Dig
I have to say that this novel had the most unique characters I have read about in a long time. Their actions and just their names had me shaking my head quite a few times as my head and my heart were battling it out. My heart quickly took control in the second half of the novel as all the pieces of the novel came together. Just like A.S. King’s other novels, this novel had some terrific messages to tell.
There were quite a few characters to keep track of in this novel but they were worth it. I kept a cheat sheet as I read so I could keep them all separate. Some characters stood out more than others and I took a liking to a handful of them.
There was The Freak, who watched individuals from a distance. She left her dysfunctional family and now, she just wanders. People like her, I think, know more than what we give them credit for. She comes and goes as she pleases. From some of the things that she says, I think she’s different. There was also The Shoveler. I really felt sorry for this guy. New to town, he hangs out with his neighbor who is single. The Shoveler lives with his mom but he’d really like to know who his dad is, I mean he’d REALLY like to know. After shoveling with his neighbor one day, he decides that his neighbor has a lot of shovels and he takes one. He shovels with the shovel and he ends up carrying the shovel around with him, hence the name.
There is Loretta who I feel, lives in her own little world. Inside her lunchbox, she keeps her own little sideshow and she spends hours with these little guys. She also must keep them fed. Loretta also has a side business which she runs simultaneously while working on Sunday nights at the Arby’s drive-up. This girl just cracked me up! The last character I would like to talk about is Marla. Marla was the grandma and my heart broke for her. She tried so hard to be perfect and for what? The holidays and her house, she tried to make everything just right. She also tried to show everyone what a caring person she was and it was wearing her down. No one noticed, no one cared, and she knew it and it upset her. I wanted to reach inside the book and just hold her as she searching around her room trying to find a place to sit, searching for somewhere she could relax without disturbing “her perfect” room, where was her happiness?
Here were all these individuals, these people who seemed to be doing their own thing without any clear connection to others around them. It was interesting how once, one connection is made, the other individuals in the novel fall into place. I loved page 326, this whole page spoke to me and I had to read it a few times as the emotions were raw and real.
It started out as a strange novel but A.S. King again provided us with another fantastic novel. Not everyone will enjoy this novel, but those who do will enjoy King’s talent.
