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Year of the Smoke Girl

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Our rites of passage are many. For the fiction writer, it is the debut novel. Some debuts pass by uneventfully, while others attract our attention. Olivia Boler's debut novel not only attracts our attention. It is up in lights. What puts any debut up in lights? When a new artist upstages all the others with a work of exceptional insight, artistry, and mastery. This work is Year of the Smoke Girl. Olivia Boler, a native of San Francisco, takes us on a journey with Khatia Quigley, a young woman who is given a haunting charge by her dying mother. 'Wu Sham,' Khatia's mother says on her deathbed, meaning 'foggy hills' or 'misty hills.' It isn't until later that Khatia learns that the foggy city of San Francisco holds the answer to her true identity. In the mean time, Khatia begins a journey to Europe with her college roommate, turned lover. Boler not only delves into the mysteries and complexity of sexuality with her main character, she illustrates the frightening extremes of racial prejudice. Khatia's mother is Chinese, and her father is Caucasian. In Year of the Smoke Girl, bi-racial Khatia, one spitfire, funny young woman, not only 'comes of age,' she comes of 'sexuality' and comes of 'race.' It takes a writer of Olivia Boler's exceptional skill to bring all these elements together, especially without fanfare but as a natural by-product of the story itself. And perhaps this is Boler's greatest gift: she is a storyteller, a storyteller who is able to imbue not only insight but also humor into her story. For Khatia, life is too serious to take seriously. The narrative voice, like the main character, is fully humorous, fully ironic, at times biting, but always witty. At one point, Khatia says, 'Making love to a woman was like shaving without soap... Sexy. Dangerous. Mildly painful.' Who wouldn't describe their 'first' similarly? But who would be able to say it with such repartee? Porter, Khatia's brother, describes Khatia this way: '...We'll, she's never really been with us to begin with. When she's being quiet, she gets a look on her face, it's like a cross between a nun and a serial killer.' Boler's insight comes through especially in her main character's encounter with an old man she meets on a park bench in Amsterdam. The old man has a 'large, cartilaginous nose and lots of spidery gray hair growing out of the edges of his spotted, red ears.' The old man speaks English and offers Khatia a compliment. This was not a good way to start a conversation for her. She did not like compliments. 'Never believe them for a minute,' she says to herself. Then the old man asks her about her goals. That's when Khatia really panics. What are goals? 'Points scored? ...I guess my goal is to find a goal,' she finally says. The old man is delighted. 'That is excellent!' he responds, 'Yes, that is exactly what you must do. Take a step each day at a time, and enjoy each step as you take it, no matter how hard it may seem.... [Life] only gets complicated to make it interesting.' Khatia takes the old man's words to heart as she pursues her journey through Europe, back to America, and eventually to San Francisco where the mystery of 'Wu Sham' is finally solved. Olivia Boler's main character effectively and skillfully covers a wide range of rites of passage in her debut novel. But it is this debut novel itself that we as the grateful reader get to celebrate. Boler is a strong, new voice in the literary world. Year of the Smoke Girl is vibrant and vivid story-telling. It is up in lights.

The following quote from the first chapter of Olivia Boler's, "Year of the Smoke Girl," tells it all. "The stars opposed her: they belonged exactly where they were. She could not say the same for herself." Khatia Quigley, the heroine, comes alive in this story of self-discovery involving her sexuality, her mixed heritage, and the mysterious, unresolved familial problems which contribute to her lack of self- understanding. The work is enhanced by beautiful prose and rich depictions of the geographic areas her journey takes her through -- from the northeast in the U.S. to Amsterdam, Paris, and finally to San Francisco where she finds resolution. A great read!

I just finished Year of the Smoke Girl and I am still savoring the intense pictures it created in my mind. It was a great read and I'm feeling the sadness that comes at the end of reading a really good novel. I look forward to reading more from this talented young author.

This book raises some very important issues regarding identity and culture in our society. Year of the Smoke Girl would fit perfectly into curriculums in high school or college which might be examining such classics as Invisible Man and The Crucible. This book is a classic in its own right as it also examines the concept of the lengths individuals will go in order to be accepted within society.

The main character, Khatia, is cleverly crafted in the talented hands of Olivia Boler. Boler is able to convey her aloofness from those around her, and as a result, she remains distant from the reader until it becomes so obvious that the wounds from her father's internal and external wars permeated deeply even into the next generation.

The setting shifts with the shifting emotions of Khatia. Boler captured the charming confusion of Amsterdam and the romance of Paris perfectly. In fact, Paris is so romantic, the main character even considers moving into a relationship that's obviously wrong for her. But in one of the most capitivating and charming cities in the world, San Francisco, the climax and resolution come together in a satisfying twist which could only be created by an author as gifted as Boler.

Like a memorable journey to a strange, yet disturbingly familiar, place, this novel touched me and gave me a lot to think about. The imagery is quite remarkable...when was the last time you felt compelled to quote from a contemporary novel because a line or a passage so uniquely, precisely and vividly conveyed a picture of a powerful concept you just had to share? This is that kind of book. As I approached the last page, I felt myself hoping for a sequel. More, please.

This is a great novel. I just fell into the world Boler made. I would read a chapter and then go about my day, and the story and characters would just pop up in my thoughts, I wanted to read more about them. And the moments Boler captured for many of the characters stayed with me for weeks. I say "read this, you'll love it!"