In The Heart of the Whole World
John Rolfe Gardiner
In this
novel, Ray, a young and enthusiastic high
school teacher lands his first
teaching job in the rural Beltway outside of Washington in the mid-1950’s. He
is unorthodox, handsome and the favorite of many students. He creates a
history project for his classes to discover and share information on local
history, beginning his own career as local expert. At the same time he begins
an affair with a student, Sarah, resulting in pregnancy. Though he would have
happily married Sarah, she chooses a young man her own age to seduce and
quickly wed. From this point forward, Ray becomes the doting father on the
outside looking in as Sarah insists that he keep away from their
daughter,
Sonia. Ray can’t help watching Sonia and going out of his way to make some
kind of contact even when it results in uncomfortable circumstances for
everyone
involved.
The years pass and eventually Sonia becomes
one of Ray’s students in the 1970’s and now his behavior approaches
borderline stalking and obsession. When a portion of local history is wiped off
the map under the construction of a new mall, The Whole World Mall, another
class project to save that piece of history solidifies the transformation of
Ray’s image in the high school from that of beloved favorite teacher to
laughingstock and a source of contempt. Soon Ray has reason to believe that
his daughter and a group of other teenagers are scheduling regular trysts in
the unfinished portions of the mall, trading sex partners on a weekly basis.
All the while an artist who was hired to paint a mural on the ceiling of The
Whole World has observed these teens, and as Ray begins to verify his
daughter’s activities, images of her naked body begin to appear woven into
the tapestry of the mural.
Though it is easy to wince at Ray’s
many poor choices and his obsessions in the book, it is also easy to
understand how he could get himself so involved with his secret paternity and
come to care enough about Sonia’s life to bring damage to his own. Ray does
manage to build another completely separate relationship with a woman who
understands him yet demands his honesty both with her and himself, and this
is, eventually, his saving grace. The novel builds in psychological complexity
and it is easy to get involved in the outcomes of Ray’s choices, even when
they are questionable. The story does not give in to easy sentimentality, but
does share both passion and compassion that makes it worthwhile.