Off the Shelf
by Judith Umbach
So Far Gone by Jess Walter
After ruining Thanksgiving for his daughter’s family, in a shamefully violent argument with his son-in-law, Rhys gives up on the world. He retreats to a barely functioning cabin in the woods with no modern conveniences, especially cell phone and internet. He’s fine. However, in So Far Gone, Jess Walter shows us that we can retreat but the world will still be with us.
The world arrives on Rhys’s remote doorstep in the form of his two grandchildren, escorted by a kindly neighbour. Their mother has disappeared and their father has joined a radical fundamentalist religious group. Grandpa has to take over.
Leah (13) and Asher (9) are intrigued by the forested environment, and hope that their grandfather will take care of them until one of their parents returns.
Their father, Shane, wants them with him in his remote compound, and sends two heavyweights from the Rampart, a camp for the fundamentalists. Despite their grandfather’s valiant tries at combatting the heavies, they scoop up the children and roar off.
Retreating from the world is ok if you have no role to play, but Rhys definitely doesn’t want his family living in the Rampart, subject to harsh rules and violent philosophies. He recruits his best and only friends, Chuck and Lucy, to help. A retired police officer, Chuck is delighted to get back into action.
At the Rampart, things go badly. Too much intimidation. Too many guns. Rhys is scared. Chuck is high on adrenaline. The two of them scoop up the kids, and Chuck sends Rhys off with them while he tries to deal with the chaos at the compound.
Meanwhile, the children’s mother, Bethany, is not dead, as Asher fears. She just needed a break. She is high on hippy culture and music at a deep-woods festival in B.C. With her children safely consigned to her neighbour and her father, she can let go.
Although not for long. Her brain starts to picture her recluse father, her volatile husband, the cabin in the woods, and the needs of her children. Perhaps it is time to be a family again. A fractured family, but the only one she has.
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