Debut author Britten presents a character-driven literary novel set in a small Canadian town.
The year is 1979. Rickshaw only has one traffic light and is the type of town where everyone seems to know each other. When Juliette Morgan goes to a doctor’s appointment with her husband, George, she’s met with dire news: She has stage-four cancer, and the doctor estimates that she may have only nine months to live. Juliette does her best to maintain her composure. It was only six years prior that Juliette and George first arrived in town; George was just starting out as principal at the local high school. It was when he first spent time with the school’s staff that he noticed that a math teacher named Ron Barry was a little on the…well, sleazy side. In 1979, Ron develops a relationship with one of his students, a girl named Candace. After he and Candace are caught in the act, he flees town, leaving behind a pregnant wife. It’s an awful lot of commotion for Rickshaw—and this is just the start. The story creates a familiar environment without going overboard: The town may be small enough for most of the residents to know when another local person is dying of cancer, but that doesn’t mean the townspeople are dull (or necessarily innocent). Some of the drama does, however, play out in obvious ways—for instance, as he deals with Juliette’s struggle, George “looks weary.” His daughter wonders if his burden of responsibility will “be as intense as the grief.” These descriptions don’t tell the reader much outside of what they already know. Nevertheless, as circumstances take a turn for Juliette and George’s daughter, Kate, in the later pages, their future remains tantalizingly uncertain.
Despite some hackneyed writing, these small-town characters follow winding, curious paths.