By Mary Ann Zehr, contributor
A monthly column by a local teacher and reader about connecting with books and taking in Harrisonburg’s literary scene.
~Hoskins, Robert. Some Other Life. Independently Published by Robert Hoskins, 2026.~
In recent years, Robert Hoskins, who lives in Harrisonburg and is a professor emeritus of James Madison University, has quietly written and self-published four novels, three volumes of short stories, one novella, and one book that combines a novella with several stories.
Hoskins’ latest novel, Some Other Life, features a prominent businessman in a small town in Kentucky who is clueless about how to have a meaningful life. But it’s not for a lack of trying.
Hoskins, who grew up in Harlan, Kentucky, is no stranger to the literary world. He published two books about Graham Greene: Graham Greene: An Approach to the Novels, in 1999; and Graham Greene: A Character Index and Guide, in 1991. Educated at Yale University and the University of Kentucky, Hoskins is a scholar of the 20th-century British novel.
Some Other Life takes place in Ludlow, Kentucky. Some aspects of Hoskins’ writing–formal dialogue, honorifics for characters, conversations taking place in sitting rooms or living rooms, and a mystery that isn’t resolved until the end of the story–remind me of the craft of 20th-century British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes stories.
Some Other Life begins with a funeral in Ludlow in 1981 for Kenneth Markham, the novel’s central character. A handful of people are in attendance. The author explains that Markam’s “only family consisted of his daughter-in-law Faye, who could not have been paid to attend.” A mysterious woman is present. She declines to give her name, even when prompted to do so.
The book then flashes back to Markham’s uncomfortable upbringing in Ludlow by a father who is wealthy but stingy and lacking social manners. Markham is not accepted by his peers.
But in his 20s, after inheriting wealth, Markham manages to rise above the awkwardness of his youth and join the elite of the town. He does this by carefully observing what seems to make other people happy and included in social circles and replicating their moves. He buys property (quite a lot of it); he joins clubs and a church, though he had not been brought up in the church and is not particularly religious. He dresses well. He dates women.
To Markham, the changes he makes in his life are “items on a checklist: when he had ticked every box, he would be happy, fulfilled. At times, however, he sensed that some unidentified box had been left unticked.”
Markham curates his image for the residents of Ludlow in the 1930s and 1940s in a way that social media influencers do in modern times for an internet audience. He is fixated on comparisons with others and how others perceive him. He achieves his goal of being respected and accepted–and even liked by many people.
In a highly calculated manner, Markham constructs a life, but he doesn’t learn how to listen to other people and make adjustments that might make them happy. This causes harm to the people who are closest to him.
The theme of the novel–how not to live a life–stuck with me. It is illustrated through several one-on-one relationships Markham has with other people. Despite spending a considerable amount of time with certain individuals, whether friends or family, Markham doesn’t ever really grow and mature emotionally. Even Markham confesses that his life didn’t turn out as he had expected.
I find it instructive to read about a fictional character who doesn’t grasp how authentic relationships are central to a meaningful life. I can then embark on a different path than Markham’s. I can steer away from a fixation on how other people in my community perceive me.
The narrative about Markham holds together well except for one plot thread that remains puzzling. Hoskins introduces in the first chapter a minor character, Rosanne Samuels, a longtime cook and housekeeper for Markham, whom the author writes is “the most grief-stricken” person at Markham’s funeral. The author mentions that Samuels is Black; he doesn’t give the race of any other characters. Samuels says at the funeral in that first chapter that Markham treated her well.
Samuels’ grief for Markham is an anomaly that I wish Hoskins had supported with more interactions between Markham and Samuels throughout the book. Developing the character of Samuels further would have also been an opportunity to convey more deeply the experience of Samuels and other members of the Black community in Ludlow.
I value Hoskins’ work, along with novels by writers such as Marilynne Robinson, Elizabeth Strout, and local author Rebecca Kauffman, for portrayals of small-town life with complex and memorable characters. Through Markham, Hoskins conveys that it is possible to live in a small town and know a lot of people quite well–and still be a shallow human being.
In other words, the accountability and peer pressure that exist in small towns will not necessarily shape someone to be truly admirable.
Robert Hoskins is one of a dozen Virginia authors who will read from their work 5:00-7:00 pm on June 26 at Oasis Fine Art and Craft, 103 S. Main Street, in Harrisonburg.
Thanks for reading The Citizen, which won the Virginia Press Association’s 2022 News Sweepstakes award as the top online news site in Virginia. We’re independent. We’re local. We pay our contributors, and the money you give goes directly to the reporting. No overhead. No printing costs. Just facts, stories and context. We value your support.
