MONDAY, AUGUST 5 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE C5
all at once, competing notes
collide.
“Ellie and the Harpmaker” is
uplifting escapism. What could
be a tired plot is instead fresh
and sweet, rejuvenated b y a set of
unusual characters, the raw
beauty of England and the musi-
cality of Prior’s prose. Of course,
there’s a certain suspension of
belief required: Dan’s secluded
Harp Barn is almost too fairy-
tale-like, his peculiarities bor-
dering on the extreme.
Still, Prior’s lyricism feels like
a warm song. This is a story that
will make you want to take a
walk through the woods and
collect pebbles from a stream,
then go home to dine on plum-
jam sandwiches. And maybe, like
the old harpist’s mandate, shed a
tear and laugh a little.
[email protected]An gela Haupt is a freelance writer
and full-time health editor in D.C.bri ght, burnished. It has a raised
rim around the edge, charming.
The engraving on the reverse is
portcullis, interesting.”
Without explicitly diagnosing
him, Prior hints that Dan is
autistic: He doesn’t like loud
noises and can’t attend parties;
he makes sounds and flaps his
hands when upset. When his
sister says that he makes her
“tear her hair out,” he takes the
phrase literally (“Her hair looks
perfectly intact to me”). He la-
ments, “I don’t... see things that
other people see.... I was just
made of the wrong ingredients.”
Dan is the sort of intrinsically
good person one can’t help but
protect. So when Ellie discovers
that his girlfriend is keeping a
life-changing secret from him,
she’s unable to stay out of it.
Combine her meddling with
Clive’s inevitable discovery of
Ellie’s actions, and we’re in a
crescendo — rising, rising, untila harp is one of those many,
many things you are not sup-
posed to do,” he muses. “Why
can’t I give her the harp? She
likes the harp. She wants the
harp. Isn’t it my harp to give?” As
a compromise, Ellie agrees to
leave the instrument at his barn
and return to practice, outings
she’ll conceal from Clive. “If the
harp stayed here and I came to
try it out once in a while... there
would be no harm in that...
would there?” she reasons.
“Harm?” Dan replies. “In playing
a harp?”
Of course, there’s plenty of
harm to come. Short chapters
alternate between the two pro-
tagonists’ perspectives as they
fall into a routine of daily visits
and nurture their obvious attrac-
tion. Outside the barn, Ellie is a
far less compelling character,
painfully forgiving of Clive’s ag-
gressive treatment. He doesn’t
allow her to have friends or
interests; Ellie’s maddening re-
action hovers around “I’m so
lucky to have him” and “How
precious it is to be loved.” Dan,
meanwhile, seems to have a
blond girlfriend who eventually
becomes Ellie’s harp teacher.
She’s most noted for her cleavage
and lack of girlfriend-like behav-
ior.
