Make Believe: A Novel
by Joanna Scott
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joanna ScottEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-02-20
ISBN: 0316776661
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of Make Believe: A Novel
Book Review: The sad tale of little boy Bo
Summary: 4 Stars
At the center of "Make Believe" is Bo, a four-year-old child whose father died before he was born and whose mother is killed in a car crash in the opening chapter, with Bo describing the experience through the limited perspective of a toddler while hanging upside-down in the overturned vehicle. Estranged from his maternal grandparents (the Gantzes, both white), Bo and his mother had been living with his father's parents (the Gilberts, both black), where he remains in the weeks following the accident--until the Gantzes decide to fight for custody of the grandchild they have never seen.
Joanna Scott's novel contains a number of memorable scenes: the trauma of the opening chapter that introduces us to the worlds as seen by Bo; the clock-driven, flashback account of the death of Bo's father (the best-written passage in the book); the aborted attempt by the Gilberts to flee the presumed outcome of "white versus black" justice; the increasingly horrific battle between the Marge and Eddie Gantz over how to accommodate and discipline their grandson. These masterful set pieces illustrate pivotal events and justify the motivations of characters, whether it be the grandfather who behaves monstrously toward his adopted charge or a case-worn family court judge with his own domestic concerns. And, along the way, Scott scatters the dramatic elements for one final fatality to shatter Bo's childhood.
True: it can all seem a bit much. The story of little boy Bo at times resembles a made-for-TV movie. Although the occasional interior monologues are purposefully reminiscent of Faulkner, the language lacks the Southern Gothic edge that made his voice so distinctive--this is Faulkner Lite, really. And the veering trajectory of Bo's story borders on melodramatic contrivances that go beyond plain bad luck. Yet, somehow, the sum of this novel ends up being greater than its uneven parts; in spite of the faulty hardware used to assemble Bo's home, Scott manages to create a powerful morality tale of trial and redemption that seems allegorical in its effect--make-believe, if you will.
Summary of Make Believe: A Novel
When four-year-old Bo is orphaned in the car accident that kills his mother, he becomes the focus of a fierce custody struggle and flees into himself--away from the sea of strangers--where he inhabits an eerie inner landscape.Joanna Scott, much lauded for her 1997 gothic, The Manikin, sloughs that novel's gloom for the less rarified air of familial torment and interracial romance in Make Believe. A compact jostling of flashback, shifting angles, and hallucinatory impression, her fifth novel is held together by 4-year-old Bo, the object of a contentious custody battle after his teenage mother dies in an automobile accident. Through the boy's eyes we see the disorienting kaleidoscope of adult ambition and impotence, as those vying for him try to sort out not only his life, but their own. "Weep for him," the narrator adjures, "if you're susceptible to pity. But don't let your eyes grow so foggy that you miss the subtle transformation taking place, the transformation of pity into something far more powerful than even Bo could have anticipated."
When volatile Jenny Templin falls for Kamon Gilbert, she imagines that bearing his child will win her both security and love. But Kamon--artistic, yearning, and, much to the displeasure of Jenny's mother and stepfather, black--is killed while Jenny is pregnant, leaving her and the child alone with his sheltering, if overwhelmed, parents. The Gilberts, in turn, seem the obvious choice for guardianship once Bo is orphaned. Jenny's parents, however, struggling with shame and a latent covetousness, win custody of the spirited Bo, casting both families into degrees of disarray.
Bo is the eye of the hurricane throughout. "Think of all he'd been through, all the waiting, his daddy no more than letters carved in stone, his mama gone off somewhere, his grandparents scared away by the law." Predictably, his life with Jenny's parents--who refuse, even, to call him Bo--is trying. Scott tells the story in deliberate, even tones, frequently cataloging the broad and disparate panorama of Bo's horizon. What she uncovers is a world where no one is entirely devoid of selfish motivation, where love can be equal parts affection and, sadly, make-believe. --Ben Guterson
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