ONE OF US
by
Tawni O’Dell
Tawni O’Dell’s novel, One Of Us, is a literary mystery. Those
who work in each genre may be horrified by my classification and eschew such a
combining of their genres – but, that is, in fact, what it is. It is primarily
a character study, with a touch of a mystery running through it.
Some of the characters who are
portrayed include poor Irish immigrant coal miners, the wealthy mine owner, and
the boy who “made good” – that is, the boy who was born and raised amidst the
poor coal miners and who made himself an equal of sorts to the mine owner and
his ilk.
Dr. Sheridan (Danny) Doyle is a
famous forensic psychologist. He was the boy who grew up in the little mining
town – with an abusive father, a mentally ill mother, and his maternal
grandfather, who was largely responsible for helping him escape a future in the
mines.
When Danny returns home to care for
his elderly, ill grandfather, the mystery begins. He returns to his poor,
dysfunctional roots in designer attire. He represents a sort of bridge between
the poor miners and the wealthy mine owner and his haughty, wealthy daughter,
Scarlet. Danny fits in everywhere, he fits in nowhere, and he is embroiled in
the mystery. There are even ghosts involved in the mystery.
The mystery, of course, is solved.
Along the way, however, we learn a great deal about forensic psychology, coal
mining, and the “Nellies”, who appear to be O’Dell’s fictional version of the
Molly Maguires. I found these portions of the book to be fascinating.
Perhaps O’Dell intends her book to
be an exploration of who constitutes “us”. Perhaps O’Dell’s characters are
metaphors – overdrawn and stereotypical representations (for example, suggesting
that the wealthy can get away with murder). If so, she is not particularly
subtle with her use of these representations. Perhaps this is intentional. She
even includes a tongue-in-cheek television combination of Scooby Doo and Ghost
Busters that comes to the poor, little town.
One
Of Us is well written, and the characters feel real – with one exception: I
was never able to envision a physical face for Danny. Perhaps this, too, was
intentional on O’Dell’s part. I certainly was able to picture his psyche from
the text.
O’Dell’s literary study of what it
means to be one of us goes beyond the simple rich versus poor, owner versus
miner. Danny’s secretary, for example, is a minor character who demonstrates
that whether or not we are considered to be one of “us” depends on how we are
clothed. In other words, how we cloak and present ourselves greatly influences
whether we are “one of us”.
One
Of Us is neither a true literary character analysis nor a true mystery. It
does not fit well within either genre. But, it doesn’t matter. I thoroughly
enjoyed the read.
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