What if a single, harrowing event meant something entirely different to everyone involved? And what if each person saw and reacted to it differently? That is the premise behind Don Smithmier's THE NARROWS, a work of literary fiction that meditates on loss, healing, and the meanings formed through trauma.
Cal was drinking the day of the boat accident. Wracked with guilt, he needs help to get his life back together. He can accept the legal consequences, but the memory of his daughter diving into the water to save her brother flashes back at him. He dreams of his son Josh, wishing he were there and he could talk to him. When his daughter Haley goes to university, Cal makes contact. The result is healing for a family that was torn apart by secrets and loss.
Smithmier handles trauma, recovery, and the different ways in which human beings react to the shocking events that impact their lives with incredible sensitivity—shining a light on how everyone responds in their own unique way. Each new perspective provides a different insight into a day on the lake, love, grief, and the circumstances that set important events into motion. The text is immersive enough to utterly absorb the reader into the emotions, the scenery, and the flashbacks of the lake. One is thrown so far into the heart of the narrative that it's easy to forget they're reading at all.
Smithmier explores discrimination and stigma with exquisite empathy: "Now, as Cal surveyed the backyard, he thought about Bill and Dottie and all they must have endured as the lone Black family in this region. The subtle and not-so-subtle digs and sideways glances." He moves into the invisible struggles that come with alcoholism and trauma, which will evoke empathy from readers who have gone through similar experiences and compassion from those who haven't.
The result is a sensitive read, told through the eyes of a father so cast into darkness that he needs someone to send him a flashlight to guide him out. THE NARROWS is a great novel for readers who enjoy nature, as well as those who've experienced trauma, addiction, or recovery from great loss.
Don Smithmier's THE NARROWS is an exquisite masterpiece of literary fiction. Delicate and empathetic, it takes a single devastating moment and turns it like a prism—letting each fractured perspective catch the light differently.
~ Nicci Attfield for IndieReader