During their visits, Ellie prac-
tices the harp while Dan makes
more harps. He also makes Ellie
sandwiches — a dozen at a time,
triangles stuffed with blue
cheese and cucumber, cheddar
and pickle. Dan is a lyrical man,
able to wax poetic even about the
beauty of a penny: “Its size is
small, delicate, perfect. Its color
is like a setting sun, bronze,BOOKS FROM C1Television
BROADCAST CHANNELS
8/5/19
7: 00 7: 30 8:0 08 :30 9: 00 9:30 10 :0 01 0: 30 11: 00 11:30
4.1 WRC (NBC) u News u Access u American Ninja Warrior u Dateline NBCNews u J. Fallon
4.2 WRC (IND) Little House on the Prairie Fr asier Fr asier Fr asier Fr asier Will & Grace Will & Grace The Office The Office
5.1 WTTG (Fox) Fox 5 u TMZ u Beat Shazam u So You Think Fox 5 News at Ten News The Final 5
7.1 WJLA (ABC) u Wheel u Jeopardy! u Bachelor in Paradise (10:01) u Grand Hotel News u J. Kimmel
9.1 WUSA (CBS) Off Script u ET u Love Island u Big Bang u Neighbor u Bull 9 News u Colbert
14 .1 WFDC (UNI) Amor eterno La reina soy yo La Rosa de Guadalupe Sin miedo a la verdad Noticias u Noticiero
20.1 WDCA (MNTV)u Family Feudu Family Feud Fox 5 News u Family Feud Fox 5 News u Family Feud Big BangBig Bang u Law & Order: Criminal Intent
22 .1 WMPT (PBS)Connection Collectibles u Antiques Roadshow u Antiques Roadshow u POV Film-Maker Connection
26.4 WETA (PBS) PBS NewsHour Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow POVAmanpour-Co
32.1 WHUT (PBS) DW News u MotorWk u Grantchester Grantchester Democracy Now! World News On Story
50.1 WDCW (CW) u black-ish u black-ish u Penn & Teller: Fool Us u Whose? u Whose Line u DailyMailTV u Seinfeld Mike & Molly Two Men
66.1 WPXW (ION) Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Criminal Minds
CABLE CHANNELS
A& E Live PD Live PD Live PD Live PD Live Rescue Live PD Live PD
AMC Movie: Jaws HHHH (1975) Movie: Jaws 2 HH (1978)
Animal Planet Alaska: The Last Frontier Alaska: The Last Frontier Alaska: The Last Frontier Alaska: The Last Frontier Alaska: The Last Frontier
BET (6:30) Movie: Like Mike HH (2002) Movie: Creed HHH (2015)
Bravo Below Deck Mediterranean Below Deck Mediterranean Below Deck Below Deck Mediterranean Watch Below Deck
Cartoon Network Gumball Infinity Amer. Dad Amer. Dad BurgersBurgersFamily Guy Family Guy Rick, Morty Final Sp.
CNN Erin Burnett OutFront Anderson Cooper 360 Anderson Cooper 360 CNN Tonight CNN Tonight
Comedy Central The Office The Office The Office The Office The Office The Office The Office The Office DailyLights Out
Discovery Fast N’ Loud Fast N’ Loud Fast N’ Loud Aaron Needs a Job Fast N’ Loud
Disney Sydney-MaxSydney-MaxMovie: Descendants 3 (2019) Raven Coop & Cami Coop & Cami Raven Andi Mack
E! E! News Chrisley Chrisley Chrisley Growing UpGrowing UpGrowing Up Nightly Flip It-Disick
ESPN SportsCenter (Live) MLB Baseball : Oakland Athletics at Chicago Cubs (Live) SportsCenter (Live)
ESPN2 Little League Baseball Little League Baseball NFL Live
Food Network Kids Baking Championship Kids Baking Championship Kids BakingChopped Chopped
Fox News The Story With Martha Tucker Carlson Tonight HannityThe Ingraham Angle Fox News at Night
Freeform (6:00) Movie: Sweet Home Alabama HH Movie: Footloose HH (1984) The 700 Club
FX X-Men: Last Movie: Deadpool HHH (2016) Legion (11:05) Legion
Hallmark Movie: Summer in the Vineyard (2017) Movie: Summer Villa (2016) Golden Girls Golden Girls
Hallmark M&M Gourmet Detective Mysteries Gourmet Detective Mysteries Murder, She Wrote
HBO (6:40) Movie: Widows HHH (2018) (8:50) Euphoria Divorce Movie: Share (2019)
HGTV Love It or List It Love It or List It Hidden Hidden Pot. HuntersHunt Intl My First Hunters
History American PickersAmerican Pickers American Pickers (10:03) Pawn Stars (11:05) Pawn Stars
Lifetime Wife SwapMovie: Unforgettable HH (2017) (10:33) Movie: Unwanted Guest (2016)
MASN MLB Baseball : New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles (Live) O’s Xtra Bensinger ESPNWS MLB Baseball
MSNBC Hardball Matthews All In With Chris HayesRachel Maddow ShowThe Last WordThe 11th Hour
MTV Te en Mom OG Te en Mom OG Teen Mom OG The Hills: New (11:03) Are You the One?
