Lake Overturn

Lake Overturn

Lake Overturn is a look at Small-town, USA and the loneliness of lives people lead. Although, it deals with two boys who are determined to win a science fair by explain a phenomenon within their lake. The characters are well developed and Vestal McIntyre writes well, but somehow I still felt disconnected. Maybe because it was more like a bunch of short stories then a cohesive novel.

LAke Overturn- Vestal McIntyre

This is a strange novel, filled with various dysfunctions and disabilities: Wanda, the druggie who wants to redeem her life by serving as a surrogate for a couple so open and "modern" that one suspects they might consider an unusual way of implanting the sperm. There is Gene, probably autistic, who is lost in the shuffle as the complex plot unwinds; Enrique, gay but in denial, sometimes; Jay, (aka Jesus), a decent basketball player who cannot avoid gangster activities and Connie, a religious zealot who cannot escape the illogic of much of what she believes. This whole cast is contained in a little town, Eula, Idaho, and it is remarkable that there is as little mayhem as there is in the plot. The lake of the title is actually not a lake but a function of a lake in which gases trapped at the bottom of the lake "overturn"-they come to the surface. Gene's solution to a lake disaster in remote Cameroon turns out to be correct: the lake "overturned" and carbon monoxide escaped, killing hundreds. He and Enrique are to use the principle in a science fair but Gene bails and Enrique wins the science fair. What has that to do with the plot? It's a metaphor for the town. There are issues underneath the surface that cause great damage when the town, or lake, overturns.
This is a novel of character, not events, though there are some emotional rippers going on: Enrique's mother's affair with her employer who has a daughter that Enrique might give up gayness for; Connie's near-affair with a missionary; Jay's pursuit of Liv, one of the "good"girls in Eula, through notes in the library-all of which impact in various ways in ripples through the town. Do not expect big bangs and crises here; it is enough that McIntyre has portrayed a small town whose temper is fragile, like most small towns, limned through characters that strangely reverberate for the reader even after the last page is turned. Let this book sneak up on you. It's worth the wait.

I enjoyed Lake Overturn

Compelling characters in small town Eula, Idaho weave an intriguing story of a cross-section of everyday America. There's something for everyone in this book. Family ties and friendships hold the residents together or tear them apart. The central character, Enrique, is so lovable despite being one of the least accepted "types" in Eula. He struggles, makes mistakes, perserveres and finally ----- well, I won't spoil the end. Pick it up--Lake Overturn is a charmer.

Leading Lives of Quiet Desperation in Small Town America - - You Know These People

Vestal McIntyre's first novel is a gentle but achingly real look at a diverse group of people in a small Idaho town - could be any small-town America. From school kids to a constantly recovering drug addict to a woman whose religion hampers more than comforts to a daughter helping her mother face death - all of his characters are just trying to find out where they fit into a challenging world. He deals with this group of misfits (really - who are the "fits"!?) with humor, compassion and realism. He handles them carefully when they are hurting, laughs with them at their foibles and casts a critical eye on their missteps, but always sees in them their best potential even if they do not.
Set in the 1980's, the story starts and finishes at the local high school - the center of many a small town's social life. But the characters range from the junior high boys (who are anything but the "in" crowd) and their dream of creating an award winning science project, to the slightly scary bus driver trying to hold his truly crazy family together, to the Mormon woman who tries to ease her way into death by receiving multiple baptisms for persons who died before joining the church. These are intimately known characters; one marvels at how well McIntyre knows each one - their strongest moments and their lowest despair. You may not like every character, but you will understand them and recognize their wishes and hopes and fears.
This is a beautifully written and completely readable book. McIntyre's prose is so seemingly effortless - using just a phrase that evokes the exact image or memory. His descriptions of the Idaho landscape and Eula townscape are spot on - transporting the reader to a part of the country that few have traveled to. You may not want to visit Eula after reading his book, but you will be glad that you were there in the book's pages.

The tale feels more like a series of vignettes rather than a novel

One night in 1986 in the Cameroon in the area adjacent to Lake Nyos, every bug, animal, and 1700 humans mysteriously died. In Eula, Idaho, two seventh grade friends Enrique a closet homo sexual and high functioning autistic Gene agree to write a paper on the unexplained phenomena for their science fair project. ----------------

However, Gene obsesses over what happened in Africa, which leads to the end of his friendship with Enrique. At the same time, Enrique's house cleaning mother begins an affair with a married client; while Gene's pious religious mother, steadfast faithful to a husband who abandoned her ages ago feels she is cheating in her heart as she is attracted to someone besides her missing spouse. --------------------

The tale feels more like a series of vignettes rather than a novel as LAKE OVERTURN digs deep into the lives of lonely people in Eula in 1986; not just the pair described above. The various characters seem genuine especially in their loneliness and desperate need to connect with someone else. Mindful of the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby, Vestal McIntyre provides a profound look at how far a lonely person will go for companionship.--------

Harriet Klausner

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