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Book Review… Lust, Love and Rape – An Unlikely Outcome Defines Saga
Book: Watershed
Author: Kimberley Thompson
Critic: Glenville Ashby, PhD
In this page-turning drama, emotions are raw, mercurial and life-changing. Writer Kimberley Thompson transforms the ubiquitous and the predictable into a high stakes game of survival. Lust and love wrangle for meaning, bringing a tempest of rash actions that shake the foundation of a supposedly sturdy household.
For the most part, Thompson’s characters are definitely flawed, donning coloUrful masks that hide an existential void.
The Ramseys’ neighbour, Susan Jensen, a loquacious, intrusive and provocative woman relishes in gossip while she feigns concerns for a forbidden romance between a student and an adult.
She is reprimanded by a fellow churchgoer, “Susan, as members of the church, we need to guide her. Not tear her down. Please do me a favour, do not mention this to anyone else except her parents. This is hardly an ideal topic for discussion.”
Jensen will eventually get her comeuppance. Poetic karma if ever there was one.
The Ramseys are the paragon of wholesomeness. But the glitter of success can be deceptive. Monique, the sole child of an influential cleric and school administrator is starved for attention. Driven by the demands of their profession Monique is alone at home for the most part. When Ken, an attractive, accomplished businessman showers her with a modicum of attention, Monique, 15, is dangerously smitten by her markedly older suitor.
“In [Monique’s] view, her parents didn’t care either way!” writes Thompson
“Idly, she wondered why everyone had begun to show a sudden interest in her and her actions. She took comfort in the thought that whatever the reason, she just didn’t care.”
For their part, her parents reservedly conceded that they were partly culpable. We glimpse at their inner turmoil.
“Within themselves, they knew that Monique was not completely at fault because they had neglected her and left her unsupervised. Their jobs and social lives were the priority while their daughter was here seeking love from a perfect stranger.”
Everyone will pay a high price for their disengagement, especially Monique who is impregnated.
The stage is set for a cascade of unsettling and vexing events that rip the façade off a disaffected family.
When Child Protective Services and the Police Department get involved, the Ramseys scramble to save face, splitting the family in the process.
The father’s irrationally rails against reality, his words as biting as stark as the predicament facing the family, “You know what Andrea, take that juicy bit of information and put it out of this house with your good-for-nothing daughter by tomorrow.”
Mrs. Ramsey, crafty and calculative, leaves with her daughter without much of a protest. She is determined to salvage her daughter’s reputation, challenging her husband’s purported virtues in the process.
“As a pastor, she thought he should’ve known better, after all, he was the same person who went upon the pulpit every Sunday morning to tell his congregation that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Didn’t that apply to their daughter?”
Ken’s mother echoes the sentiments of every level-headed critic.
“Just shut up! I have never been so disappointed in you.” Her histrionics never more justified.
Her reputable son faces possible indictment.
“The allegations still stand, but I am afraid we don’t have sufficient evidence to make a prosecution (…), we will have to get a few tests done.”
“Ken almost fainted. The way he saw it, he was definitely served.”
But with giddying twists and turns, Watershed defies expectations. Throughout, we must suspend belief. And amid this matrix there are lessons to heed. After its fair share of angst, hopelessness, fear, loss, and abandonment there is relief, and more.
Fittingly, Monique’s words bring closure:
“All things work together for good for them that love God.”
Feedback: [email protected] or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby
Watershed by Kimberley Thompson
© 2018 by Kimberley Thompson
ISBN- 13:978-1975681814
Email: [email protected]
Ratings: Interesting read
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