Jim Frazee’s debut novel ANEMONE, a poignant, lyrical coming-of-age tale set along the rugged cliffs of 1960s coastal California, opens with Russell Cobb, a teenager badly burned in a house fire, waking up in the burn ward of a hospital, heavily bandaged and unable to speak. His doctor informs him that his brother Wyatt died in the fire, which appears to be arson. It’s being investigated as a murder. When Russell’s parents visit, they mistake Russell (whom they believe was responsible for starting the fire) for Wyatt.
Flashbacks reveal more about Russell’s childhood and family dynamics, including his contentious relationship with his brother, who tormented and belittled Russell; his father, Frank, a Navy war veteran who was distant, quick to anger, and harshly punished Russell for perceived transgressions; and Edie, Wyatt’s girlfriend, in whom Russell found a kindred spirit—a fellow creature wounded by the barbs of parental abuse. Back in the present, Russell, who believes Wyatt was murdered, must investigate the fire and clear his name, realizing his injuries will soon reveal his true identity to his parents. As Russell delves deeper into the mysteries surrounding the fire and Wyatt’s untimely death, his connection with Edie intensifies. Meanwhile, he crosses paths with an enigmatic surfer known only as Horse, who emerges as both mentor and ally to Russell.
Frazee’s critique of the moral compromises of an era and the hidden dynamics within ostensibly ordinary families calls to mind the works of Pat Conroy—particularly The Prince of Tides, with its lush, elegiac prose and poetic depictions of the coastal South’s savage beauty. Comparisons to John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, too, are perhaps inevitable, given the novel’s California setting and its exploration of the enduring impact of family secrets and betrayals. Like Steinbeck’s masterpiece, ANEMONE grapples with themes of betrayal, redemption, emotional survival, and the brutal reckonings that follow hidden misdeeds.
Frazee’s writing in ANEMONE is as ethereal and enigmatic as its title, with passages that elevate the narrative to a realm of poetic transcendence: “Imperceptibly they rose into thin air, out of themselves, and into ethereal beings without language or sense of demarcation, adrift in greater enchantments. In that firmament he forgot himself and the strange day, the scars and pain, his dead brother and Edie, his parents, even Horse.”
Here, the characters are not merely individuals with desires and fears but become part of a larger, almost mystic tapestry that defies the confines of their earthly struggles. Similarly, descriptions weave the natural world into the fabric of the story: “Vast expanses of seawater evaporated into higher elevations, and onshore winds swept back the vapor through the cordilleras to ancient pine groves, all the way to the lacustrine plains of the Great Basin.” It reflects the novel’s deep preoccupation with cycles of renewal and decay, mirroring the oceanic pulses of the novel’s setting—sometimes calm and reflective, other times stormy and foreboding.
The novel’s frenetic climax, set against a catastrophic wildfire sweeping through Aqua Verde, propels the story to apocalyptic heights—resulting in a narrative whose haunting resonance lingers long after the final page is turned.
Somber, romantic, and emotionally raw, ANEMONE is a masterful debut that intertwines the intimate dramas of Jim Frazee’s characters with the larger elemental forces of nature.
~Edward Sung for IndieReader