Old Buildings in North Texas by Jen Waldo

A lot of Jen Waldo’s debut novel takes place out on the porch of Olivia’s mother’s house. Having flown from the mundanity and small-mindedness of her Texan town at the first opportunity and soared onto a bright life in the big city as editor of a New York fashion magazine, Olivia finds herself crashing back into the nest after a cocaine addiction burns out her body and bank account. With its casual, confidential tone, Old Buildings in North Texas puts the reader in one of those porch chairs, reclining on a warm evening with a cool drink.

It gets you thinking that Olivia would be a very certain sort of friend. Undeniably easy company, quick with a line and a natural storyteller. She’s judgemental but most judgements come coated in enough humour to help them down. Altogether, she’s someone you can pass the time with happily enough. She talks a lot without ever really saying much. So, an easy read, but which eventually leads to a point that acts like that ‘wait, what?’ moment in the conversation.

This is where an offhand comment reveals a nasty idea lurking underneath. When the subject of pregnancy barges into the story around halfway through, the response of the overbearing mother is essentially that adoption is cold-hearted abandonment because deep down of course every woman wants to have a baby. And then the book itself just seems to, basically, agree.