Lumby On The Air
Gail Fraser
NAL, Jul 6 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780451230041
In Lumby, residents Pam and Mark Walker run the Montis Inn. At the same time the town hosts the Chatham County Fair, the couple is celebrating their silver wedding anniversary with a week long gala at the inn with family and friends; highlighting the get together with a vow renewal. Ironically, the person who made up the invitation changes his name from Mark to Fark, an omen of what is about to occur or perhaps a purposeful use of a descriptor “noun”.
Mark's estranged sister Lynn arrives with her companion Coco the cat. He is elated to see her as they split apart when Lynn's ex husband cheated him out of money. However, his canines sniffing a cat meal chase pregnant show champion Coco up on the inn’s roof where she refuses to come down. Pam's mother Kay and her friend arrive, but her companion is not who her daughter expected to see. Next, Mark’s other sibling Nancy and her husband radio talk show host Carter and their son Corey join the festivity; as the radio celebrity continues his show badmouthing small town living and pushing an anti rustic Rockies resort to the ire of the Lumby community.. Finally his brother Patrick and his wife Elaine and their sixteen year old daughter Jessica show up with the teen bringing her all night social networking equipment with her.
This is an amusing Lumby entry with serious undertones providing a strong story line as for instance economic development vs. rustic living and teen internet savvy vs. parental ignorance. Enhanced by wonderful Art Poulin drawings, the tale is fun to follow as Pam and Fark wonder what whether they should have eloped as the horde is driving them crazy (think of the movie Madhouse).
Harriet Klausner
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