I have to admit, I love a good coming of age story. I especially love one that takes place in my own backyard (New York’s Hudson Valley), and I REALLY love one that manages to involve a deranged religious cult… because, you know, first loves, abandonment issues, and alcoholism just don’t quite cut it in 2021. Rayne King’s debut novella, “The Creek,” adopts the pacing of its namesake, twisting, turning, and flowing through one summer in the lives of Wiley and Ruby as they meet, bond, fall in love, and perambulate toward a fate as cruel as only that of a summer romance can be.
Wiley leads a solitary existence in the secluded hamlet of Phoenicia, NY, preferring the company of a good book and his loyal dog, Rhea, to that of his alcoholic father. That is, until Ruby moves to town. The daughter of a preacher to a nomadic religious congregation, she crosses paths with Wiley (by fate or chance) while sunbathing in the Esopus creek. Her trauma finds solace in his, and their paths become one in the same. But as Wiley is drawn deeper into Ruby’s father’s congregation, he’ll be forced to confront his past, make a dire choice for his future, and reconsider what he knows about the very fabric of his reality.
King’s affinity for the Hudson Valley shines through in his adoring and accurate descriptions of the valley’s woodlands and the banks of the Esopus, and it creates the perfect backdrop for his story to play out. There’s a dreamlike quality about King’s perception of the Valley – one that echoes Irving’s opening description of the ethereal haze that envelops Tarrytown in “Sleepy Hollow” – that complements the increasing unreality of Wiley’s world. But before things get culty and weird, King allows us to revel in the beauty of Wiley and Ruby’s relationship. If you remember being seventeen and losing yourself in something – someone – unexpected and exciting and new – the way your every waking moment becomes devoted to breathing in every atom of that person’s being and wishing each moment could last for an eternity – then “The Creek” will absolutely make you feel some type of way. And the real kicker – the thing that will keep the lump firmly planted in your throat – is that you know from the start that this relationship will somehow end in tragedy. And so you flip through every page, hoping that the two of them have just one more day together, that the next page is not the one where it all comes crashing down.
Poignant, powerful, and pulsating with dread, it’s hard to believe that “The Creek” is a debut offering. And if, like me, the hundred-ish pages fly by and leave you wanting more, King also includes his short story “Husk” as an added bonus. Another tale from the HV, two aimless twentysomethings get more than they bargained for when they come across a mysterious treasure map. Read this one and tell me you can’t visualize it as an episode of Hulu’s adaptation of Nathan Ballingrud’s “Monsterland,” starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character from “Fargo.” You won’t be able to… unless you haven’t seen those shows, in which case, you’ve got some more work to do. But first thing’s first… read “The Creek,” and go from there.
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Top reviews from other countries
Stephen Howard
A well put together novella
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2022Iain MacCallum
An impressive coming of age story..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 22, 2021
