Christie Hodgen

'Sad and funny', I'm sure most reviewers would say....but for me it was just plain sad. I guess I identified (too much?) with the father in this family who suicides and leaves his two young children to (unsuccessfully) sort out their lives. The story is narrated by the daughter, Frankie, who reminds me of my own daughter in some ways. . . .well, actually, there are many parallels with my own life and family, such that behaviour which might otherwise be seen as bizarre has a familiar but show more scary ring of truth. show less

The University of Missouri-Kansas City's 2021 volume is one of the better offers from literary journals, particularly the poetry offerings. Kelly Rowe's Labyrinth was a keen meditation on the mysterious cycle of life and death; Nathaniel Perry offers two poems focused on the new spring, replete with wonderful images of and musings on nature; and Jeff Schwaner's Your Death is a nesting doll, featuring Death in multiple forms, each seeking out their prey only to die their own death when they show more miss the victim because it isn't time yet. There's a good fiction story from Malka Daskal - a young woman is haunted by the ghost of her grandfather's mistress until she learns that he killed the mistress and committed suicide after. The best prose piece is Emily Ruehs-Navarro's essay about her time as a translator in a immigration detention facility on the southern border - if only more people would tell these stories, and more would read them. show less

OK, this is a depressing book. It tells the stories of five people who were known by the narrator and who died younger than they might have been expected. They all failed to reach their potential by a long way. The reasons for their failures are complex, and Hodgen is very good at conveying that complexity without giving us all the details. All her characters were very real to me, even the most bizarre. The book made me feel sad for the people she wrote about, but also for people I know and show more for people who I know must exist in my society but whom I don't meet in my daily life. On the strength of this book and "Hello I must be Going", Hodgen has rocketed into my favourites list. show less

This novel is equal parts funny and sad and just beautifully written. The main character, Frankie (Frances) Hawthorne, has had an incredibly close bond with her father since she was a newborn. She was a fussy baby who was driving her mother crazy with her crying and wailing. One day, Frankie's mother shoved the new baby at Frankie's father and said, "Take it, take it," and she went back to work, and Randall Hawthorne raised Frankie and her little brother, Teddy. But Randall was a Vietnam vet show more with one leg who came out of the jungle with a lot of baggage. Not surprisingly, tragedy does strike the Hawthorne family. The main theme of the story is handling grief, not necessarily healing because I don't think that ever happened for any of the characters. Just becoming stronger and carrying on. The only quibble I had was with the disappearance of Uncle Harpo. I wish the author would have thrown out a clue about what happened to him. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. show less