Book Review-Older Books 26

Review—Seek the Living

Seek the Living by Ashley Warlick.  Published by Houghton Mifflin, January 2005, 244 pgs.

In a little southern city, Joan Patee, is once again acting as a go-between for her father and brother.  Since her mother’s death, some time ago, their relationship has deteriorated.  Her father sold the farm that was supposed to have been Denny’s, and he has wandered from job to job, often breaking hearts and getting himself into trouble along the way.  Her husband Marshall is frequently gone for long periods, he works cleaning up after disasters.  This time he has come home in a strange and pre-occupied frame of mind.  The passion between them is still strong, but a bit burdened by the, at times, seemingly frantic efforts to have a child.  

Denny has been working as a caretaker for an old cemetery, and has recently found relics and bones that may date back to the Civil War.  He pulls Joan in to do some research and plans to profit from this in any way he can.  While he digs up the past, other friends and family are bringing up things long forgotten from Joan’s past.  Old lovers and friends she grew up with are once again part of the holiday season coming about.  New and old dramas make this a holiday that could lead to difficulties with both her husband and her family.

This is the first book that I have read by Ashley Warlick.  It is primarily told in narrative form with little communication between the many characters.  The story goes in many directions and never really seems to lead to any answers.  The characters are not well fleshed out and it is hard to find many redeeming qualities in them in which to care about them. The whole short book left me just wanting to finish it and ambivalent about any outcome.