The Monsters of Templeton - Lauren Groff

Written by Lauren Groff
Read by Nicole Roberts
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

“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.

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, February 2008: On the very morning Willie Upton slinks home to Templeton, New York (after a calamitous affair with her archeology professor), the 50-foot-long body of a monster floats from the depths of the town’s lake. This unsettling coincidence sets the stage for one of the most original debut novels since The Time Traveler’s Wife. With a clue to the mysterious identity of her father in hand, Willie turns her research skills to unearthing the secrets of the town in letters and pictures (which, “reproduced” in the book along with increasingly complete family trees, lend an air of historical authenticity). Lauren Groff’s endearingly feisty characters imbue the story with enough intrigue to keep readers up long past bedtime, and reading groups will find much to discuss in its themes of “monsters,” both in our towns and our families. –Mari Malcolm

From Publishers Weekly
Groff’s tale of a young woman searching for her true identity through old letters, journals and articles is a vivid portrait of the past and present, but Nicole Roberts’s delivery is far too stolid and contrived to bring the material to life. As if reading a teleprompter, Roberts sounds more like a news anchor, slightly disconnected from the material and doing her best to make it sound important. At times she races through the story at breakneck pace, at others she reads painfully slow as if reading to a group of uninterested first graders. While her pitch is clear, her tone is almost plastic and fake, making the story so dreary and unimaginative that most listeners will be immediately turned off.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Based on the works of James Fenimore Cooper—particularly The Pioneers, in which the celebrated novelist reimagines his hometown, Cooperstown, New York, as Templeton—Lauren Groff’s debut novel startled critics with its originality and power. Despite its magical realist elements, The Monsters of Templeton is primarily an exploration of the history of Templeton and its monsters of the decidedly human variety. Willie is an engaging and likable character, and the plot is driven forward by the imaginative use of invented source documents and vintage photos culled by Groff from antique stores, flea markets, and even eBay. The only complaint? A few too many voices and sources. Compared to Carol Shields, “only more whimsical and inventive” (San Francisco Chronicle), Groff is a promising new writer who has penned an innovative, entertaining first novel.

Reviews
“Groff’s multilayered saga both thrills and delights with poignant, breathtaking prose. A”―Entertainment Weekly

“THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON, a fascinating first novel by Lauren Groff, is a book with joy in its marrow–fabulous.”―San Francisco Chronicle

“Lauren Groff’s debut novel, The Monsters of Templeton, is everything a reader might have expected from this gifted writer, and more. Willie is a funny, sexy, plucky heroine; her Mom–a once-upon-a-time hippie who’s gone Baptist but not square–is a hoot; her family history is a funhouse through which Willie must wander in order to find her father. Best of all is Templeton, a town that will remind readers of Ray Bradbury at his most magical. 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, and there is no higher success than that.”―Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly

“Lauren Groff hits a home run in her first at-bat, with a novel that is intriguingly constructed and compulsively readable.”―Denver Post

From AudioFile
A tour-de-force first novel like this deserves a remarkable reader and gets one in Nicole Roberts, who easily traverses two hundred years and multiple genres. Roberts portrays Willie Upton, shamed when she returns home pregnant and unmarried, surly when she learns her hippie mother is dating a minister and has lied about her being fathered by one of four freewheeling men, inquisitive when she finds out her biological father lives in town. As Willie reads family journals, Roberts animates historical figures: Hettie, the headstrong slave turned progenitor, and Sarah Upton, a great-great grandmother who treads lightly between her pride and her fear of insanity. The narrative also brings alive a strong sense of place.

About the Author
Lauren Groff was born in Cooperstown, New York, which is the model for Templeton, her novel’s setting. Her second book, Delicate Edible Birds, is a collection of short stories, some of which were previously published in The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, and The Best American Short Stories and Pushcart Prize anthologies. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.