I had the pleasure of reading Backcast by Ann McMan. This was a character-driven knock out that has been good company during a rather difficult transitional period in my own life.
Here’s the premise-
Following the acceptance of a grant for an intricate, feminist art project, Barbara Davis invites a dozen women to her cousin’s lakeside inn for the purpose of collecting personally written essays by each guest to accompany the project. At the end of each chapter an essay is revealed but the reader doesn’t know who wrote which essay until the end of the novel (unless, of course you skipped ahead, which I did not do). For some of the essays, I could tell right away who they belonged to, but others were more of a surprise. The essays themselves were fascinating and allowed so much more insight and depth into the characters’ lives. I found them very relatable and, at times, heartbreaking. The book spans a couple of weeks and while the overall purpose of the characters gathering is to write the essays, there is plenty of subplot that interweaves through the writing sessions- like a huge bass catching tournament, new/old love affairs, and expending friendships.
Quinn probably gets the most action as she is the one who sets out to participate in the bass fishing tournament. Two other characters help, and have a bit of their own growth during the journey, but the focus is largely on Quinn. She becomes really focused on bass fishing and determined, not exactly to win, but to give it her all- largely because she wants to show everyone that she can do it. I won’t spoil anything but there’s an underlying theme of self-acceptance throughout the book. Kate and Shawn are two other characters who get more action right off the bat- two love birds who are finally in the same physical location long enough to hopefully plan a future. A few other characters explore romances with each other as they sift through their pasts. I should probably mention a giant fish named Phoebe who pans out to be a big player as well- even though half the time she’s a questionable figment of Quinn’s imagination.
Although the cause of their gathering is Barb’s art project, I felt the climax hit during the bass catching tournament- which gave me a perpetual smile for its entirety. It didn’t overshadow the project, but lent for some eccentric back woods entertainment and soul searching. I got a good idea of what the sculptures were and the design, but there’s a basic difficulty in transcending what visual art is supposed to evoke into writing- which is another reason why the essays were so effective. Though I do think the description of the project was well done and I understood the significance of the sculptures when all was finished. The story ends on the project reveal (among other events that I won’t spoil) but the last essay gave the whole thing a new light for me, and, as someone who is always striving to create against the normal pressures of time, it moved me beyond anything I was prepared for.
In the end- it’s easy to see where some characters reach closure as others are more held in suspension (of a blissful sort), while a few I had to keep going back to remember their names and description. With such a big cast, some characters fulfill small purposes, while others take up the majority of page time. I don’t feel as though characters need to have equal servings of pie, but given the context, I wished we learned just a tad bit more about some of the other woman- I’m asking for a bigger pie. Selfish, I know, but against those personal essays how could I not want to read more about them?
This book contained some pretty humorous dialogue- any of the heaviness you get from the personal essays is balanced nicely with funny moments between the women. Sometimes playful. Sometimes endearing. Either way, you end up wishing you were part of the gang.
Check out Backcast here https://www.amazon.com/Backcast
Follow Ann MacMan on Twitter: @AnnMcMan