Reading a new novelist is like getting a new dance partner. To understand the movement of the other, you must turn up your senses. To create accurate steps in response, you must adjust expectations. To become comfortable with them, you must allow their rhythm to be what it is, follow it, and eventually decide if you want to dance with them again or not. Sometimes there is stumbling and stepping on toes, and sometimes it is just like floating on a cloud.
Sue Hallgarth's historical fiction novel, On the Rocks, starring the sleuth team of 20th century author, Willa Cather, and her great friend, Edith Lewis, is the first time Hallgarth has taken the plunge into fiction. Hallgarth is a Cather historian and incorporates scatterings of real-life references from her extensive research into this novel. From the location of Cather/Lewis retreats on Grand Manan and their educated "Cottage Girl" companions with whom they formed a community on the island to little known personal habits, like Cather's smoking and how she liked her coffee prepared, Hallgarth teases the reader with her knowledge base.
While the captivating story about the accidental (or intentional) death of an unusual island visitor displays Hallgarth's gift for writing a story line (and an unexpected conclusion, I might add!), the stops and starts of "lost" dialogue often caused me to stumble a bit and shake my head. When this happens, it is usually in the context of Cather/Lewis conversations. For example:
"Those years in Lincoln were wonderful times,"Edith heard her own voice turn wistful,
"So full of the future....especially for women....we could do anything we wanted."
"And we did. We did all of it," Willa sat down again and reached over to pat Edith's hand.
"It just wasn't as easy as we expected. Or as well appreciated."
This kind of pedestrian exchange derails momentum and doesn't characterize either the simplicity or the complexity inherent in the time or any probable conversation regarding such things. When you contrast this against Hallgarth's attempts to appeal to the intellectual reader by inserting Lord Byron and Ben Jonson text, again, in the context of Cather/Lewis conversations, there feels to be a disconnect in the "voice" of especially Cather. Although, Lewis' voice feels more intact as it develops in the novel.
To be fair, Hallgarth has taken on a huge task by putting words in the mouths of one the most famous and private literary couples of the 20th century. It is a courageous undertaking and given the context of fictionalizing stories about them, it is even more daunting.
Hallgarth excels at descriptors Her restrained depictions of environments or the simple movement of a hand are clear evidence of her adoption of one of Cather's most revered devices. Evidenced throughout the novel, this asset is consistently very well placed, more than once causing me to stop and engage my senses in the scenery. Very refreshing!
The enjoyment in this novel stands in the accessibility of the story and the colors of its characters. After getting past the first 50 pages, as is often the case, the pace picks up nicely, kind of like a medium foxtrot!
I suspect Hallgarth will undo some of the mistakes of this novel in her next mystery story starring Cather and Lewis and I believe I'll take another spin around the dance floor!
