Tish Cohenʼs Little Green puts a marriage under a microscope

How much pressure can a marriage take? That is one of the questions posed by Tish Cohen’s Little Green.

Elise Sorenson is a dressage rider intent on making the U.S. Olympic team. Her husband Matt, a lawyer, has put Elise’s Olympic dreams ahead of his career by being the primary caregiver for their disabled daughter Gracie, whose nickname is Little Green.

We meet the Sorensons as things are coming to a head. Dressage is an expensive sport and they are selling Matt’s deceased grandfather’s cabin at Lake Placid to finance Elise’s Olympic dream. Matt has been offered a partnership in his law firm meaning longer hours and no longer being Gracie’s principal caregiver. Financially strapped, can he afford to turn down a partnership?

Added to the mix is the presence of Matt’s former girlfriend Cass, who, recently divorced, has returned to Lake Placid.  Matt finds that Cass readily lends a sympathetic ear as he talks about his issues with Elise.

In short, something has to give.

At first glance, this appears to be a fairly conventional tale but Cohen makes it far more compelling by expertly turning up the heat on the couple in a number of ways.

A tragedy involving their daughter throws the couple into chaos and exacerbates the strains that have been starting to show.  Finger pointing ensues causing past choices to be re-examined putting even greater strain on the marriage. 

At the same time Matt is puzzled by the reaction of some of his neighbours after he has announced his intention to put the cabin up for sale. It seems his grandfather was not as esteemed by the community as Matt always believed and now he is starting to find out why.

Cohen has also enriched the narrative by telling the backstories of the characters enabling the reader to better understand their motivations. We are told of the struggles Elise faced growing up and how they fuel her Olympic desires. We also learn about Matt’s relationship with his grandfather.

At the heart of Little Green is the issue of motherhood. Elise is wracked by guilt about not being there for her daughter as she pursues her Olympic dreams and is acutely aware that she is being judged for it. Little Green also asks if a man would be judged in the same way.

This comes up during an exchange Elise has on a plane with a female passenger. The passenger observes, “Tough on a family, this lifestyle I suppose. Lot’s of Skyping. The choices a mother makes are so under the microscope.” In response Elise says, “I face a whole lot of judgment from the moms in the schoolyard.”

In response the passenger says, “You’re one of the most talented riders in the country Elise. Being traditional is never going to be an option. Nor should it be.”

Little Green puts a marriage under a microscope and offers the reader a complex view of a relationship in crisis combined with an element of mystery.