The Last Karankawas

Adult fiction 

     It looks like Maine isn't the only state with more precarious communities very close to tourist attractions.  Born on the island (one of terms she explains in her glossary) Kimberly Garza set her debut novel, The Last Karankawas, in Fish Village, a less known Galveston neighborhood, that is about to be slammed by Hurricane Ike.  It's the kind of place where people know each other and many are related by blood and marriage.  

     It's the story of these people and, looping back and forth in time, their decisions and the consequences.  

     Magdalena raised granddaughter Carly after the girl was abandoned by both her parents.  Claiming descent from the Karankawas, an Indigenous tribe, she follows beliefs and practices that seem strange to others.  At one point she almost gets kicked out of a long term care facility for trying to burn palm fronds.

     Jess, Carly's boyfriend, was a sports star in high school.  He doesn't take an interest in the working waterfront until he gives a ride to Vinh, a fisherman with a shrimper and an oyster boat.  What starts out as a spring vacation gig morphs into a lifetime vocation.

     Ike's hospitalized wife of 52 years, is about to be transported to a safer location.  The island is under an evacuation order.  He decides to sit it out.  Despite the fear he feels as he realizes how big the storm is getting, he rescues a cat from a tree.

     This ensemble cast narrative gives a vivid picture of everyday people caught up in a terrifying event painted by an author who set the story in the places closest to her heart.

On a purrrsonal note, I decided to post this review when Hurricane Lee was en route to Maine.  So far all we're 👀 ing is 🌧 and not that much.  In fact Eugene and I had our weekly Governors breakfast date before returning home 🏡 to shelter in place.  How bad will it get here?  Nobody really knows.  UMaine had our first football home game yesterday instead of today and all outdoor events for the weekend have been relocated indoors.  But then there are people who see this as excess of caution.  I even know people who are planning on an outdoor picnic.  (Jules)

If you have a feline friend shelter in place with the cat.  If you don't shelter in place and plan a trip to the Humane Society.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out and wish for safety go out to all in the path of Hurricane Lee.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

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