O'Flynn's seemingly effortless novel has a cumulative effect, a simple tale of people drifting through life with no center and scarce ambition. At the heart of all is young Kate Meaney, a self-styled private detective who spends her days tracking the activities of imagined suspects. In the UK in 1984, ten-year-old Kate blends in with the crowd, a stuffed toy in suit and spats, Mickey the Monkey, her constant companion. Terribly lonely since the death of her beloved father, Kate has fashioned an imaginary life, complete with detailed notebook and identity kit. Her only friend, Adrian, a young man of 22, works in his father's shop and enjoys Kate's vivid imagination as she describes "the Gentleman Embezzler, the Henchman and the Ruthless Assassin". Her favorite haunt is Green Oaks, the local mall, hub for employment, shopping and a temporary reprieve from boredom. Then one day, Kate goes missing, Adrian the last person to see her.
In 2003, Adrian's sister, Lisa, plods daily to a tedious job at Your Music in Green Oaks. Like other employees, Lisa is restricted to the dark warrens of employee access, far from the more attractive mall facilities created for customers. One of many who navigate these halls, Lisa is trapped in a dead end job, living with a man she no longer cares for, waiting patiently each year for the music CD that arrives from Adrian, their only connection since he ran away after Kate's disappearance. Kurt, a night shift security guard, is an equally lost soul, a loner who vaguely yearns for a life beyond his acute personal loss. When Kurt notices a familiar little girl on a security tape- possibly Kate- and Lisa stumbles over Kate's Mickey the Monkey, the two are drawn together, discovering common ground and a past connection that will challenge their plans for the future.
In an age when human commerce often accounts for the only social interaction of strangers, Green Oaks is a repository for failed dreams and unfulfilling jobs, a place where many toil with little inspiration, their lives reduced to eight-hour shifts and brief shopping forays. Diverse characters people this novel, most lonely, disappointed, disillusioned; but hope simmers beneath the surface of even the most banal interactions, Lisa and Kurt recognizing like-minded souls in one another, Kate a frail specter, her disappearance haunting them. Kate's bright innocence and enthusiasm, even in her profound loneliness, is a testament to the promise of youth, when anything can happen. Their early dreams long tarnished, Lisa and Kurt have almost given up, hostages to a predictable fate until they meet, sparking hopes of a larger world that does not leech the soul from dehumanized workers. Sweetly poignant, this novel is fresh and intuitive, a few hours' escape into possibility. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
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