DEPICTING LIFE AFTER TRAGEDY -- A REVIEW

If life could be divided into "before and after," this sequel to the dramatic Reservation Road could be classified as After. Twelve years after the devastating events that took the life of the young Learner boy and shattered two families, Dwight Arno has started over. After prison. After losing everything about the life he once had.

We see him again in Santa Barbara, CA, working in a sporting goods store, living in a rented home, and walking through his days as if he is an automaton. There seems to be no joy in his life.

Meanwhile, back in Connecticut, his ex-wife Ruth is facing her own personal crisis; their son Sam has gotten into a bit of trouble; and nearby, the Learner family walks through the dried out terrain of their existence.

We catch glimpses of each of these lives through alternating perspectives. In beautifully crafted language, the author shows us what life is like for each of these characters, and by the time we've moved toward the final outcome, we are completely engrossed in their pain, their outlook on life, and how the events of the past have shaped them irrevocably.

I love the unfolding scenes as they depict this world of After to the reader. Here is an excerpt from Dwight's point of view, showing a reunion between Sam and his mother, Ruth, after Sam has shown up on Dwight's doorstep.

"In my living room, they stand literally wrapped in each other—an image so old and storybook it feels iconic to me, bigger than all of us, a tattered flag flying over our tiny burned-out village long after the war has ended...."

Scenes and language like this fill the pages of Northwest Corner: A Novel and spotlight human frailty like only the great authors of our time can do. This tale earns a giant five stars from me!