Debut
This novel really lets the author’s freak flag fly, in the best way. It definitely is not a book for every reader – it will help if you enjoy puzzles, cryptology and maps, but even in you don’t, the story and the characters make the read worthwhile. The main character, Arizona, is a neurodivergent 17 year old who has just lost her father. As the book opens, she and her mother are headed to the ghost town of Bodie, California, to scatter her father’s ashes.
She and her mother and Arizona’s dog, Mojo, have arrived in the family Airstream, and when they get there, Arizona tells her mother she’d like some time to herself. When she goes to meet up with her mother at the appointed time, however, her mother is nowhere to be found. Hours later, Arizona at last reports her mother’s disappearance to a park ranger who tells her to wait at her campsite.
It soon becomes clear that her mother has been kidnapped, for reasons unknown, and Arizona must solve a series of extremely difficult puzzles to free her. This is a pretty simple set up but it’s far from a simple novel. The emotional underpinning of the novel is profound. As readers we begin to see the world through Arizona’s slightly different lens. We feel her pain at the loss of her beloved father, and her worry for her mother. She meets another young woman at her campsite, Lily, who becomes a friend despite the many walls Arizona throws up along the way. Arizona is terrified of friendship. She has a problem with trust.
We are also with Arizona’s mom as she attempts escape in any way she can. She is far less developed as a character, but as a narrative driver, she’s essential. The sweetness of Arizona’s relationship with Mojo as well as her growing friendship with Lily define this novel as much as the puzzles do.
Along the way, as I (a non puzzle person) skimmed through the puzzles, I did glean some interesting facts. Many of the puzzles are based on poems by Poe and Lewis Carroll, and the familiar lines are somewhat altered. Arizona’s quest ultimately leads her to Herbert Hoover and to the Hoover dam. I was newly impressed by Hoover, a president I never had thought much about, as well as the amazing engineering achievement that is the Hoover dam.
I also got a virtual tour of the southwest which is so vividly and lovingly described that I did indeed feel as though I had been there. It’s a different landscape than the one I live in and I appreciated the care and detail the author provides for the setting, especially in the ghost town of Bodie. I’m not sure I want to visit, but after reading this book, I’m not sure that I need to.
The believable development of Arizona’s character – she does not turn into a “normal” person, but she does find her strength – was for me, the highlight of this oddly moving novel. Even if you don’t like or understand or enjoy puzzles, I think this book remains an entreatingly worthy read. More neurodivergent characters are appearing on the pages of books, and I think that’s a wonderful development. We all have a place in this world and like Arizona, it may just take a little work to find it. — Robin Agnew