Pg. 99: Lauren Groff's "The Monsters of Templeton"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Lauren Groff's The Monsters of Templeton.

About the book, from the publisher:

“The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass.”

So begins The Monsters of Templeton, a novel spanning two centuries: part a contemporary story of a girl’s search for her father, part historical novel, and part ghost story, this spellbinding novel is at its core a tale of how one town holds the secrets of a family.

In the wake of a wildly disastrous affair with her married archaeology professor, Willie Upton arrives on the doorstep of her ancestral home in Templeton, New York, where her hippie-turned-born-again-Baptist mom, Vi, still lives. Willie expects to be able to hide in the place that has been home to her family for generations, but the monster’s death changes the fabric of the quiet, picture-perfect town her ancestors founded. Even further, Willie learns that the story her mother had always told her about her father has all been a lie: he wasn’t the random man from a free-love commune that Vi had led her to imagine, but someone else entirely. Someone from this very town.

As Willie puts her archaeological skills to work digging for the truth about her lineage, she discovers that the secrets of her family run deep. Through letters, editorials, and journal entries, the dead rise up to tell their sides of the story as dark mysteries come to light, past and present blur, old stories are finally put to rest, and the shocking truth about more than one monster is revealed.

Among the praise for The Monsters of Templeton:

"At the heart of Lauren Groff's ambitious debut novel is a simple question…But how that mystery is solved — through three centuries of one family's history overflowing with scandals and secrets — makes it a delightful and challenging novel…The Monsters of Templeton makes readers work, but its rewards are worth it. Groff…is a talent to watch and celebrate."
—USA Today

"Groff's multi-layered saga both thrills and delights with its poignant, breath-taking prose."
—Entertainment Weekly, A

"Lauren Groff's debut novel, The Monsters of Templeton, is everything a reader might have expected from this gifted writer, and more... There are monsters, murders, bastards, and ne'er-do-wells almost without number. I was sorry to see this rich and wonderful novel come to an end."
—Stephen King

"In The Monsters of Templeton Lauren Groff has crafted a multilayered story that is boldly inventive and surprising, by turns wistful, elegiac, and sweeping."
—Lauren Belfer

"The Monsters of Templeton is a bold and beautiful hybrid of a book... Lauren Groff is an exciting young novelist, gifted with an elegant prose style and a narrative ambition as deep and as serious as the human mysteries she sets out to explore."
—Lorrie Moore

"Brilliantly incorporating accounts from generations of Templetonians — as well as characters 'borrowed' from the works of James Fenimore Cooper... —Groff paints a rich picture of Willie's current predicaments and those of her ancestors. Readers will delight in Willie's sharp wit and Groff's creation of an entire world, complete with a lake monster and illegitimate children."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A fantastically fun read, a kind of wild pastiche that is part historical novel and part mystery, with a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure."
—Booklist

Read an excerpt from The Monsters of Templeton and learn more about the book at the official The Monsters of Templeton website.

Visit Lauren Groff's website and her blog.

Lauren Groff 's short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in a number of journals, including The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, Hobart, and Five Points as well as in the anthologies Best American Short Stories 2007, Pushcart Prize XXXII, and Best New American Voices 2008.

The Page 99 Test: The Monsters of Templeton.

--Marshal Zeringue