Endearing Novel Reminds Us That ‘We Still Have Each Other’

"Boarding House," by Proal Heartwell.

Think of the Roaring ‘20s and most likely flappers dancing the Charleston bounce to mind. Figures like the Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone, and Babe Ruth made the headlines. Women bobbed their hair, shortened their skirts, and smoked cigarettes. Speakeasies and bootleggers supplied bathtub gin, whiskey, and beer. Movie stars like Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the cat’s pajamas, and everybody wanted to own a car.

Hidden behind this iconography of hedonism and hubbub, however, were millions of other Americans, many of them still living on farms and in small towns. They went to work every day, knew their neighbors, got their news from the papers and new-fangled radios. Their social lives revolved around community events and church.

American aviator Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974) poses next to his airplane, the Spirit of St Louis, in May 1927. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In his novel “The Boarding House,” Proal Heartwell transports readers to one of these towns: Lawrenceville, Virginia. It’s 1927, with the Great Depression still two years away, and Robert Martin, newly-graduated from college, arrives in town. He'll work in a brickyard during the summer and begin teaching high school English literature and composition in September. Life in Lawrenceville, we quickly discover, differs radically from the bright lights and big cities of Jazz Age America.

The Book in Brief

Heartwell wisely begins his novel with Robert Martin’s first meal in the boarding house, a device allowing us to immediately become acquainted with most of the story’s major players. With the help of her teenage daughter Laura, Louvenia Hicks owns and operates this establishment, which she opened following the death of her husband and their young son Charlie during the 1918–1920 Spanish Flu epidemic.

With the meal served and a prayer offered, we quickly become aware that Robert’s fellow boarders revere Mrs. Hicks, as they call her, and feel as protective as uncles toward young Laura. Fervent believer Willie Elmore, a sort of apprentice Methodist minister, walks the straight and narrow path. The oldest of the men, Paul Allen, is a Northerner who moved to Lawrenceville decades earlier and has long since found his place in the town. Mosby Daniels oversees a crew at the local railway yard. He’s become a sort of unofficial godfather to Laura, who adores him.

In the year that Robert spends at the boarding house, he becomes close to these five residents. Each of the them, including Robert, has a backstory to share, and each faces special challenges and crises. Laura wants to go south to Raleigh to continue her education, if she can find the necessary funds, but struggles with leaving her mother and the town she loves. The solid Mosby undergoes a horrific accident in the rail yard that will forever change his life. The wise and sweet Paul Allen suffers with an age-related illness. Willie must discern whether he has the talent and the skill to oversee a church, and Louvenia must choose between marriage to an old friend or continuing her boarding house operation. As for Robert, he’s under pressure from his affluent Richmond parents, particularly his father, to enter the University of Virginia School of Law the following year.

Along the way, we become acquainted with a dozen or more townspeople, rich and poor, black and white, all with their own dreams and struggles.

Realism at Its Best

Readers looking for fast-paced suspense will likely want to bypass “The Boarding House.” But for those who enjoy realistic characters and situations that explore the meaning of love, relationships, work, and education, and for those who relish the manners and customs of a time and a place, this novel is a winner.

A postcard for St. Paul's College, a critical educational institution for black Americans in the South during the 20th century. Public Domain

Heartwell clearly shares some deep connections with the real town of Lawrenceville, Virginia. He knows its history and meticulously describes its streets and shops. Of particular interest is his inclusion of the Saint Paul Normal and Industrial School, an institution aimed at training black students as teachers and in the trades. Robert Martin converses several times with the school’s founder, James Russell, learning more about its history and Russell’s teaching style.

The author’s put an inordinate amount of research into this book. He accurately recounts the September rematch of boxers Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney as broadcast by the radio from Chicago’s Soldier Field. He references movies and personalities like Charles Lindbergh . His descriptions of cars, homes, furniture, clothing, and more reveal his deep dive into this part of the American past.

Argentinian sports magazine "El Gráfico" features boxers Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey on its cover. The two men boxed in a famous 1927 match called "The Long Count Fight." It was broadcast to more than 60 radio stations in the United States. Public Domain

Heartwell relates in detail the particulars of 1920s’ life. For instance, he describes Louvenia Hicks readying her boarding house for a tea in honor of Robert Martin’s visiting parents and sister:

“Louvenia Hicks had spent the day feverishly cleaning house. She waxed and buffed the old pieces of furniture, and at dinner Robert could tell that the silver cutlery was freshly polished. The rugs had been aired and beaten—with Paul Allen’s help—and all the men’s rooms had been tidied up, the beds made with fresh sheets. The front porch—site of tomorrow’s tea—was dusted and mopped, and Paul had also trimmed the bushes that bordered the sidewalk.”

Here is not only a portrait in miniature of a woman proud of her house but also of the elbow grease it once took to prepare for a special event.

Sands Through the Hourglass

Though less than a century stands between us and Heartwell’s Lawrenceville, the world has undergone tremendous change. Robert Martin and his friends hail Lindbergh as a hero for his flight across the Atlantic; America put men on the moon less than 50 years later. The wonders of radio soon faded, first to television and then to personal computers. Segregation in Lawrenceville was cast aside long ago. Healthcare in 1927 was primitive by today’s standards, and the near-exclusive interest in baseball has given way to the gridiron and the basketball court.

Etiquette and fashion have also undergone vast alterations. Throughout “The Boarding House” we find an emphasis on manners that is missing today. At the supper table, the diners address each other formally, as in “Mr. Martin” and “Mrs. Hicks.” Furthermore, Heartwell’s careful descriptions of clothing and courtesies reveal a people concerned about their public persona.

Some older readers of “The Boarding House” may find it a bit jarring to realize that in 1927, their grandparents were adults and that their parents were already born. When this perception hits home, the changes over the last 100 years seem even more momentous.

The 1924 Allentown Dukes baseball team pose together for a photograph. Baseball was the most popular American sport in the 1920s. Public Domain

Commonalities

Despite this vast array of transformations, Heartwell’s novel reminds us of the profound links between us and our ancestors. For better or for worse, or perhaps both, our customs, dress, and even our spoken language have changed dramatically, but our deepest instincts and emotions remain the same.

In a scene near the end of “The Boarding House,” Laura goes with her mother to visit the graves of her deceased father and her brother Charlie, who would have turned 14 that day. After placing flowers on the graves, Luvenia asks her daughter to sit for a few minutes for a “family discussion” and shares some important news about their future. Laura asks, “Well, Mama, are you happy?”

“Louvenia smiled. ‘I am, Laura, but I’d be even happier if you would give me your blessing.’

‘Of course, Mama,’ Laura said, wrapping her mother in her arms. ‘I’m very happy for you. For us,’ she added.

‘Yes, and we still have each other, don’t we, despite all the changes.’”

Her mother’s words frame so many of the relationships in “The Boarding House” and are worth keeping in our own.

"The Boarding House," by Proal Heartwell.

‘The Boarding House’ By Proal Heartwell Lightfoot House, April 16, 2024 Hardover: 432 pages

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