Book Review (Canon): After the Dam

After the Dam

Written by Amy Hassinger in 2016

The Raccoon: Rachel Clayborne is still adjusting to her new role as a mother when her father sends her to the Farm, her family’s Wisconsin home, on a mission: find out her grandmother’s intentions for the property after she dies.  Rachel soon finds herself torn between a moral obligation, restoring the land to the Ojibwe tribe that her family stole it from, and her own feelings, a love and nostalgia for her childhood retreat.  This conflict is only exacerbated when Rachel begins to reconnect with her Ojibwe ex-boyfriend and realizes that she has deeper reasons for needing to hold onto the Farm.

UNMASKED: While all authors pride themselves on understanding the human condition, Hassinger is the only writer I have encountered that has managed to completely render the soul of her protagonist, allowing the reader to understand and connect with Rachel more than we do with most real people.  To top it off, Hassinger pulls this off for all five of her main characters, distinctly showing their personalities and then placing them with and against each other so effectively that every scene grips the reader’s heart.  After the Dam ought to wear the label of character-driven story as a badge of honor.

Hassinger also masterfully wields her setting as a tool for storytelling.  The tension in the novel swells simultaneously with aggressive weather that endangers the eponymous Old Bend Dam, and several other setting hooks are used to force characters together or prevent them from communicating at crucial times.  Additionally, the second of five “books” within After the Dam travels back eight years, highlighting Rachel’s budding relationship with her husband and her early environmental career.  While much of the characters’ history is effectively explained through shorter flashbacks, Hassinger’s choice to immerse the reader in a younger Rachel allows him/her to witness Rachel’s success in bringing down another dam; her actions provide a sharp contrast to the apparent immortality of the Old Bend Dam and to the frazzled impulsiveness of the current Rachel.

After the Dam brings the reader into an intense, compelling world, increasing the stakes with each scene and ultimately delivering an unforgiving, unforgettable story.

Strengths:

• All of the characters are well-developed, and it is easy to see any one of them as the protagonist.
• The author acknowledges the awkwardness and hesitation involved in love.
• Rachel’s daughter is simply a baby, as opposed to the many infant characters in other works that are somehow able to communicate important lessons and warnings to the adult characters.

Weaknesses:

• A large piece of the conflict remains unresolved by the end of the novel, with Hassinger choosing to leave the resolution open to several possible outcomes.

Rating: 19/20 buried homes

Ideal Setting: Read this before you collapse under the weight of repressed feelings and unresolved arguments.  Otherwise the dam representing your relationship may flood.