The Last Sailor

Two brothers grapple with grief and loneliness in Johnson’s melodramatic latest (after The Lightkeeper’s Wife). It’s 1898 in Yarmouth Port, Cape Cod, and Nathaniel Boyd, 29, and his older brother, Finn, wrestle with an all-consuming guilt over a boating accident 10 years ago that caused the death of their youngest brother, Jacob. Nathaniel has retreated to a shack on a remote island, and plans to remain a recluse forever after breaking off his engagement to Meredith Butler, his first true love. Finn is unhappy with his fishing business and his marriage. Both brothers struggle to maintain a relationship with their successful land developer father, who prizes financial success above all else. After Nathaniel Sr. sends Nathaniel and Finn to Boston to pick up a schooner, they encounter Rachel, a 17-year-old runaway, and, while sailing back to the Cape, face a treacherous storm—one of many (elemental and emotional) that overwhelm the novel. When their father dies, his will ignites a firestorm between the brothers, and it’s up to Meredith and Rachel to mediate a detente. Though the narrative benefits from rich regional and period details, the characters are painted with broad, maudlin strokes. In the end, this is sunk by too much sentimentality. (Nov.)