THE MEANING OF FEAR

In Thomas’ novel, two people grapple with the aftereffects of their childhood abuse.

Though he warns his mother to lock her doors and windows each night, police officer Paul Rilke knows that “the real danger, statistically speaking,” is inside the home. This observation held true for Lea Johnson, who was neglected by a checked-out alcoholic mother and sexually abused at 13 by her father’s friend, and for Paul himself, who grew up on a dairy farm in rural Michigan while being regularly whipped by his dad. (He witnessed this hard man shoot his entire herd of cows; Paul’s father also expected him to drown newborn kittens.) Living in trauma’s shadow, Paul and Lea now struggle in their respective marriages. Lea, a medical researcher and mother, experiences guilt while euthanizing lab mice, yet she’s felt detached from her husband, Jay, ever since he was beaten and disfigured in a random attack. Paul is sure that his wife, Jules, a fellow victim of abuse, is just taking a temporary break from him. Strangely, Paul met Lea once when they were children; upon seeing her accurately hit a can with her grandpa’s Mauser rifle, Paul admired the “mousy” yet “gutsy” girl. Their paths cross again when Lea calls the police after a house break-in, and an attraction tentatively blooms, but there’s no easy path to happiness for either person. Thomas’ writing pummels readers as the novel’s harrowing events rapidly pile up. The narrative is harsh and uncomfortable, but the author’s prose is strangely beautiful. Lea’s rapist has a voice like “deep secret music”; a fawn with spots that “gleamed like a band of fallen stars” is shot dead. The environment often emerges in lyrical, stark images; a cornfield has “trampled matchsticks of dried cornstalks,” and the immaculately maintained yards in Lea’s suburb are “pocked with dejected patches of frost-bitten brown.” The author’s damaged characters are compelling but not necessarily likable. A protective guardian, Lea exhibits little warmth and can’t truly love anyone. Nurturing Jay participates in a questionable deer cull. Rescued from a violent father, Jules lays hands on Paul. While only the empathetic Paul has escaped his past relatively unscathed, readers will still root for the brave Lea, her innocence snuffed out far too early.

Gripping, realistic prose often renders this tragic tale exquisite.