Reading for Me

This week’s novel took a distinctly dark turn from my recent reading. The debut novel of Hannah Gersen, Home Field is a riveting exploration of the impact of loss on the survivors left behind.

Nicole visited her father-in-law’s rural farm with her husband and three children as part of their summer vacation. Having struggled with depression throughout her life, Nicole found herself in a hopeless situation in the quietness. The solution was obvious. She wrapped the rope swing dangling from the barn’s rafters around her neck and took her life. Her middle son, a rising middle school student, was the one who would find her limp body. Thus ends chapter one.

The remainder of the novel examines how those left behind deal with Nicole’s illness, death, and the perceived role they played in everything. Dean is now a widower attempting to help his three children cope with tragedy while looking for his own coping mechanisms in relationships and work. Stephanie is the oldest and is preparing to enter college. She struggles to find her place in the world and experiments with alternative life styles in an effort to cope. Robbie, the 11-year-old who found his mother’s body, begins to run away from school and seeks escape through his imagination and the stage. Bryan, Nicole and Dean’s 6-year-old son, turns to his aunt’s Christian faith to find comfort and hope of seeing his departed mother again. As the family spirals out of control, another horrifying event brings the individual members back together….but is it too late to repair the damage done by Nicole’s suicide?

Home Field honestly deals with often taboo subjects. The need to place blame by all effected by the tragedy is central to the work. Faith and the church are portrayed as unwelcome and false sources of hope to the unbelieving family. The immensity of grief is shown as raw emotion that doesn’t conform to societal norms.

Home Field is not a feel-good novel by any means. However, I found it to be a valid representation of the struggles of a family touched by suicide. As I prepare to participate in the local Out of the Darkness walk  in the coming weeks, it was a perfect novel to prepare my heart and mind for the struggles that have hit far too close to home over the past few years.

For more information about the fight against suicide and how you can help, visit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at http://www.afsp.org.

The final book on my summer to-read shelf was Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. If you are familiar with Blume’s works for young adults — most notably, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret – it should come as no surprise that this work for adults is also a coming-of-age story of two teen girls.

Victoria and Caitlin come from different worlds. Victoria, nicknamed Vix, comes from a middle class family living in New Mexico. Caitlin is the wealthy daughter of divorced parents and splits her time between Santa Fe and Martha’s Vineyard. As fate would have it, the two girls become “summer sisters”, spending their school vacations together on the island. The teens learn much about life, love, sex, and loss together.

When tragedy strikes Vix’s family, the two girls begin to grow apart. Victoria becomes the recipient of a prestigious scholarship from the foundation managed by Caitlin’s family. This award allows her to attend Harvard and pursue her academic dreams. Caitlin chooses to forego school and travels the world. As the novel progresses, it is clear that Vix is the focus of Blume’s novel as her choices are often pitted against the “less desirable” ones made by Caitlin. The girls’ struggle through the beginnings of their careers and families as they face unwelcome realities.

This was certainly not my typical novel, but I chose it based upon Blume’s success in the young adult market. Despite the sexual exploits that appear throughout, the characters are nicely developed and their stories draw the reader into the novel. Summer Sisters is definitely a beach read, but not one of the best that I have ever experienced.

I’ve been a fan of Toni Morrison since I first read Beloved in college (and wrote more papers about that novel than I care to remember). God Help the Child is her latest novel and quite different from her other works. The main difference is that the plot is the first to be set in modern times. That single difference makes it difficult to compare the work to her other books, but I can definitely say that I am a fan.

God Help the Child tells the story of Bride, a successful beauty magnate whose childhood memories continue to haunt her. As a child, Bride felt unloved by her mother simply because of her skin. You see, Bride was not blessed with a light pigment; instead, she is “blue-black” as described by the narrator. In an effort to gain her mother’s love and respect, the child testifies against an accused child molester.

When the pedophile is scheduled to be released from prison, Bride is drawn to meet her and offer money, travel vouchers, and skin care products. This one decision — as though she is attempting to make amends — creates problems for Bride in her professional and personal relationships that brings the novel to an unexpected conclusion.

God Help the Child reminds the reader that all people are shaped by their childhood. Statements made in jest or in an offhand manner can create unintentional wounds that the child will carry the rest of their life. Pain suffered in childhood can often remained unhealed, causing problems as we become adults. Sadly, the pain suffered by one generation is often passed on to the next until someone finally breaks the cycle of sadness and pain.

For anyone who has ever experienced one of Morrison’s novels, it is no surprise that a central theme of all of her novels is that of race. In light of issues currently facing Americans in our current political environment, I found the following passage from God Help the Child to be very interesting.

“It’s just a color,” Booker had said. “A genetic trait – not a flaw, not a curse, not a blessing nor a sin.”

“But,” she countered, “other people think racial –”

Booker cut her off. “Scientifically there’s no such thing as race, Bride, so racism without race is a choice. Taught, of course, by those who need it, but still a choice. Folks who practice it would be nothing without it.” (Morrison, God Help the Child, 143)

I find this view of racism very interesting coming from an African-American author. Honestly, I have found myself returning to this passage repeatedly since finishing the novel to fully delve the depths of the idea. When a passage or any piece of writing stays with me so long after reading it, I know that I have read something that can only be considered a modern masterpiece.

Let’s just cut to the chase….The Last Child is the best book I have read in 2016 so far! It is a page turner that is well-written by a former defense attorney who resides in both North Carolina and Virginia. I definitely plan to check out his other novels because I enjoyed this one so much.

In The Last Child, we meet Johnny, a young boy who decides to find his twin sister who had been kidnapped a year ago. Armed with his bike and Indian relics, Johnny and his friend, Jack, monitor the movements of pedophiles throughout the county. Johnny doesn’t fully realize the danger he is in — but thankfully a local police officer, Hunt, has taken an interest in him.

Populated with wonderfully complex characters, The Last Child provides a compelling plot that readers will not be able to pull themselves away from. While entertaining, Hart’s novel will look at issues related to the definition of family, issues of faith, as well as the “nature vs. nurture” debate.

For more information about John Hart and his writing, visit http://www.johnhartfiction.com.