Guest book review by Gene Helfman.
In Arroyo Circle, JoeAnn Hart deftly weaves a tale with multiple threads. As the story develops, the different characters become incorporated into the fabric through their disparate involvement in a tragedy. But the final product is less a weaving or tapestry and more a spider’s web. The characters, and the reader, get increasingly drawn in and entangled, moving from the periphery to the center, their involvement at first casual but later inexorably ensnared. The characters are convincingly unique and well-developed, the writing extraordinary, and Hart’s ability to portray chaos and crisis, a skill evident in her earlier books, is exceptional. And of course, as with any of Hart’s novels, apocalyptic moments throw all of the actors together in a climatic whirlwind.
What really stands out in this novel is the strong characters and the way they hold the web together, while maintaining its stickiness. Writers are encouraged to give their characters a limp and an eyepatch, i.e., make them strong and unmistakable. Hart does that, in spades. We have Mimi the neurotic hoarder, consumed by her mental illness to acquire, acquire, acquire. I live down the street from a hoarder, and Hart’s description of the (literally) terminally cluttered interior of Mimi’s home convinces me that I never want to venture inside my neighbor’s house.
There’s Shelley the searcher, who seeks purpose and self-identity. Her unlikely dependence on Mimi leaves her adrift when Mimi’s obsession proves fatal. Central is Les the ascetic philosopher, unhoused but at home outside, creekside. His stream-of-consciousness ramblings reflect a previous immersion in mind-altering substances, but his thinking, although scattershot, is also clearer than that of those around him. Les’ life brings the natural world into the story and makes this novel an enduring piece of eco-fiction. And Amanda the harried mother, who becomes simply the wanderer and whose tragedy defines the interaction of the other characters. All this takes place in Boulder, Colorado, its inherent weirdness giving us an unmistakable sense of place and makes the events that create the plot possible.
Like a very good movie, documentary or drama, Arroyo Circle is difficult to elude, even leaving you with the sense of walking unwittingly into quicksand, as the story pulls you deeper.
Gene Helfman, PhD, is an animal behaviorist turned conservation biologist. His 2021 novel, Beyond the Human Realm, about love, loss, and redemption among killer whales, won two national awards for animal fiction. His most recent eco-fiction work, Fins, A Novel of Relentless Satire, is a shark-friendly humorous parody of the sharksploitation horror genre.
John is co-author, with Midge Raymond, of the Tasmanian mystery Devils Island. He is also author of the novels The Tourist Trail and Where Oceans Hide Their Dead. Co-founder of Ashland Creek Press and editor of Writing for Animals (also now a writing program).
