Olivia (Judith Rossner novel)

1st edition (publ. Crown)

Olivia (or, the Weight of the Past) is the second to last novel by Judith Rossner, author of the critically acclaimed novels Looking for Mr. Goodbar and August. Published in 1994, Olivia deals with a single mother's struggles with parental alienation after reconnecting with her long estranged daughter.

Plot

The book opens with Caroline "Cara" Ferrante (née Sindler), a chef and popular cooking teacher, doing a screen test for a cable cooking show. Despite a messy mishap during filming, Caroline easily aces the test, having successfully entertained her audience with anecdotes about her daughter, the title character.

Later, at home, she has an unpleasant encounter with her teenaged daughter who is furious that she was discussed on the show. Olivia storms off to her room, leaving her mother on the verge of tears. At this point, Caroline begins to explain her situation with her daughter.

In flashback, Caroline, the daughter of two Jewish professors at Columbia University, recounts her early childhood interest in cooking. This is an interest which her academic parents discourage. Learning recipes from several of the housekeeper-cooks that the family employs, Caroline learns to speak Italian from Anna, one of the housekeepers. When Anna leaves to help her sons run a restaurant in Italy], Caroline becomes her family's cook.

Caroline eventually enrolls in college, which she hates. Dissatisfied, she drops out to work as a mother's helper in Italy. She reconnects with Anna, who gives her a job at the family restaurant. It is there that she meets Angelo Ferrante, a thirty-something Sicilian who also works at the restaurant.

Nineteen-year-old Caroline and Angelo begin an affair. Caroline becomes pregnant and, despite the fact that she is not in love with Angelo, marries him in a civil ceremony. She gives birth to Olivia in October of the same year.

Anna dies of heart disease and Angelo begins to squabble with her sons about the menu at the restaurant. Anna's son push Caroline and Angelo out of the business. The couple then sets up a restaurant in Rome.

Caroline and Angelo's marriage begins to sour. Angelo begins to cheat, even going so far as having an affair with one of the waitresses. He has also begun to turn Olivia against her mother and to belittle Caroline's Jewish heritage. After several episodes of abuse--one of them physical—Caroline decides to divorce Angelo, leaving twelve-year-old Olivia, who prefers her father, in Rome.

Caroline returns to the states and begins teaching cooking classes to support herself. She regularly writes and calls Olivia who wants nothing to do with her having formed a tight bond with her father's girlfriend. Several years later, Olivia comes to the United States to live with Caroline; Angelo has broken up with his girlfriend and Olivia does not get along with Angelo's new wife.

Caroline and Olivia have a tense relationship. Olivia, who shows little interest in Caroline, is moody and quick to take offense. She has also internalized her father's anti-Semitism and believes the negative stories that her father has told her about Caroline.

Olivia enrolls in high school. A good student, Olivia earns high marks in school, setting her sights on Harvard University. She also gets a part-time job babysitting for Leon Klein, the doctor who lives upstairs. Caroline eventually strikes up a casual friendship with Leon and his children, preparing matzo ball soup for them and teaching the children to bake cookies. When Olivia finds out, she petulantly quits and begins ignoring the Kleins.

Caroline and Leon begin to date. They decide to keep the relationship secret from their respective children until Leon officially divorces his wife who abandoned the family many years previously. At around this time, Olivia begins to date Pablo Cruz, a much older telephone company employee. Although Caroline disapproves of the age difference, she does like Pablo and makes an unsuccessful attempt to counsel Olivia about the importance of using birth control. This offends Olivia, who despite never going to church, still considers herself Catholic.

Caroline's relationship with Leon intensifies; Even though Caroline is disappointed by Leon's desire not to have any more children, the two talk of marriage, even making a late night visit to the hospital for what they later discover is an unnecessary blood test. Caroline backs out of marriage plans but does move upstairs into Leon's apartment. The two then begin plans to combine the two apartments, obtaining permission from the landlord. She decides to let Pablo and Olivia live downstairs but continues to use the kitchen and office area. Caroline begins to suspect that Olivia, who is experiencing nausea, is pregnant.

Olivia confirms Caroline's suspicions. Caroline convinces Olivia, who has been accepted into Harvard, that she cannot attend college in the fall if she goes through with the pregnancy. Caroline then calls the doctor and makes an appointment for a gynecological exam. She also promises to arrange an abortion for Olivia who claims not to want a baby. Olivia talks things over with Pablo who convinces her that it is a sin to terminate a pregnancy. The two run off to Florida and get married in a civil ceremony. When they return, they announce their intention to marry in the Catholic Church in order to please Pablo's family. The newly married couple asks Caroline to cater the event for them. Realizing that Olivia will never have the abortion, Caroline reluctantly agrees.

This enrages Leon who feels that Caroline's decision to go along with Olivia's plans is a "cop out." This creates tension between the two; Leon correctly guesses that Caroline is not pushing Olivia to abort because she secretly wishes to become the baby's primary caretaker. He reiterates his desire not to have any more children in his care.

After Olivia and Pablo's wedding, Caroline and Leon get married as well, serving kosher food at their ceremony. Olivia gives birth to a girl soon after. Olivia sinks into a deep post-partum depression completely ignoring the baby and taking little interest in anything that goes on around her. After Pablo and Caroline discover Olivia curled up in the cradle one night, they send her to psychiatrist who prescribes anti-depressants.

Olivia slowly recovers but never takes much of an interest in her daughter, Donna. The work of caring for the baby falls on Pablo, whose relationship with Olivia begins to fray, and Caroline, who has quit her cooking show. Even Leon develops a fondness for Donna

Olivia and Caroline settle into a reasonably friendly relationship. At the end of the novel, Olivia, who intends to enroll in college, who had always claimed to have few positive memories of her mother, spontaneously recounts the times where they walked through the streets of Rome together looking at the statues and visiting the tourist areas. She then holds Donna in her lap.

Critical reception

Olivia fared a little better with the critics than Rossner's previous post-August novels. Ruth Reichl of the New York Times wrote in 1994, "Few writers are better than Judith Rossner at describing the agonized ties between mothers and daughters." ^[1]

References

1. ^ New & Noteworthy Paperbacks - New York Times

Bibliography

Rossner, Judith (1994). Olivia, Crown Publishers, 0-517-59720-9