Book Review: The Narrow Gate

The Narrow Gate. Janet Roberts. BookBaby, October 8, 2015, Trade Paperback and Kindle, 194 pages.

Reviewed by Ray Paul.

Before writing this review, I uncharacteristically read Janet Roberts’ short novel twice from cover to cover. I was driven by two reasons. I loved the flow of her lush prose and I wanted to savor it again. In addition, even though each chapter heading listed the point-of-view character, there were so many different narrators I wanted to make sure I understood how each added to my understanding of the plot. As it turned out, I did not need the second reading because I “got it” the first time. What else I did receive from the second reading was an even greater appreciation of the depth of the author’s prose.

The Narrow Gate is a story about relationships within a large family in a small Western Pennsylvania town. The focus character, Elise, is self-exiled to Long Island. The novel begins and ends when she returns to her hometown for her father’s funeral. During that brief time period, the reader is treated to a psychology handbook full of family love and dysfunction as each relative adds his or her voice. The glory of the writing is that by the end of the story, the reader sees the entire picture and understands the title, The Narrow Gate.

I highly recommend this book by Janet Roberts.