Lake Overturn
Vestal McIntyre
Harper, Apr 21 2009, $24.99
ISBN: 9780061671166
One night in 1986 in the Cameroon in the area adjacent to Lake Nyos, every bug, animal, and 1700 humans mysteriously died. In Eula, Idaho, two seventh grade friends Enrique a closet homo sexual and high functioning autistic Gene agree to write a paper on the unexplained phenomena for their science fair project.
However, Gene obsesses over what happened in Africa, which leads to the end of his friendship with Enrique. At the same time, Enrique's house cleaning mother begins an affair with a married client; while Gene's pious religious mother, steadfast faithful to a husband who abandoned her ages ago feels she is cheating in her heart as she is attracted to someone besides her missing spouse.
The tale feels more like a series of vignettes rather than a novel as LAKE OVERTURN digs deep into the lives of lonely people in Eula in 1986; not just the pair described above. The various characters seem genuine especially in their loneliness and desperate need to connect with someone else. Mindful of the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby, Vestal McIntyre provides a profound look at how far a lonely person will go for companionship.
Harriet Klausner
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