Books like Villages by John Updike

John Updike’s twenty‑first novel is a bildungsroman that traces the life of Owen Mackenzie. Born in the semi‑rural Pennsylvania town of Willow, he grows into an early computer programmer and, together with partner Ed Mervine, founds the successful firm of E‑O Data in the old gun‑factory on the Chunkaunkabaug River in Connecticut’s Middle Falls. His journey continues to the retirement community of Hasskells Crossing, Massachusetts, where the accumulated experiences of the three New England villages, especially the women he loves—Phyllis and Julia—shape his understanding of innocence, desire and intimacy. The novel blends technical ambition with a liberal education of the human world, depicting a psychological exploration of man‑woman relationships and the complexities of adultery within small‑town life.

First publish date: 2004