The Babylon Line

Book excerpt: Levittown, 1967. It’s the first night of an adult-ed creative writing course in a classroom at the local high school. The teacher, Aaron Port, lives in Greenwich Village and reverse commutes once a week on the Long Island Rail Road’s Babylon line. His students are a mixed bag: Frieda Cohen, Anna Cantor, and Midge Braverman, housewives all, embrace each other on arrival, and update their running checklists on each other’s kids, husbands, and lawns. Their opening gambit is to tell Aaron in no uncertain terms that they are only there because French Cooking and Flower Arranging are full. The two men in the class, Jack Hassenpflug and Marc Adams, sit silently at their desks. One final student, Joan Dellamond, rushes in late—but she actually does intend to be there. An aspiring writer troubled by a failing marriage, Joan has little in common with her neighbors. And yet, she does seek connection. Maybe this class will bring her, and Aaron, something that neither quite expects.