At the end of the 19th century, William, a young painter who comes from a very wealthy family, falls in love with illiterate farm girl Ruth. Although they could not be more different and William’s parents disapprove strongly, they marry and later settle down on the farm with Ruth’s parents. The book then follows them over the next decades and closely examines the nature of their relationship.
The premise is that they are vastly different people, but they are happy nonetheless because they love each other. My problem is that I am missing a foundation for this great love, because they have absolutely nothing in common. Ruth is a hard-working, god-fearing, pragmatic, and simple woman that has no interest in the fine arts, while William is a highly educated, rational, and selfish artist that has never had to do a chore in his life and is not willing to change that.
I could easily understand it if they had an infatuation with each other or their love faded over time, but as their lives progress and they see their differences clearer and clearer, their love does not falter, and I just find it unrealistic. Ruth has to do absolutely everything, she cares for him, the farm, and the children, and she provides the steady income, while he paints. She is aware of this imbalance, but she loves him. Sometimes she seems to feel some resentment, but because deep inside she doesn’t think that she is good enough for him, she shoves it aside. On the other hand, William gives up a lot to be with Ruth: he more or less breaks with his parents and loses access to their wealth. He only seldom leaves the farm, hence his career as a painter does not take off as it probably could have, but he loves her and stays, which was mystifying to me, because it really seemed like he was wasting his life there. He did not care about the farm, the community, or even his children, only Ruth.
Because of this problem the whole book felt a little like an intellectual exercise only. You take two characters that clearly should not be married to each other, but you still want to see whether you can make it work. It did not work for me. However, this is not a fatal flaw, because Buck is a keen observer of human nature, and there are a few brilliant scenes that contain some deep truths about the relations between the sexes and the sacrifices that are often necessary to make a relationship work. Additionally, the main and also the supporting characters are fleshed out very well and evolve in a realistic and consistent manner over the years, all of which makes you care for them quickly.
You need some suspension of disbelief for this, but otherwise it’s an easy and enjoyable read.