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\u201cWho was <\/em>your father?\u201d She turned her chair toward him. \u201cYour real father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJamie Alden,\u201d he said brightly. \u201cPeople called him Lefty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he was left-handed?\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head. \u201cBecause he never met a place or a person he wouldn\u2019t leave\u2026.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This one, it seems to me,<\/strong> is a bit of a departure for Dennis Lehane. Not in the sense of being less dark than his other work, but Since We Fell<\/a><\/em> has the form of something like a light romance\/caper novel. Except in a very minor key. Because this is Lehane, after all.<\/p>\n
Rachel Childs got off to an insecure start in life. Her single mother, briefly famous as a pop psychologist, controlled her daughter through manipulation. One of her chief manipulations was her refusal to tell Rachel who her real father was. After her mother\u2019s death, Rachel tried to solve that mystery (there is, I think some existentialist subtext here), with disappointing results.<\/p>\n
Her promising career as a television journalist crashes and burns one day when, while reporting on a disaster in Haiti, she has a full-blown psychological meltdown on camera. After that she sinks into agoraphobia and sees no hope for the future.<\/p>\n
And then Brian Delacroix, a past acquaintance, re-enters her life. He is charming and cheerful, infinitely patient with her, and genuinely devoted. With his help, she begins to find the courage to face the world.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s when everything starts going south in serious ways.<\/p>\n
I won\u2019t tell you more about the plot, because I don\u2019t want to spoil the fun. Since We Fell<\/em> is a weirdly compelling novel which mixes romance with stark realism, and offers some major surprises (a few of them fairly improbable). I thought it was a great read, but also thought it morally questionable.<\/p>\n
Cautions for adult situations, violence, cynicism, and language.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWho was your father?\u201d She turned her chair toward him. \u201cYour real father.\u201d \u201cJamie Alden,\u201d he said brightly. \u201cPeople called him Lefty.\u201d \u201cBecause he was left-handed?\u201d He shook his head. \u201cBecause he never met a place or a person he wouldn\u2019t leave\u2026.\u201d This one, it seems to me, is a bit of a departure for … Continue reading ‘Since We Fell,’ by Dennis Lehane<\/span>