The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 27 April 2011
by Summer Wood
Wrecker is a little boy a lot like other little boys. It is 1968, he is three years old and he gave himself his unusual name. He stayed one step in front of his mother, tearing a swath over the landscape with his energy and precocious strength. Until his mother, caught up in a cycle of poverty and shady drug deals to keep them both alive, gets herself arrested in a forgotten corner of a San Francisco park. Little Wrecker is adopted by his uncle, living on the Lost Coast of Northern California. Len is already occupied caring for his wife, Meg, who suffered brain damage after a botched hospital visit. So, young Wrecker is taken up by the little commune next door. Bow Farm is occupied by three women and a man, each of whom has his or her own weird past that brought them to this remote and beautiful forest, and each of whom is perhaps a little older than the average Sixties commune dweller. Melody unofficially adopts Wrecker as her own, and what ensues over the next seventeen years is the boy's development into a man, and the complex interconnections between the various people in his life. Ruth, Willow and Johnny Appleseed also live at the farm. Each is a strong and independent personality. Each loves Wrecker in his or her own intense way. Wrecker, in a sense, and contrary to his name, brings them all together and binds them as a family. The book bounds forward years at a time. We watch Wrecker grow and slowly forget his imprisoned mother. He grows close to Len, who is a lumber cutter. He gets home-schooled and graduates into his own independent life. Things go pretty well for Wrecker. Summer Wood's writing is clear and evocative of time and place, though there is some rough going early on with noticable anachronisms in her description of Wrecker's early years. Also, while Wrecker's life bounds forward, the gaps in the story between the sections do not seem to correspond to growth in the other characters. They often pick up in the same place, though five years have passed. Their slow development and isolation stretches their plausibility. A couple minor plot elements also dissolve, such as Johnny Appleseed's radical advocacy for preserving the forest, which should give a sense of menace to Len and Wrecker's lumber business. In the end, though, these are probably minor quibbles. The main arc of Wood's story is that of Wrecker and the effect he has on this assemblage of aging misfits. We watch this boy come of age around people who adore him. The author, too, admires her creation, describing him in terms of beauty and love. Wrecker pushes forward through his life, escaping the tragedy of his early childhood and coming into his own as a young man. The tapestry of the novel is like a blanket wrapped around his character. The reader may be forgiven for attempting to predict what will happen when Wrecker comes of age, but Wood reserves a couple of well-developed surprises late in the book. It is an interesting read, full of the wet forest beauty of the north coast and a bright light in Wrecker's resilient character.