My Abandonment

by Peter Rock

(2009)

     I finished it yesterday which gave me some time to knit and start the third book I brought on our trip to Oberlin.  My new book is A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce.  I am reading it for my long distance book club and it is on my reading from my own shelves challenge, which I am wayyyy behind on.

     My Abandonment is still twisting around in my brain, which I always take to mean well-written-the characters are often still poking me.  I do think this is a literary story but I am left with questions. 

Good Reads Synopsis:

A thirteen-year-old girl and her father live in Forest Park, the enormous nature preserve in Portland,Oregon.   They inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, wash in a nearby creek, store perishables at the water's edge, use a makeshift septic system, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts.  Once a week, they go to the city to buy groceries, attend  church, and otherwise merge with the civilized world. But one small mistake allows a backcountry jogger to discover

them, which derails their entire existence, ultimately provoking a deeper flight.

My thoughts:

     I enjoyed Caroline's narrator voice and the in-the-present-moment telling of this tale.  The father obviously has had trouble fitting back into society after his soldier experience.  He is paranoid and has taught his daughter how to stay below the radar in any given situation.  I'm torn as to whether this is really his daughter.  Rock has left it up to the reader to decide and I feel like I've fallen into a paranoid trap by thinking automatically that she has been kidnapped.  Why do we assume the worst?  It is perfectly logical that a father, having experienced war at it's worst, would lose his daughter to a foster situation but then still want her back.  When the police do pick them up they must run her picture, right?  If she truly were a kidnapped child wouldn't it show up then. 

     Beyond these questions my heart felt a deep sadness for Caroline.  She wants a friend and liked thinking about a regular life (riding a bike is a big one) she misses out on making choices for herself.   I do like how she is changing her path by the book's end but she will always be on the perimeter, always having a difficult time forming friendships and trusting.  I will recommend this book, can't wait to hear what my book club has to say about it tomorrown night and would love to know other's thoughts on whether this is her father or not??  Read it.