Above The Waterfall
by Ron Rash
Nomination: Dublin Longlist 2017
Date Read: May 27, 2022
Above The Waterfall follows two people who live in a small, impoverished community riddled with drugs, both trying to overcome traumas of the past. Becky, a small child when her elementary school was subjected to a school shotting, stopped speaking for months due to the trauma she endured. As an adult, her boyfriend became an eco-terrorist and was killed. Now the manager of a small state park, Becky takes solace in nature and solitude.
Les is a sheriff of the same small town in North Carolina and is eagerly looking forward to his imminent retirement. His ex-wife attempted suicide and then divorced him not much later, leaving him alone and reflective. We watch him conduct a meth bust that is highly disturbing, particularly because a child is involved, and there is a new case of someone pouring kerosene into a lake at a fishing resort.
The two narrators, Becky and Les, alternate chapters. Becky’s portions are often reciting poetry from Gerard Manley Hopkins, while Les’ are focused on solving the fish poisoning case. I found this a very disjointed novel. Was Rash going for an elevated who-dunit? It is almost like he set out to write on type of novel and then glommed on to the trout mystery which takes over the remainder of the novel.
The character sketches of the people in a poor, rural town were somewhat interesting and, with a studied eye of compassion, could have been made better use of. Overall, I am left confused about what I just read and know this won’t be a very memorable novel for me when I look back on my 2022 books read. Bummer.
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