THE THREE O’CLOCK CALLS

A writer explores themes of faith and loss in three stories of family tragedy taken from his own life.

“Nothing good comes from a three o’clock call,” Smith writes in the prologue to his collection. While the stories read like fiction, the author states that he lived through these three scenarios in which phone calls about loved ones destabilized his world. The text is broken into three sections with three chapters each; Smith details the lives of his family before the phone calls, the tragedies the calls reported, and their aftermath. The author first focuses on his alcoholic father, George. As a child, Smith was terrified of his father’s volatility; as an adult, he felt completely powerless when George’s addiction led to shocking violence and major legal ramifications. In the second story, contrasting with George’s grim circumstances, Smith and his wife Norahave built an idyllic family home with their two daughters. Their eldest, Danielle, is a promising college freshman, driven by her Christian faith and love of golf—but a terrible accident derails her future. In the third story, Smith strives to help his young nephew Blake see his own promise and potential, having recognized in him the same addictive tendencies that have plagued their family. But just as it seems the young man has found his path to faith and family,those hopes are dashed by a bar fight that escalates to devastating consequences. Smith’s strength as a writer comes through most clearly when he digs into the visceral memories of his worst moments; the description of his father’s trailer as smelling of “unwashed bodies, stale smoke, and garbage” paints a picture of squalor and addiction that is hard to forget. However, the memoir’s unusual structure creates some jarring tonal shifts as Smith toggles between time periods and perspectives; Blake’s and Danielle’s narratives can feel mundane and lifeless compared to the raw power of scenes from the author’s chaotic childhood. It’s when all three stories converge that he delivers consistently powerful writing on grief and questions of faith.

This memoir’s most riveting, potent scenes ultimately redeem its awkward structure.