DC gets little attention aside from political attention. When you hear about artists and writers you think LA or New York, so when I read in the description on the back of the book “The Hopefuls” in Upshur Street Books and saw the novel took place in Washington, DC, I had to read it.
The author of the novel, Jennifer Close, lives in DC and teaches creative writing at George Washington University. From page one you can tell it was written by a true Washingtonian. The author wastes no time before diving into real-life DC references: the giant alley rats, the nicknamed Safeways, the terrible humidity that is all worth it for that one, perfect October day. References like these make the book a joy to read for anyone living in Washington.
The main character in the novel, Beth, is forced to move to the Dupont Circle neighborhood of the city from New York City when her husband takes a job in the Obama White House. By the way Beth describes the neighborhood, you would think she lives in one of the worst parts of the city, not one of the nicest and most expensive, but this can be attributed to Beth’s hatred of the city, which is fierce. She hates the small-town feel of the city. She hates how she bumps in to people she knows on a regular basis. And most of all she hates how people ask “who do you work for?” in any social gathering. While her observations may be a little exaggerated, as a reader I couldn’t help but smirk at all the DC references because all Washingtonians know that those things are also what makes DC, DC.
Beth’s complaining crosses the line between endearing and irritating more than once, but I put up with it as a reader because while I do want to roll my eyes at her and tell her to go back to New York, it is fun to read the names of the real-life nail salons, brunch spots, and Starbucks locations I visit in real life. The story follows Beth and her husband Matt through Matt’s career from a Harvard graduate, ex-New York lawyer, to a volunteer on the Obama campaign, to White House council staff, to a small, state campaign manager. Matt’s ultimate goal is to run for elected office, a dream Beth isn’t excited about, but acts indifferent to more than anything. Beth spends most of the book acting indifferent, which left me as a reader wondering whether she has any personality at all. (Spoiler: she doesn’t.)
While Beth narrates the story, most of the character development is with her husband, Matt. Matt starts off as a bright-eyed hard worker. He is smart, sweet, and driven, characteristics that fade over time. The author seems to use Matt’s character to show how soul-sucking and treacherous a career in politics can really be for a young professional trying to get ahead. The book fanaticizes about the life of a young married couple who don’t really see eye-to-eye on the future they want, thought that’s mostly because Beth doesn’t want anything (she is a pretty boring person). I think the author could have made Beth into a more likeable character without losing any of the function she plays as a sidekick to Matt’s life, but perhaps that was her exact function, to show how lifeless someone outside of politics feels in Washington, DC.
Overall, the book was a quick, enjoyable read. Beth definitely teeters on the edge of being so pessimistic that it’s annoying, but never really crosses the line—or at least not enough to make me want to put the book down. The writing flowed well and the book was an easy and fun to read, especially for someone like me who lives in DC can imagine exactly what it is like for Beth to walk hungover down Connecticut Avenue past Russia House to pick up bagels at Bethesda Bagels.
