ALONE ON A CLIFF

In this third novella in Passel’s series, a woman helps her friend search for her missing daughter while struggling with identity issues of her own.

Passel picks up the continuing story of two friends, now in their 30s. MatiLou is living with her attorney husband, Bobby, in Raleigh, North Carolina, while PerryAnn remains in their New Mexico hometown, raising her 11-year-old daughter, Lily. When MatiLou receives an urgent message from PerryAnn saying that Lily is missing, she drives to New Mexico to help her friend. Meanwhile, MatiLou’s marriage has been complicated by Bobby’s insistence that she refrain from pro-environmental endeavors because they conflict with the interests of his clients, whom he’s successfully defended from complaints about dumping waste. Meanwhile, an escaped prisoner, Frank Bearl, is on the loose, and he confronts MatiLou when she stops at a Texarkana gas station. She frightens him off, but he reappears later on. MatiLou ably narrates a tale that deals with issues of heritage and conflicts of values. Both women are half Native American,and both struggle in their relationships with wealthy, White family members who seem unconcerned about their impact on the environment. The novel works well as a standalone, but it’s likely that readers of the earlier volumes will find themselves more invested in the plot, as, for them, it will be like revisiting old friends. Still, newcomers to the series are sure to find the main characters likable. One standout secondary player, Jen, a Native American elder, offers gentle, nonjudgmental counseling and moments of tranquility to MatiLou, offering a welcome respite from her struggle to reconnect with her heritage. Enough is left unresolved at the novella’s conclusion to suggest a sequel in the works.

An amiable drama that ends abruptly but delivers a timely environmentalist message.