Helpless

Celia Fox is a single mother who works from Monday to Thursday as a video store clerk, but on Friday and Saturday nights she plays jazz and blues at a piano bar in a local motel, occasionally allowing her nine-year-old daughter to sing duets with her. Rachel is an exceptionally beautiful child, attracting attention wherever she goes, including from modelling agency scouts. The constant struggle with money momentarily tempts Celia to respond to one such scout who chases her and her daughter along the street, treats them to tea in a café and hints that Rachel’s looks could earn as much as $1000 for high end assignments. However, she soon decides that Rachel is far too young to start trading on her looks and anyway, she has seen how show more some men are already looking at her daughter. They rent an apartment in the house of their landlord Mika, who is a good friend and often looks after Rachel when Celia is working. Whilst money is tight, they are just about managing, although the future feels precarious and Celia often feels guilty that she isn’t providing more security for her daughter.
Ron Clarkson owns a business, repairing small appliances and, as a side-line, restores old, collectible models of vacuum cleaners: in a rather nerdy, obsessional way he knows everything there is to know about every model. A darker obsession is his predilection for hanging around all the local primary schools, feasting his eyes on young girls. Although he recognises that his interest is not socially acceptable, he does pride himself on being able to control his underlying sexual compulsions, believing that this sets him apart from justifiably despised paedophiles. He becomes aware of Rachel and, convincing himself that her mother is neglectful, and that Mika is sexually molesting her, he decides that he should rescue her and provide a safe, loving home for her. To this end he remodels the basement of his house into a no expenses spared “little girl’s dream” bedroom. He also promises his girlfriend Nancy, who is desperate for a child, that they will adopt one; little does she know that he has already made the choice and that he will make her complicit in the abduction of Rachel. A major, area-wide power cut offers him an unexpected opportunity to snatch Rachel, triggering a city-wide search for her and plunging Celia into a spiral of despair and guilt.
This is a very dark and disturbing story and there were moments when I was reading when I felt distinctly uncomfortable about feeling so engaged with the developing storyline. In managing to make Ron a flawed human being rather than an evil monster, as she exposed the childhood experiences which led to his subsequent behaviour. As a reader I was aware that the twisted logic of his compulsion to rescue and to care for a child whom he regarded as neglected and abused was a rationalisation of his darker, unacceptable compulsions. Yet the author forced me to recognise the influences of his own experiences as a child, as well as his self-denial in his desperate struggles to control his adult urges. Although there was never a moment when I reached a point of any degree of acceptance of what he was doing, I certainly had moments when I felt twinges of sympathy for this lonely, inadequate man, even as I felt repulsed by both his attitudes and his behaviour – a very disturbing reading experience.
In addition to child abuse, this story explores the increasing sexualisation of young girls, society’s views on single parent families, with the extra condemnation which accompanies their childcare arrangements, the complex police procedures which are set in motion whenever a child goes missing, procedures which all too often throw suspicion on anyone close to the child which, fuelled by unwanted media attention, adds to the stress experienced by family and friends.
I am full of admiration for Barbara Gowdy (an author who had escaped my reading-radar!) for having the courage to write such a controversial, thought-provoking novel, for the skill with which she developed her complex, flawed characters and the way in which she controlled the escalating tension in the increasingly sinister plot. I think that the range of themes this story covers would make it a good choice for reading groups – although I imagine some debates will be rather heated!
I am left wondering how Barbara Gowdy has escaped my reading-radar until now! However, after this thought-provoking story she is now firmly on it and I look forward to catching up on some of her other novels. show less

well written. Rachel Fox is 9 yrs old and gorgeous. But really a normal little girl being raised by a devoted single mom. During a summer black out inToronto, Ron, a local repair man suddenly acts out on his fantasy to have Rachel for his own. He has been following her from school for months. He has a room in the basement and tell his girlfriend Nancy, whose misguided love for Ron and her lack of self esteem allows her to go along with a plan she knows is wrong.
The character of Ron is so well developed. He is a complex character who is not aware of how deeply sick ( pedophile) he is. Nancy too is a sorry addict with not much going for her but she is sympathetic and has empathy for Rachel and her mother..
There is a tension all through show more this novel as I waited to see what would happen. show less

Barbara Gowdy deals with the situation of an abduction of a nine year-old girl, from an unusual perspective, and takes what could have been a predictable suspense story and infuses it with moral dilemma on the part of both the abductor and his ex-girlfriend conspirator. Nine year-old Rachel Fox is abducted during a power-outage, leaving her mother Celia terrorized and a full-scale search in effect. Rachel is taken by Ron, a local appliance repairman and told she is being saved from local slave hunters. Ron wrestles with the nature of his love for Rachel, while Nancy his former addict ex-girlfriend wrestles with protecting her from Ron and giving in to his desire to keep her. The writing is intelligent and heartfelt.

I'm a big fan of Barbara Gowdy, and this book didn't disappoint me. I think posthumose put it well: Barbara Gowdy writes in such an easy, straightforward style that the real impact of the story can "sneak up on you" -- even long after you've finished the book.

In this story, nine-year-old Rachel Fox is kidnapped by Ron during a power failure. Ms. Gowdy does an excellent job of presenting the abductor's point of view as he struggles to admit to himself whether his "love" for Rachel is that of a father/protector or one of sexual desire.

I disagree with those who say the ending felt rushed. I was surprised by it, and thought it was perfect.

This is Barbara Gowdy's best book so far. It is a riveting story of child abduction. It is disturbing, like most of Ms Gowdy's books, and all the characters are interesting, but the finest portrait is the mind of the abductor Ron who is strangely obsessed with small children but is in denial about his real motives. He is every parent's nightmare, a man who obsessively parks outside elementary schools particulary at recess and at the end of the day when the children are getting out of school and looks and dreams. One day he acts upon his dream, but how far will he go?

I anticipated a lot more than I actually got with this read, especially from Gowdy. The plot was interesting enough on a superficial level, but the history and the foundation in which the characters were built were so diluted, I really didn't care about them, their supposed eccentricities and weaknesses. I kept waiting for the story to move to another level, and then by the time I reached the end of the book, it disappointingly felt rushed and unfinished. I'd much rather refer you to Gowdy's older works: "Mr. Sandman" or "We Seldom Look on Love."

This is a treatment of possessive love, including parental love, from a different point of view. Gowdy's writing is deceptively easy to read, so that the psychological traits and motives of the characters can sneak up on you. A rare perspective on a difficult subject.Highly recommended.