At the Far End of Nowhere by Christine Davis Merriman centers around a young girl by the name of Lissa Power as she narrates her life from pre-kindergarten to young adulthood. I grew up in the 50s, and this historical fiction carried me along memory lane to a different time when life was simpler but also more challenging. The flow of the storytelling is never stagnant but drifts like a river compelling the reader onto the next page. Sometimes gently with pleasant reminiscing and other times with turbulence. But it is never stagnant. It holds the attention and engages heartfelt emotions as the reader experiences life through the eyes of childhood innocence as Lissa navigates her financially needy home life which is also emotionally deficient but demanding.
Her mother is a hard-working plain woman who long ago settled for her lot in life. Her older brother Spence is close to his mother and is often unengaged because of the critical need for perfection from his obsessive-compulsive father. Lissa’s relationship with her “Daddy” is at the heart of the story. He is in his 70s when she is born; an inventor and watchmaker. Lissa thinks the world of him. He in turn wants his daughter to be “perfect like his other inventions.” This highlights the crux of the issue between father and daughter as time goes on. He does love her but it is a stifling love. And she does love him unselfishly, but always questions if she is making the right decision.
At age twelve Lissa loses her mother to breast cancer. Household responsibilities like cleaning the house, doing laundry, and making meals fell on her shoulders along with going to school. By this time her Daddy is 84 years old and they live in a rundown farmhouse that belonged to Lissa’s grandparents before they died. Daddy is lonely and still has two young children to provide for and he becomes even more restrictive limiting where Lissa can go and what she can do in his effort to protect her.
Book review: At the Far End of Nowhere
The setting for this fictional autobiography traverses three decades with a narrative arc that provides the framework for a cohesive engaging path to follow. It’s a good-old-days story that reveals the good old days weren’t always “happy days.” At the Far End of Nowhere navigates topics including hidden pasts, sexual trauma, losing a parent, living in poverty, loneliness, caring for an aging parent, and death. I enjoyed Merriman’s storytelling and am happy to give At the Far End of Nowhere 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to baby boomers, people who read coming-of-age historical fiction, or who enjoy familylife fiction.
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