Nat’l Geographic Drain the Oceans Drain the Oceans Drain the Oceans Hitler’s Last Stand Drain the Oceans
NBC SportsNet WA Redskins Practice Live NWSL Soccer: Spirit at Courage D.C. Tr aining Camp Daily Redskins
Nickelodeon SpongeBob SpongeBob Movie: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie HHH (2004) Fr iends Fr iends Fr iends Fr iends
PARMT Cops Cops Cops Cops Cops Cops Cops Cops Cops Cops
Syfy Tr ansformersMovie: Blade HH (1998) (10:03) Movie: Blade 2: Bloodhunt HH (2002)
TBS Family Guy Family Guy Family Guy Family Guy Family Guy Family Guy Amer. Final Space Conan Seinfeld
TCM (6:00) A Woman’s Face Movie: Ninotchka HHHH (1939) Movie: I Met Him in Paris HH (1937) Third Finger
TLC 90 Day: Other 90 Day: Other 90 Day: Other The Family Chantel Unexpected
TNT (5:30) The Legend of Tarzan Movie: Edge of Tomorrow HHH (2014) Movie: The Legend of Tarzan HH (2016)
Travel Paranormal Survivor Paranormal Survivor Paranormal SurvivorParanormal Emergency Paranormal Survivor
TruTV Inside Jokes Inside Jokes Inside Jokes Inside Jokes Inside Jokes Inside Jokes Inside Jokes Inside Jokes Adam Ruins Adam Ruins
TV Land Andy Griffith Andy Griffith Raymond Everybody Loves Raymond Raymond Two Men Two Men King King
TV One Cosby Show Cosby Show ATL Homicide ATL Homicide ATL Homicide The DL Hughley Show
USA Network Mod Fam Mod Fam WWE Monday Night RAW (Live) Mod Fam Mod Fam
VH1 Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood Love & Hip Hop (9:01) Girls’ Cruise (10:01) Love & Listings Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood
WNC8 Your Voice Your FutureGovt. MattersABC 7 News Sports ABC News WJLA 24/7 News at 10 Govt. MattersWJLA News
WGN JAGJAG JAGJAG JAG
LEGEND: Bold indicates new or live programs u High Definition Movie Ratings (from TMS) HHHH Excellent HHH Good HH Fair H Poor No stars: not ratedAmerican Ninja Warrior
(NBC at 8) Competitors return to
Seattle to tackle obstacles such
as the “Northwest Passage.”
So You Think You Can Dance
(Fox at 9) The 10 male finalists
dance with professional partners.
Legion (FX at 10) The penultimate
episode of the season finds David
trying to defeat the Shadow King.
RETURNING
No Good Nick (Netflix streaming)
A teen con artist poses as a long
lost relative to sucker a family into
taking her in. Season 2.
Five Points (Facebook Watch)
Hayley Kiyoko stars in this teen
drama set in the South Side of
Chicago that offers five
perspectives of a traumatic night
and its fallout. Season 2.
Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood
(VH1 at 8) Ray J and Princess Love
adjust to being new parents while
Fizz and J Boog go on tour. Season
6.
