Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511030031
SECTION: BOOK PAGE: F-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY AMY J. CROUSE-POWERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In Julie Edelson's second novel, she explores dysfunctional families and the ways in which parents both fail and succeed.
We meet Carol "Cee" Carswell, a used-to-be hippie artist turned house restorer. Now the divorced mother of two teen-agers, Cee seems to have the parenting thing under control. That is, until her daughter, Ariel, brings home Fawne, a friend whom Cee describes as "some kind of Altamont mutant, hippie crossed with Hell's Angel." Despite the girl's strange appearance, Cee is taken with her flippant mouth and daring appearance.
Fawne turns out to have an overbearing mother and evil step-father, and Cee seeks to save her from what she sees as their destructive control. Together, they undertake an art project which Cee hopes will be her inroad for touching this troubled teen's life. But Cee is completely unable to make any change in the girl's life, and Fawne becomes the catalyst for Cee's finding out that her own home isn't without its dysfunction. Interestingly, there's a lot of talk throughout the novel about Cee's interest in "pop psychology," but her layperson's knowledge fails her with her own daughter.
After the climax of the novel, Cee briefly concedes to the parenting methods of Fawne's ultra-strict parents. Cee narrates, "It hits me that [Fawne's stepfather] was right about everything," apparently admitting to herself that they had been right when they had searched their daughter's belongings and allowed her no freedom. It seems that Cee has only learned distrust from the events that befall her and her family.
The last two pages of the novel, however, provide some tonic for the harsh realities Cee faces. Edelson leaves us with hope that Cee's relationship with her kids is on the mend.
The book represents real life well. The ending is not deliriously happy, but the endings in real life are rarely so either. Edelson's characters are true to life, too; they are colorful, but believable nonetheless. Even the introduction of Cee's childhood friend and idol, Elspeth, is believable, given the background Edelson provides. When she finally comes on the scene, we see that Elspeth is bald, "shaved shiny as a peeled egg," and she is "tattooed. Solidly. To the wrist. To the neck. In dark green, cinnabar, ink blue, black."
The others we meet in the book are much easier to picture, and perhaps easier to identify with. Cee's next-door-neighbor, whom she not-so-fondly calls "The Neanderthal," provides comic relief throughout the novel. She introduces him in the opening scene: "And here he is, sure enough, beer welded in fist, poking up the brim of his 'if it smells like fish, eat it' baseball cap with the bottle in greeting."
Edelson's hip, intelligent prose comes peppered with references to mythology, literature, foreign languages, and most of all, music. The reader can't help but hear a soundtrack of old rock 'n' roll music playing in the main character's head throughout much of the book. Her style is exploratory: her word choice and conglomerations sometimes remind the reader of John Dos Passos' work, while at other times her words ring with the cool cadence of Jack Kerouac. The first paragraph of the book can be daunting, with its second sentence spanning more than 20 lines; but her style ultimately works. Her rapid-fire writing makes for a quick and enjoyable read for a varied audience (not just single mothers).
Amy J. Crouse-Powers lives in Christiansburg.
by CNB