The Books

I met the author of Phoenixville Rising, Robb Cadigan, at a Thrillerfest conference in New York. He stuck me as an immediately likable, self-effacing, thoughtful conference attendee who had a ready capacity for wit and dry humour. He didn’t talk a lot about his book but I got the sense he’d written a whole lot more than a crime story. I wasn’t wrong. It’s a coming-of-age story, a love story, a bromance, a crime story and a thriller.

From the outset, you know you’re in for a treat. The book begins where it ends, just one of the interesting narrative devices Cadigan used to tell this remarkable story. Chapter one follows a piece of narrative that hooks the reader with the question, ‘what the hell has happened here’. One tiny sample from chapter let me know what I was in for. It is Sketch’s point of view, and in this case, a commentary about his best buddy, Boo.

“He was so skinny he was almost translucent. A road atlas of blue veins covered his body, which everyone made fun of when we all went swimming at the YMCA.”

Cadigan’s descriptive power peppers the story from beginning to end. I found myself in envy of his command of metaphoric phrase and to vividly show us the quality and strength of relationships that mirror the conflict and dilemmas in life. On the subject of conflict, my favourite scene was perhaps the most powerful in the book, a deep intrapersonal conflict Sketch wrestled with when faced with the dilemma of how to show his support for Boo and the consequences of that choice.

The novel is described as “a beautifully written love letter to the American industrial town”. I can’t argue with that but I’ll say it is much more. Phoenixville is a character in this literary fiction, revealing itself as a community in which residents struggle to find and hold jobs, provide for their families; where people struggle in the battle to find hope for the future and the forces that arise when those struggles coalesce.

Not only do we have that story, but Cadigan gives us another plot: one set in the 1860s where young Rebecca Wilton, daughter of the foundry owner, falls in love with a factory worker. How on earth does he bring these stories together? Well, watch out for the black diamond necklace. The telling of this concurrent story was Cadigan’s additional narrative device. Initially, and despite the skill he used to accurately reflect the language of the period, I’ll admit to doubting whether this would ‘work’. On reflection, I believe this was due to becoming immersed in the alternative plot when the break came. But the author pulls this off well, despite the challenges involved.

In a way, I left my comfort zone reading this book but I was rewarded big time. You cannot fail to finish Phoenixville Rising and in doing so, not be moved by the story and the way it is told. I look forward to his next project.