book focuses primarily on tracing Kit’s history back to the beginning and following those strands to the present in a weekly series of sessions with a psychologist. It is through this that the reader continues uncovering more of Kit’s past.

I found The Essence of Nathan Biddle to be somewhat reminiscent of The Catcher in the Rye, though a story entirely of its own making. For those who enjoy novels in the Bildungsroman genre, this one absolutely hits the mark as Kit seeks his way in the world against the backdrop of a horrible family tragedy. The characters were multifaceted, and Kit’s individual relationships with both adults (for example, his coach) and his peers helped add more depth to his life. The writing style completed the essence of Kit, using just the right level of precocious language and intellectual references that a philosophizing teenager would use.