WHERE YELLOW FLOWERS BLOOM

Cantin recounts surviving disasters and seeking closure after loss in this debut memoir.

The author, self-described as a wife, mother, and businesswoman, shares her experience as a survivor of both California’s 2017 Thomas Fire and the Montecito mudslide of 2018. Cantin narrowly escaped death in the latter disaster but lost half of her family (including her husband, Dave; son, Jack; and Chester, the family dog) and would spend years processing the multiple losses. In the course of the narrative, she progresses from survival and rehabilitation to searching for her son’s remains—a multiyear endeavor in which she never gave up despite terrible odds and myriad obstacles. In describing the search process, she discusses the methods used by the searchers, including ground-penetrating GPS, cadaver search dogs, and “intuitives” (essentially psychics) to find her son’s body and help her get closure. The author poignantly recounts her recovery and rehabilitation (“Adjusting my walker to get out of the car, I felt sadness and emptiness as I approached the door of our temporary home. It was not my home. My family of four and sweet dog were not in it”), her mourning process, and the search for her son. One of the book’s highlights is her account of getting help from the movie star Rob Lowe, who, as part of the documentary he made about her search, personally took part in the dig for remains. Throughout the book, Cantin gracefully handles a difficult, gruesome subject that is also extremely personal. Some may feel that she goes out on a limb in her willingness to embrace intuitive means as an integral part of the search, but the author leaves it to the reader to judge its effectiveness. She also explores the question of how her son should be remembered (according to his sister, not as perfect). The story is somewhat slow at the beginning but soon picks up the pace. Ultimately, it’s a very readable book about an unthinkable event. 

A thoughtful and sensitive treatment of a tragic subject.