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To my surprise a compelling story
Book Review
By Derryll White
St. James, Simone (2019). The Sun Down Motel.
This is not usually my type of book or author. Simone St. James wins Romance Writer awards and is touted for her ghost stories. I am not really interested in a female Stephen King. But her publisher, Berkley, put such an intriguing and fetching cover on âThe Sun Down Motelâ that I had to try it. And she is Canadian!
Well, the novel starts out with a world full of ghosts, not exactly a world view I accept. The author, however, is very careful in building the story, using small clues and historic research to give the ghosts body and then context.
St. James develops several meaningful sub-texts, all involved with perception. What do people think of those outside the norm? How do they perceive those who have been implicated in unlawful activities? How do women live in a world of potential predators?
Simone St. James pulls a lot of different elements together in the telling of this story â the supernatural, time lapse, historical perspective. She makes it all work. It is a compelling story of determination, family commitment and moral judgment. To my surprise. I enjoyed the read.
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ALONE â There was a diner called the Turnabout on a stretch of the North Edge Road, close to the turnoff for the interstate. It was on the outskirts, when you were in the territory of overnight drivers and truckers, where you could find a place that was open until midnight.
The Turnabout wasnât a fancy place, and the coffee wasnât particularly good, but Viv found that she didnât mind. For three dollars she could get a meal, and there were people here â real people who knew each other, who sometimes sat around and talked. Sheâd forgotten what it was like to be around people who werenât just passing through.
NEWSPAPERS â Viv walked further down the path.. âThe newspapers didnât say that Victoria was an athlete,â she said. Theyâd only said that Victoria got in a bit of trouble in school, as if that might be a reason her boyfriend had grabbed her and strangled her. As if somehow she deserved it. They didnât say it outright, but Viv could read between the lines â any girl could. If youâre bad, if youâre slutty, this could happen to you. Even the articles about saintly, married Cathy Campbell speculated whether her killer could be a secret boyfriend. Sneak around behind your husbandâs back and this could happen to you. Viv wondered what the newspapers would say if Helen the cheating wife died.
LIFE â Iâd been so in control. Iâd been able to handle everything â ghosts, mysteries, this strange and crazy place. It wasnât a game, exactly, but it was a project. A quest for justice. A thing I had to do in order to get on with my life. And if I did it, I would be fine again. I would know.
I hadnât expected that being at Vivianâs grave would break my heart. I hadnât expected the grief. It was for Viv, and it was for my mother, what had lived the last thirty-five years of her life not knowing this car was here, that her sisterâs body was alone and silent in the trunk. My mother had lived three and a half decades with grief so deep and painful she had never spoken about it. Sheâd died with that grief, and now she would never feel any better.
â Derryll White once wrote books but now chooses to read and write about them. When not reading he writes history for the web at www.basininstitute.org.
