CARROLL GARDENS STORY

A man with an intellectual disability accidentally kills his neighbor in Frances’ novel.

Fortunato Bonaventura—known around his Brooklyn neighborhood of Carroll Gardens as “Helper”—was a “certified genius” as a boy, but he fell into a coma following a nasty fall. This left him with developmental disabilities, but his affinity for color and music shines through. Now middle-aged, Helper does odd jobs around Carroll Gardens. While tackling a task for his neighbor, Mary Pat, a misunderstanding results in Helper accidentally killing her. Afraid, and lacking the ability to process this event, Helper cleans up the scene and returns home. After the body is discovered, Tony, Helper’s nephew, is assigned as the detective on the case, though he has “been criticized at times for being too sympathetic to perpetrators.” Meanwhile, Helper’s older brother, Gino, has been dating a man named Lee for 6 years but is still closeted in the old neighborhood. Gino confesses to Lee that he caused Helper’s childhood fall as a result of his jealousy and resentment regarding his brother and the attention he received from their parents. Helper eventually begins therapy as Tony gets closer to the truth of Mary Pat’s death. Though a killing propels Frances’ tale, this is a story of healing. The three leads (Helper, Gino, and Tony) are all haunted by their adolescences and take great strides to change course—as a result, the accidental murder plot feels almost incongruous with the rest of the story. The author’s prose is excellent, though, particularly when Frances describes Helper’s inner state: “Inside Helper, the bubbles have slown down and turned into something like golden honey, heavy and slithery.” But Tony, who suffers from self-loathing and seesaws between how he was raised and the man he wants to be, is perhaps the standout character. Frances deftly navigates a traumatic narrative while portraying the charms of Carroll Gardens and the personalities who inhabit it.

An emotionally affecting story with excellent prose.