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one beautiful year of normal book poster

“We do not remember days; we remember moments.” – Pavese

Author: Sandra K. Griffith

August Caine is an escape artist. Her mother’s silent, steady paranoia, her insistence that August’s father’s killer was after them, kept them moving from place to place, living as ghosts with no connection, no normalcy, and nothing but fear and secrecy.

Now, as an adult residing in Paris under a fake name, caring for her mother at an institution, August reflects on the only normal year of her life, the year when she stayed with her Aunt Helen. When there was love. When there were voices, and friends, and sultry Savannah days and late-night tours and ghost stories. But then her mother found her again and passed the note that started the running again. When August kept asking, year after year, she was told with finality that Helen was dead.

But now, a lawyer has found her, telling her that Aunt Helen had been alive all that time, that now she really has passed, and August has inherited everything. But August has questions. Why did Helen not come for her, rescue her, again? Why did her mother lie and say that Helen was dead? What really happened to her father, and why did they have to run all this time? What stole her mother’s voice and left her to communicate her fears through all those cryptic notes, and how did such a deranged woman manage to hide so perfectly, to execute so many seamless escapes? What could have been, and what really was?

One Beautiful Year of Normal starts by playing with time. We see August as a child, protecting her insane mother, ensuring that no one knows that she never leaves her room, never speaks, never tends to her child. We see a desire for love, and a woman too far gone, or too cold, to give that love, and then, through August, we see a strange rescue, a reintroduction to the world. She feels guilt – who will take care of her mother – but also relief. She can be a child again. She can learn to ride a bike, instead of perfecting the art of seeming normal.

Then, we jump forward in time to the grieving August, the adult who is broken by secrets and still firmly under the thumb of her mother, still seeking her mother’s love, still running. This August returns to Savannah seeking answers, and as she flashes back on the best year of her life, she starts asking questions she may not want to learn the answers too. She starts opening old memories, she starts looking at who she is and the pieces of the puzzle she holds.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

The story is powerful, but the best sections are with August as a child. The emotions here are rife; alongside August we feel the relief of unfettered childhood weighed down by the brooding sense of foreboding. Nothing is forever, and the specter of August’s mother lurks along the side, as does another woman, a woman who worries even the normally intractable Helen.

Once we’re through the memories of that first year, we focus on present time, as August deals with her conflicting emotions and starts to unravel Helen’s secrets, which, of course, tie into her own. The reveal is extremely complicated and could not be expected, especially with the added twist in the end, the why behind August’s own loyalty to her mother.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the answers – about the complication. It works, and it doesn’t. Everything fits together, but it boggles the mind a bit, and we’re still left with some questions, as is August. It fits a little too neatly, in many ways, and yet is too weird in others. And yes, I know I’m being vague, but if I explain myself, then I also ruin the grand reveal of the entire story. So, there’s that. My questions center around one figure in Helen’s life – why that person staid. All sham? Something else? When you read, you’ll know what I mean.

And so, it didn’t quite hit the pitch perfect nature of the beginning, but One Beautiful Year of Normal kept me hooked and emotionally involved throughout. I never entirely bought the answer – too many moving pieces, too many people, too happenstance and complicated at the same time. It was, however, interesting, and I enjoyed the experience of stepping into the beautiful world of Savannah, just as I also experienced August’s trauma and sense of forlornness and betrayal. It’s emotive and powerful and while not perfect, One Beautiful Year of Normal was an engaging read. Recommended.

 

– Frances Carden

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Frances Carden
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