Carl Louis Feldman was a well-known fine art and documentary photographer but his notoriety stems less from his photographs but more from the fact that he was tried and acquitted for the murder of a young woman. Feldman is now resident at “Mrs T’s” a halfway house for felons with dementia.
The nameless 24 year old narrator has spent twelve years trying to find out who is responsible for the disappearance of her older sister Rachel. Through her research she believes that Feldman is to blame, in fact she believes him to be a serial killer. She needs certainty and through extensive planning decides on a scheme whereby she poses as his daughter to remove him from “Mrs T’s”.
What follows is a 10 day road trip around Texas, which at times is a dark comedy. Never certain if Feldman is playing her or if his dementia is as advanced as it at times appears - the narrator tries to keep to her schedule. At times he turns her plans on their head, while at others, he is more practical than her.
At first I found it hard to like either the narrator or Carl Louis Feldman but this changed, especially with Feldman. He is an unusual character sometimes awkward, sometimes funny, sometimes sinister probably all the more extreme because of the dementia. He goes along with her pretence of being his daughter providing her with a list of conditions for this trip which is constantly being updated; and although this appears bizarre there is logic to many of his demands.
It is an original idea and a very engaging story which holds the reader's attention, although one frequently has to suspend belief.
I like the title, which works well on several levels. It isn't an out and out page turner but it is a story that keeper the reader entertained, though I had issues at the climax.