PREMIERE
My Life Is Murder (Acorn
streaming) A retired detective
turned private investigator (Lucy
Lawless) offers to help solve a
case but she can’t stop at just
one.Mystic Britain (Smithsonian at 9)
Mary-Ann Ochota and Clive
Anderson discover some of the
spookier sides of Britain.SERIES FINALE
Divorce (HBO at 10) Robert and
Fr ances continue to untangle their
assets but are unsure about
selling their home.LATE NIGHTDaily Show/Noah (Comedy
Central at 11) Eva LongoriaTonight Show/Fallon (NBC at
11:34) Julianne Moore, Jacob
Tr emblay, Julio TorresLate Show/Colbert (CBS at
11:35) Brian Cox, Hannah GadsbyLate Late Show/Corden (CBS at
12: 37 ) Domhnall Gleeson, Olivia
Munn, Aldis HodgeLate Night/Meyers (NBC at
12: 37 ) Milo Ventimiglia, Geena
Davis, Ex Hex, Julian Dorio
— Savannah StephensMore at washingtonpost.com/
entertainment/tv.TV HIGHLIGHTS
JOHN FLEENOR/ABC
Bachelor in Paradise (ABC at 8) Bachelor Nation fan favorites go to
Mexico to try to connect with one another. Pictured: Derek Peth and
Caelynn Miller-Keyes.
Adapted from a
recent online
discussion.Dear Carolyn: I
drive my son to
school, but
beforehand, we
drop his sister at
their dad’s, where
she catches the bus.
We were running late one day,
and my son did not want to take
the time to go in, hug his dad,
and say good morning to him. He
felt stressed about getting to
school on time. However, he
forced himself to go in and do it,
because otherwise, his dad gets
upset.
Sounds perfectly innocent,
right? A good son.
But, in general, their dad tends
to prioritize his own needs above
all else — even if those needs are
that he gets a little visit with a
hug and hello when a child is
trying not to be late to school.
How do I teach my children that
their needs are important as well,
even if their dad’s needs are not
being met?
I can only imagine the roasting
I’ll be getting in the comments
section; however, this controlling
trait does tend to extend to other
aspects of his life with the kids.
— How to Deal With
Controlling People
How to Deal With Controlling
People: You’ll get roasted for
what — raising a question with
valid implication for your child’s
long-term emotional health?
The first thing I hope you do,
soon and without flinching, is to
explain to your son that it’s not
his job to keep other people from
getting upset. Not his father, not
you, not his teachers, not his
friends. Each of us is responsible
for our own feelings, and our
own choices. His job —
everyone’s job — is to know the
rules and expectations, to know
the consequences of meeting
them vs. not meeting them, and
to make choices accordingly.
So, to apply it to your
situation: It’s not your son’s job
to manage his father’s feelings.
Your son’s job is to know what his
father’s preferences and
expectations are; to know the
consequences of meeting them
(possibly being late) vs. not
meeting them (upsetting his
dad); and to make his choice
accordingly.
This process of awareness and
decision-making will make your
son the driver of his own life, vs.
his dad’s puppet, even if he
decides to risk being late by going
inside to hug his dad. This is how
you equip him to know his own
mind and own his own choices,
which is how you equip him todeal with people, period — not
just the controlling or difficult
ones, though it is with them that
healthy practices are the most
handy.
If you’re wobbly on this stuff
yourself, then good counseling
could shore you up. It’s also
covered concisely in “Lifeskills
for Adult Children” by Janet
Geringer Woititz and Alan
Garner.Re: Controlling People: The
book “Don’t L et the Pigeon Drive
the Bus!” teaches children to say
no. Very useful for kids who may
have been raised to never say it.
— AnonymousRe: Controlling People: The
hug-needing dad is a complete
control freak and I worry about
both of those kids.
— N.M.N.M.: The parent who wrote the
letter sees through it, at least —
that gives them a fighting
chance.Wr ite to Carolyn Hax at
tell [email protected]. Get her
column delivered to your inbox each
morning at wapo.st/haxpost. Join the discussion live at noon
Fr idays at live.washingtonpost.com.If dad gets mi≠ed, that’s on him
Carolyn
Hax
NICK GALIFIANAKIS FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTInbox
inspirational
S0120-3x3Sign up at washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-lifeGet the “Inspired Life” e-newsletter for
news of good deeds, humor, advice and
inspiration. Delivered Saturdays.A melodious, innocent love story
seems plucked from a simpler time
MARTIN DEARMUN
“Ellie and the Harpmaker” is the fitting debut novel of Hazel Prior,
a professional harp player.