The Weight of Memory

May 1, 2021

Paul Elias has maybe three months, maybe a few days, to live, and he doesn't know what to do with Pearl, his ward and granddaughter who is precocious but a bit of a handful. In a spur-of-the moment decision, Paul takes Pearl out of school, and they drive back to Nysa, a remote (fictitious) peninsula community that Paul hasn't visited since his wife drowned near its shores decades ago. Upon reaching Nysa, Paul is met with hostility rather than the help he needs. Pearl begins having strange visions of a woman with white hair, who asks her to complete dangerous tasks. Paul is reminded of the summer when he met his wife, when a creepy stranger appeared in Nysa and altered the course of multiple lives. Secrets abound in Nysa, and Paul wonders if Pearl's imagination is actually a window to another realm. VERDICT Smucker (These Nameless Things) crafts beautiful sentences and haunting characters that immerse readers in a world where anything is possible but not everything is real. Recommended for fans of Ted Dekker or Tosca Lee.--Christine Barth, Scott Cty. Lib. Syst., IA

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 10, 2021
Smucker (These Nameless Things) again infuses a magical realist narrative with inspirational themes in his ponderous latest. After 58 year-old Paul Elias notices a lump behind his ear, he receives a terminal diagnosis of brain cancer and is given three months to live. Now that Paul’s addict son has disappeared, his biggest decision and fear is determining who to ask to care for his 11-year-old granddaughter, Pearl, a child whose hyperactive imagination might be more than just a child creating imaginary worlds. It’s Pearl who first introduces Paul to the ghostlike silver-haired woman “who needs my help to find something,” she says, after the woman draws a map of Paul’s hometown for Pearl during school. Paul decides to return to Nysa, his hometown, which triggers memories of the death of his wife, who had also seen the same silver-haired woman as Pearl. Paul and Pearl meet up with Tom, another friend from 40 years before who has also seen the mysterious woman. In a whirlwind climax, Pearl discovers what the woman (who calls herself Death283) seeks: a confession from long ago and a miracle. Smucker’s characters believably shield themselves from traumatic past events, making for a resonant allegory about forgiveness and faith. Fans of James Rubart will want to take a look.