The Monsters of Templeton

When I started reading ‘The Monsters of Templeton’ by Lauren Groff, the word "quirky" came to mind. It’s full of unusual characters and sassy dialogue, and because of these qualities I was drawn further into the story as it progressed. Its premise is bizarre, but I was slightly bored as the book continued.

The novel introduces Willie "Sunshine" Upton, a woman in her mid-twenties who returns to her hometown of Templeton in the hopes of recovering from a depressing affair with her professor. Upon arriving home she stays with her mother Vi, a former radical hippie who’s turned over a new leaf and has become a devout Baptist. While Willie is staying with her mother and attempting to regain some peace in her life in the town that her ancestors founded, the corpse of a gigantic monster floats to the surface of Templeton’s lake. While in the midst of coping with her affair gone wrong and discovering along with the rest of the town that the monster’s rumored existence is now fact, Willie learns the truth about her unknown father as well as the rest of her lineage and just how connected she is to Templeton.

Willie’s inner turmoil and newfound interest in her ancestral ties is just enough to keep this novel going at a steady pace. The novel's main flaw is the back and forth between Willie's narrative, and flashback narrative's of her ancenstors. Who the fuck cares about the ancestors? They are boring and completley slowed down the book. The character’s curiosity and continual discoveries will in my opinion continue to up the reader’s interest. But the flashbacks tempted me to stop reading completely. Also, to avoid any confusion about who’s who in Willie’s ancestry, Groff provides an updated family tree at the beginning of every few chapters based on any new information that the character unearths. But to be honest, there were so many people by the end that I didn't even know who most of them were. If a family tree is not included, instead a picture of one of Willie’s long dead relatives is presented; complete with a caption that explains who they are.

Now that I’ve shared my rant, I’ll state that overall ‘The Monsters of Templeton’ was different without being too weird, and was good at providing mystery, intensity and plain old fun. It was a somewhat enjoyable read for me, interesting story and premise, interesting characters in Willie and Vi, but ultimately forgetable.

B-