Book review: Quirky main character is the base for 'Addition'

How important is it to fit in? When Grace Vandenburg falls in love, she figures it's time to do something about her obsessive counting disorder in this funny, wise novel about love and conformity.

March 24, 2009 at 10:06PM

Grace Vandenburg, the narrator of Toni Jordan's debut novel, "Addition" (William Morrow, 258 pages,$24.99), is sharp, funny and mentally ill. She is ill to the point of being unable to work and, occasionally, unable to function. The only thing that keeps her going is counting. She counts everything -- how many steps to the store, how many letters in her name, how many toothbrushes in her cabinet, how many bristles in each brush.

She is not satisfied just toting up the numbers; the numbers have to equal certain amounts. And so when she finds herself in the grocery store checkout line with only nine bananas in her cart, she panics. She needs 10! She needs order! She needs to be able to rely on the familiarity and structure of numbers. They keep her grounded. They enable her to live in this complicated and chaotic world.

If having 10 bananas instead of nine enables her to cope, then so be it. She has no choice. When the man behind her looks away, Grace nips the lone banana out of his basket and into hers.

Order restored, she feels better. She gets through the line. She goes out into the parking lot. And there the man, Seamus, confronts her, bemused, amused, wondering why she stole his fruit. And so the story begins.

Jordan's book is not just about a woman with OCD (although Grace disputes that diagnosis; she makes a clear distinction between what she does and "those crazy hand-washers"). It is, of course, also about fitting in, about accepting ourselves and our loved ones as they are, about coping, compromise and conformity.

The writing is witty and quick, in keeping with Grace's intelligent mind -- until Grace begins taking medications to control her counting impulses. And then the writing slooowws. Gets lethargic. Loses its edge. Grace would rather lie on the couch and watch television than count anything or say anything interesting, and you find yourself missing her sharp observations, bizarre though they might have been.

This is not a perfect book, but it is hugely entertaining, and my quibbles are just quibbles. Seamus is impossibly perfect and understanding, for instance, and Grace's therapists are impossibly clueless. But, of course, we are seeing them through Grace's eyes, and she herself is a joy -- witty, dry, perfectly aware of her situation and how it is affecting her life, occasionally regretful and often the most sensible person around.

Laurie Hertzel, the Star Tribune books editor, is at 612-673-7302.

about the writer

about the writer

Laurie Hertzel

Senior Editor

Freelance writer and former Star Tribune books editor Laurie Hertzel is at lauriehertzel@gmail.com.

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