The Reckoning

by Patricia Tyrrell

The novel is set in contemporary America and is narrated by Cate, a teenage girl. Cate has been raised on the run by a homeless drifter called Les, who abducted her from a campsite thirteen years before. Over the years, out of a warped sense of responsibility, Les has occasionally telephoned Cate's mother, to update her on her child's progress. But as the novel opens he rings to tell the confused and grieving woman that he is finally bringing her daughter home. Cate has done something so terrible that Les has belatedly understood the moral consequences of his actions years before. But how will Cate cope with learning to love a mother she can't remember, and with learning to despise the man she has come to consider as her father? And how will her English mother square the memories of her three-year-old daughter with the hard-bitten, cynical, white-trash teenager who turns up on her doorstep? And what will happen to them both when the awful secret Cate is hiding is brought out into the open?

Genres: Fiction

284 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took quite a while to get through, though perhaps not quite as much as my reading dates suggest. I first picked this book up on the 15th of December and got about 6 pages into it before realizing that if I didn't start my next Book Club book, I'd not finish it in time, so I put this one down. The thing is, I didn't immediately pick it back up after that, not until April-ish. Then I read it fairly quick until I was about 7 pages from the end. Not wanting to spend most of my commute with nothing to read, I took another book with me that day, planning to finish this at home... that didn't happen until today (end of June).

So, yes, not the most gripping or spellbinding of books.

That said, I do readily give this book 3 stars as the crafting, point-of-view and voice of the main character were tremendously well done. Cate's voice was unique, very true to character the whole way and refreshingly different. There were times where I was just fascinated by how differently she viewed the world from what I was expecting, but it was always, always grounded in how someone with her upbringing and lack of formal education would view those things, so that was enthralling in it's own way.

What didn't work so well for me was the way some of the people around her acted. Since we were so firmly in Cate's head, we don't really know what they were thinking as we only had their actions and Cate's (often highly skewed) view of what it meant as our guide. Still, I for one can't really believe that her mother wouldn't get the police involved when the man who kidnapped her daughter so many years ago turns up with her. Or that she would even allow him to remain around her given what he'd done.

Some of the mother's actions around what she does when she learns about the Jeff situation and their Arizona trip also don't quite work for me. Again, this could be purely because of us not knowing what she's thinking, but it veers more towards the convenient for the story rather than true to the character end of the spectrum for me.

I will admit that perhaps the reason why I'm so disappointed with parts of this book are because, on some level, I was hoping for it to have as much of an impact on me as Catherine Atkins' "When Jeff Comes Home" did on me as a teenager. But that would be my fault.

Finally, a warning, this book does use some extremely offensive racist language when speaking about people of Hispanic origins. The word choice is very true to character when used and fits the situation in the sense that it is realistic (rather than pretending that the people involved would be polite and not racist), but I wanted to mention it here as a caveat.

I will be either selling this book or swapping it for another.

[Alyssa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This idea behind the story line is compelling but unfortunately poorly executed. The writing is poor. I couldn’t tell whether this was because the narrator is uneducated having been kidnapped at 3 and only 15 when telling this story. However its not only the language itself but the repetition of the same two worries that keep going around in Cates mind. Also in comparison to a book like the colour purple, whoch is narrated by a young uneducated woman, theres a bigger difference in the quality of writing. I was disappointed that the book never delved deeped than surface level compliactions that might arise in such a situation. Wouldnt recommend or read again.

[Dorothy Mahoney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kidnapped as a three year old while on a camping trip with her parents, Cate is returned to her mother when she is fifteen by Les, who has raised her in poverty conditions without much schooling. Cate's mother is dubious about her identity until DNA testing proves otherwise. A lengthy tension of
disbelief and trust-building by both, especially since Cate identifies with Les.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really enjoying this until the mother decided to go back to the scene of the crime. It felt like someone else had picked up the pen and finished the book off like a game of Consequences.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable book on a difficult subject. Suddenly you have a fifteen year old daughter - one you haven't seen since she was 3. Book concentrates on the very difficult build up of trust between a mother and daughter who have lived very different lives. A different approach to the subject of child abduction.

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion, the grammar of the book is horrible (but I'm not an expert in this area). Apart from that, the story is quite original, although it could be longer! Interesting subject.

[Tez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected and a bit hard to relate to.