“We’re all stronger for what we’ve been through and what those we love have been through.” Says Nancy, who is suffering from Gulf War I-related PTSD, to her brother Brock, who is suffering from another kind of trauma. These words struck me as so piercingly true that I saved this quote from the brilliant novel by Will Tinkham “The Great American Scrapbook”.
Brock McCoy leads an unconventional life. He is thirty-one, jobless, and he lives with his sister, his mother, and a woman who isn’t his wife or girlfriend. Moreover, when he met that woman thirteen years ago, his most ardent wish was to not ever see her again. Still, this lifestyle works for him. Especially since things begin to happen that give Brock hope for his dreams to come true.
And yet, as the long – and not always pretty – history of the McCoy family has proved, nothing will be easy where a McCoy is concerned.
“He’d had breakups—girls and bands—and broken bones and dreams.” Brock’s life had been unbalanced even before he was born. His family, caught up in the throes of risks brought up on American families by the draft during the war in Vietnam, wasn’t fully recovered when he was growing up. Escaping his father’s prejudices, the danger to fall a victim of a new draft – to the Gulf War this time – looming over American youth, and a simple wish of many a young man to make his life more exciting, Brock had spent thirteen years living in Toronto, Canada with his older brother.
When he returns to Minneapolis, it seems that nothing has changed. He is the same man who had left home more than a decade ago. He hasn’t acquired an education or valuable connections. The only thing that he has developed is his love for music – and some skill, too. So, when, out of the blue, a chance to fill in for a bass player in a rock band appears, Brock grabs it without hesitation. Even though he doesn’t have any high hopes for career development. Even though it is an all-female band. Even though they dress him up as a girl not to disappoint the fans.
And so, a new chapter in Brock’s life begins. Gigs, rehearsals, meeting with people who aren’t nameless on the music scene. It can go only up the hill from there, right? I won’t give any spoilers, but you can be sure that the hill gets only bumpier for Brock. He is a McCoy, after all.
I’d like to give a standing ovation to the author for masterfully manipulating readers’ sympathies by transforming the most infuriatingly annoying character from “Alice and Her Grand Bell” (read my review here) into the most likeable one. Peaches is absolutely magnificent. And the secrets from her past that she shares passingly are truly jaw-dropping.
“The Great American Scrapbook” tells a story that will make you gasp in surprise, burst out giggling (it happened to me when I was in public transport, more than once, so be prepared!), reflect on your family’s history and immediately want to search through the old archives of photographs or letters. What you definitely won’t be able to do is stop turning the pages. The author has a unique way of weaving together the historical events with the lives of common people, the characters of his books. And altogether, it blossoms into an unputdownable read.
Needless to say, I’m going to continue with the Americana series by Will Tinkham.
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