A Pilgrim’s Digression

I just finished reading a novel by Justin Evans, titled A Good and Happy Child, and I thought it might be worthwhile to offer a few thoughts on the book. I picked it up at Borders several weeks ago, after reading a few pages and deciding that the fictional town of Preston, Virginia, was probably based on a town I know very well, Lexington, Virginia. Preston even has a store that sells fireworks and lawn ornaments and advertises “The largest rattle snake in the south.” Lynn and I have seen that snake. It is a big one, though it is now just a dried carcass hanging over the door of the store.

Until today, I did not realize that Evans has a website, where my suspicion about the Preston/Lexington connection is confirmed.

In terms of plot, the book is quite engaging. It’s the story of a young boy, George Davies, who believes he has become possessed by a demon, following his father’s death. Like the really good horror stories one reads, from Poe’s Doppelgangers to Stephen King’s “dull boy,” Jack Torrance, the heart of the horror is human madness. And like all truly good writers, Evans leaves the central question—is the hero mad or really possessed by a demon?— completely ambiguous right to the end. That may mean that this book is not for everyone. Even I found the ending a little abrupt and unsatisfactory, following as it does a climactic revelation.

Is George possessed by a demon? The question is almost irrelevant, because schizophrenia and demonic possession have so many of the same symptoms. The reader can make up his or her own mind, though I think near the end, Evans gives a pretty strong hint about the truth. I can’t say more than that without revealing too much. But keep in mind, this is the kind of book you have to think about in order to fully digest the content and come to some conclusion. If you read a book and expect the author to neatly tie things up in the end, revealing that the boy was crazy all along, this book will disappoint you.

Really, I can think of only a handful of criticisms of the book. Characterization of George’s mother, a central figure in the book, seems rather weak. I only have a vague impression of her and her motivations. The mother seems to be motivated by an almost clichéd liberalism, which is used to explain everything from her doubts about religion to her sex life.

Also, considering her staunch refusal to believe in George’s “Friend,” her sudden submission to a blessing ceremony for George (related in a flashback rather than in real-time narrative), seems uncharacteristic and forced. However, from a technical standpoint, I understand the reason behind it.

The novel is narrated by an adult George talking to his psychologist, but the majority of the narrative is actually set in the early eighties when George was a child, and it is at that time where the true climax of the book occurs. However, that does nothing to resolve the issue of why George, the adult, has found his way to a therapist’s office once again. In order to move the character from the climactic moment in the eighties to the climactic moment in the present without a lot of extra chapters, Evans introduces the “special blessing” that George’s mother consents to, and which seems to drive the demon into hiding for the intervening twenty-odd years.

Again, it seems sort of like a writer’s “Oh crap” button, as in “Oh crap, I painted myself into this corner, now how do I get out.”

Those criticisms aside, I enjoyed the book and hope Evans writes another. I am likely to read it, if he does.