Exactly who is morally and physically strong and weak here? I promise readers will never see autism the same way again. Why does a young autistic man confronting rednecks about their use of the n-word create such panic in me? Gentry has diligently trained in medieval combat, yet I view him as the vulnerable one. The journey will force them to navigate the white-trash, neo-Nazi scene throughout Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Zee and Gentry embark on a heroic quest to rescue the sister after the body of the other hostage is found. Her sister, a volunteer at a prison, is taken hostage by two escapees, which sets the story in motion.
She is in chronic pain due to a hip injury caused by a motorcycle crash incurred while fleeing her ex-boyfriend.
Zee struggles to keep her family together and to pay everyone’s bills by waitressing, dealing weed and transporting drugs. She is the daughter of a lifer who died in prison and a grieving 600-pound hoarder. Zee is a hot-tempered hot mess, at times annoying with her endless bad choices, excuses and victimizations. I have bristled at the laughable caricatures of most autistic characters in other works. I make this observation as a person who has lived with someone on the spectrum for almost 30 years. He is the most accurate portrayal of autism I have ever seen or read. Upon the Witch’s advice, Sir Gentry pledges himself as protector and champion for Zee, the downtrodden, red-headed waitress he meets at physical therapy. His obsession with all things medieval is the mechanism through which he interacts with the world, as an out-of-time, modern-day knight.Ĭomplicating Sir Gentry’s autism further are the voices he hears: Hildegard who judges, Sir Gawen who urges, the Witch who counsels and the black knight who strategizes. Gentry Frank is the 24-year-old autistic man who is the hero of the story, figuratively and literally. Gobsmacked, I will attempt to convey why.Īll excellent stories begin with unforgettable characters given life by authors who really know them and have the skill to make readers really know them too. Putnam's Sons, 448 pages, in stores Tuesday)īryn Greenwood’s sophomore novel, “The Reckless Oath We Made,” is a mind-blowing book that has left me scrambling to pick up the pieces of my brain, my shattered heart and all the gooey bits of my feelings in order to submit a review on deadline.Īlthough it is unlike anything I’ve ever read, it is probably the best novel I will read this year. "The Reckless Oath We Made" by Bryn Greenwood (G.P.
0 kommentar(er)
