Review: My Abandonment
My Abandonment, by Peter Rock. 2010 Alex Award. The inside cover says it was inspired by a true story. I wonder if it was more inspired by several stories, given the list of names credited and thanked at the end. At any rate, this is a good if sad story. A father and his 13-year-old daughter are secretly living in a national park, when their home is accidentally discovered by a jogger. The result is an even deeper flight for both of them — both from the world and from the father’s inner demons. There are so many morally gray areas covered in this book. Was the father doing the right thing? The authorities had to step in and investigate, but did they do more harm than good? Did they do too much? Too little? There are no “villains” or heroes, just a lot of tragedy and what-ifs. There are a lot of unanswered questions, a lot of ambiguities, but it’s appropriate since the story is told through the eyes of Caroline, the daughter.