Sabbatical by John Barth

 

A married couple take a year out of their lives and go sailing.  Fenwick Scott Key Turner is in his early 50's and has recently left the CIA.  Susan Rachel Allen Seckler, his wife, is twenty-five years younger and a professor of English.  It is her sabbatical from teaching and they have spent it on the seas.  Both of them are twins.  Susan's twin has had a hard life; she has been raped and captured overseas and tortured and leads a life of whatever comes, comes.  Fen's twin also worked for the CIA and was a higher-up there.  Susan's mother became a couple with Fen's twin and he raised she and her sister so it is almost as if Fen married his niece.

The two have gone on the journey to make decisions.  What will their marriage look like going forward?  Will they have children?  What will Fen do next in his career?  But they haven't made any decisions and the year is almost over.  Things happen as they return to the Chesapeake Bay.  After a year of sailing, they find an island close to home that isn't on their charts and from which they are fired upon.  Fen loses his lucky hat.  The CIA makes approaches to Fen, asking him to come back.  Fen's twin and his son, Susan's half brother have both disappeared and Fed suspects that the CIA may be involved.  Where will their lives lead?

John Barth is a postmodern writer whose most influential works were in the 1960s and 1970s.  This novel was written in 1982.  He has won the National Book Award and his writing is known for wordplay and satire along with repetitive themes that reoccur during the work and are brought together at the end to either make a point or illustrate a concept.  His work is often focused on the Tidewater of Virginia and Maryland where he was born and lives and on sailing, his great love.  It also often features twins and Barth himself is a twin.  He is not considered an easy read but the reader will be rewarded with new ideas and engaging characters.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.