2024-11-19
A young boy struggles to weather his own family tragedies while attempting to save his best friend from an abusive father in Elliott’s novel.
In 1968, Francis Paulson is a 14-year-old boy in St. Paul, Minnesota, on a mission. Izzy, his best friend since the fifth grade—a rambunctiously ungovernable boy—has been terrorized by an abusive father since the tragic death of his brother, Jack, an event that transformed Izzy’s father into a “big fat gambling drunken jackass.” Francis schemes to raise enough funds to finance an adventurous river trip for them in a fit of adolescent wanderlust of the kind imagined by Mark Twain. However, Francis is beleaguered by troubles of his own, hardships so monumental they challenge his very faith: Francis’ beloved grandmother Rose dies of cancer, and his sister Shannon is so badly burned in a fire that she is given up for adoption to a family more capable of caring for her. As a result of the emotional stress, his other sister, Mandy (Shannon’s twin), becomes dangerously obsessed with fire, a condition that cries out for psychological help. When Francis’ newest sister Cynthia arrives stillborn, and Father Joseph explains she is permanently lost in the “limbo” of purgatory, the boy’s Christian faith is profoundly unsettled. Elliott has a finely tuned ear for the melodramas of adolescent life—Francis’ innocent romance with Susan Flannagan, a pretty girl loathed by Izzy, produces a maelstrom of relatable intramural squabbles. Unfortunately, the Job-like travails of the protagonist are buried in treacly sentiment and the author’s indefatigable efforts to tug at the reader’s heartstrings. (Francis’ family owns a failing candy factory, and the novel concludes with recipes for treats like Frank’s hot-lava butter almond toffee.) Sermons like these add a didactic banality to the mix: “They are not lost who find healing and peace by searching for truth, sometimes questioning their faith, and also occasionally indulging in the food of the gods: fine confections.” One wishes the author had lent his impressive talents to a story of rebellious teen adventure rather than this melodramatic morality tale.
A leaden plot laced with sugary prose.
