Dream state by Eric Puchner
This is an epic tale of romance and heartache, set with a magnificent Montana backdrop, over the adult life of Charlie, Garrett and Cece (Cecilia). Charlie and Garrett are friends from College days, bonded forever because of the death of another friend, and Cece is set to be Charlie’s ‘for life’ partner. But the taciturn Garrett becomes the spoke in their wheel and shifts the direction of their life just as they are about to set out together. Garrett pursues an environmental career, monitoring the decline of Wolverines (and yes, they are real creatures) from the slopes and forests in Montana. Cece (perhaps with unexpected prescience) seems to lose her mind and changes her direction completely. Charlie, the one who was destined for success, must find a new path that gives him a way forward. Their story is linked to Charlie Margolis’ idyllic family holiday house on the banks of a lake in Montana, near where Garrett lived before they all met. This home and the naturally grand location of original delight keeps bringing them together, even when they seem to have caused incredible pain to one another and destroyed its capacity to charm their future. The next generation too seems to have been infected with the seductive charm of the location, but also the angst and struggle of their forebears, and the passage of years details the slow descent from possibility to heartache. But there are still glimpses of hope amidst the memories and fractures of the past.
This is an adult family saga filled with struggle and the walk alongside environmental decline is a parallel path. The tale is mostly told in a chronologically logical unveiling, but there are occasional fault lines in the progression and the story leaps over chasms of time with little warning. I quite enjoyed these rapid jumps, leaving behind the nitty-gritty of the minutiae to arrive at the next big thing, as this was a surprise with no foreshadowing. There are many sadnesses in the passage of time - relationships that have fraught moments, drug-impacts, memory loss, friends that struggle and the difficulty of forgiving. But despite that there are gems forged from the pressure of the years. Garrett particularly, seems transformed by the slow wheels of time, and there are hints that Charlie too may have found a way to redeem the past. This is not a happy-go-lucky romantic tale, but it is a twisted journey through human struggles. Is love a victim or surprise survivor through the years? Recommended for adult readers who don’t want their romance stories to be syrupy and enjoy dramatic pain in the process.
Themes: Romance, Infidelity, Montana, Holiday homes, Family saga, Wolverines, Environmental issues, Dementia, Drug addiction, LGBTIQ characters.
Carolyn Hull