Syd Walker #2
This is the second novel following Syd Walker, an archaeologist for the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). It has the same strengths and weaknesses as the first novel, but the strengths are many, and overcome the weaknesses. The weaknesses: Syd jumps into danger and neglects her pregnant wife to an annoying degree. If you’ve ever watched the TV show The Closer and been frustrated by Brenda’s treatment of her husband and parents while still admiring Brenda’s skills as a detective, you’ll experience the same feelings here. You’ll admire Syd while at the same time you might be thinking to yourself – get home to your wife!
The plot, however, is rocket powered, and the stakes are high, and seem particularly poignant and resonant in our present political climate. Syd is a Cherokee but has relocated to Rhode Island where she works with the Narragansett tribe. As the book opens, Syd has discovered a skeleton and wants to dig for it when she’s warned off by the owners of the camp where it’s been found. They ultimately bring her back in to excavate, demanding she perform the task in just one day. When that day is over, and she’s uncovered the skeleton of a female, certainly a member of the Narragansett tribe, Syd is whisked to the Founder’s Country Club to explain her find.
The Founder’s Club is filled with people who descended from the first pilgrims, people who view America as their discovery. Syd has a different view, seeing the “discovery” of America as an obliteration of her people. But Syd is torn. She wants to share the history of what she’s discovered, and the Founders are planning an elaborate museum, with the centerpiece to be the skeleton Syd has just unearthed.
Syd has a decision to make. She decides to take on the role of the trickster, appearing to adjust to circumstances to ultimately bend events in her preferred direction. She agrees to teach at the camp associated with the club, taking over from the last director, Bud, who has retired-slash-disappeared. She’s feeling very uncomfortable, though, as she thinks back on two young interns from a few years back, one of whom, Naomi, is missing. Syd also takes on the task of finding Naomi as she feels a massive weight of guilt, despite her perhaps minimal impact on the girl’s life.
When the skeleton Syd unearthed is stolen, she has yet another task: the Founder’s Club asks her to find it for them. She’s very uneasy, pulled by conflicting loyalties, and this is the strength of this novel:Lillie is able to really drill into Syd’s feelings of discomfort as she works for people she doesn’t align or agree with; as she digs for bones with campers who are untrained; and as she searches for the missing Narragansett girl, Naomi, whose relatives and friends aren’t so sure they want Syd looking for her.
Lillie is excellent at portraying the grief of Naomi’s family as well as the strength of the Narragansett people as they struggle to maintain a foothold in white society, despite a lack of jobs and the push back of a conservative establishment. The author shows, not tells, about the crushing and extinction of a culture by the pilgrims who arrived way back in the 17th century, showing, not telling as well the story of the entitlement felt by the descendants of those pilgrims. This is a well told adventure story, really, and while Syd’s personal life exists (as well as personal issues remaining from the last novel), the story is really Syd’s dedicated search for the bones, for what’s going on at the Founder’s Club, and for Naomi. As with the last book Kleenex was involved toward the end as Lillie is very deft at powerfully portraying human emotions and connections. Syd is a wonderful character, if impulsive. Despite the frustration I feel with her, I still enjoy reading these books and look forward to the next one. — Robin Agnew