Trust Me

by Scott Nadelson

Trust Me tells the story of a turbulent year in the life of Lewis Nelson and his daughter Skye, who spend their time together at the edge of a fragile wilderness in Western Oregon.

As a last-ditch effort to save his marriage, Lewis—an East Coast suburban Jew who has run from his roots—buys a cabin on a wild and scenic river in the Cascade foothills; after the marriage falls apart, he moves to the woods and makes the long commute every morning to Salem, the state capital, where he works a tedious government job. Skye stays with him on weekends, leaving behind her middle-school friends, her cellular service, her cat, and her mom in exchange for ancient trees and clear water and moss-covered rocks. In fifty-two vignettes—one for each week of the year—that alternate between Lewis's perspective and Skye's, the novel traces their days foraging for mushrooms and searching for newts, arguing over jigsaw puzzles and confronting menacing neighbors, hosting skeptical visitors and taking city jaunts, finding pleasure in small moments of wonder and coping with devastating loss. By turns comic and heartbreaking, Trust Me is a study of the uneasy bond between a hapless father and his precocious daughter, of their love for a complex and changing landscape, of the necessity and precariousness of the relationships and places we cherish most.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

Audible Audio

Published September 3, 2024

About the author

Scott Nadelson grew up in northern New Jersey before escaping to Oregon, where he has lived for the past eighteen years. He has published three collections of short stories--Aftermath, The Cantor's Daughter, and Saving Stanley: The Brickman Stories--and a memoir, The Next Scott Nadelson: A Life in Progress. His newest books are the novel, Between You and Me and the story collection The Fourth Corner of the World (Engine Books, 2018). He is the winner of the Reform Judaism Fiction Prize, the Great Lakes Colleges New Writers Award, and the Oregon Book Award for short fiction, and his work has been cited as notable in both the Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays anthologies. Nadelson teaches creative writing at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and in the Rainier Writing Workshop MFA Program at Pacific Lutheran University.

Reviews

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

🍷
(Library book)
I’m giving this a guarded 4 stars with glass of wine; I’ll let my thoughts and feelings percolate down/in before I revisit this….
A good and interesting book; as I’m often wont to say, it could have used more seasoned editing - the “52 chapters” idea (one for each week of the year presented in the book) was good, but perhaps could have been combined a bit (12 months?) or expanded a bit (some weeks needed more exposition, others not); beyond that, the 52 chapters alternated between Lewis’s point of view and that of his daughter Skye but was told in the 3rd person rather than the first of each. Frankly, Lewis was more than a bit of a schnook, while Skye had a far more sympathetic resonation, so perhaps let Skye tell the story (first person for herself, and third person for Lewis?)
OK, enuf kvetching. This was an interesting story. The interpersonal relationship angles described were all genuine and relatable, the push/pull of loving the rural environment while regretting its limitations in the modern world (especially for a young person needing socialization) were particularly cogent, and while the denouement (I believe) still needs work, it was a logical departure point and a good way to sum up the emotional content of the three main characters (newly divorced parents, adolescent/beginning teen.)
This is a book well worth taking time to find and to read.

[G.P. Gottlieb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set mostly in a remote cabin in the foothills of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, Trust Me is about a divorced dad who drives forty-five minutes to work and back each day, and on Fridays, picks up his 12 year old daughter for a weekend far from technology, city life, and her mother. In 52 sharply written, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant vignettes, Nadelson tells a story about home, human nature, family, and the effects of climate change.

I was delighted to interview the authors! https://newbooksnetwork.com/trust-me

[Michael Strelow · Rating 5 out of 5]

The emotional language of father and daughter, the author's way of honoring the essentials of family, these were part of what grabbed me in this page-turner of a book. It is the story and language that are the genius of this work of fiction, that engage the reader in the narrative of growing and enduring love. Scott Nadelson has written a hell of a fine book.

[H.B. Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story of a father and daughter and their relationship to the Oregon woods. It's tender and beautiful. The format of a year in the life told with one chapter for every week(end) of the year gives the book a satisfying structure. Each chapter is a moment...and life is a series of moments.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tender series of vignettes following 52 weekends of a father and daughter as the fathers lives out in the woods in Oregon. The vignettes function effectively both as short stories and chapters in a novel. Really beautiful character building and developing of the relationship between Lewis and Skye. Kind of hate the ending, feels like the author just didn't how to end it.

[Jeaux Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book -- the structure of the vignettes as well as the emotional depth and relationship between father and daughter.

My one complaint: I wish there was more of it. Days after I finished reading this book, I found myself thinking about Skye and Lewis and wondering how they were doing -- which is a sure sign of a good book that captured me.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never would have found this book if I wasn’t in a bookstore in Portland and I’m so glad I did. I love that I can resonate with characters of varying ages and genders. It reminds me that humanity is universal. Reading about Skye and Lewis felt like I was there with them in their chaotic lives. They were messy, imperfect, honest and forgiving. What a delight this book was.

[Jessica Tiede · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet and tender story of the strained connected between father and daughter. The desire to connect but the space between feeling hard to cross. I loved that this was written in vignettes, such beautiful imagery. Nadelson is a poet and I always love a PNW book.

[Jennifer Bowhay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read.
Charmingly bucolic- it’s a refreshing change from the dystopian books that I have been reading….
Nicely written. Looking forward from more from this author.

[Tom Birdseye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nuanced, poignant, funny, and philosophical. Loved it!

[Tina Panik · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s an alchemy in these vignettes that creates a unique lens into this father-daughter relationship. Four stars instead of five because I wanted more for them at the end….

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/202...

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, interesting storyline with the 52 chapters being the 52 weekends the main character dad gets time with his tween. It gave me hope for children growing up in the beautiful PNW while in the modern tech world. Probably wouldn’t seek out this author again though…

[David Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Nadelson’s keen ear makes the dialogue in this novel smart, funny and utterly believable. This is a rich, closely observed story that swept me up. These characters go through a tremendous amount of living in the course of this book.