Confluence
 Susan Morgan
 (Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
 2003 Susan Morgan
 ISBN: 1591097851
 

Love and Adventure in the Wild American West.

Confluence is a contemporary story of late 20-something women & men, that speaks of the nature of commitment in love & marriage.

That having been said, Susan Morgan has Shari narrating her story of wandering & wondering in search of her passion. That she never quite finds it is not because of lack of opportunities, they come along frequently. What Shari doesn't have is a spine or an emotional palate. While she can be petulant with her mother & whine about a friend's meanness, she has no sense of humor, & her powers of self-reflection are limited.

Shari is an off-road hiker. It is out in the deserts & mountains that her numbed heart starts to beat, & where she encounters her destiny, twice. & while she may be an intrepid hiker, she is no explorer when it comes to relationships. She is preternaturally passive, always worrying about what everyone else is thinking of her. She shrugs a lot, asks oblique questions, & rarely gives direct answers.

On a group hike into the wilderness, Shari meets the man whom she feels is her soulmate. Other than the usual biological symptoms of a quickening pulse, shallow breathing & giddiness, I wasn't quite sure why him. During a sudden rain storm, they become separated from the group, narrowly escaping death in a flash flood, & that, apparently, draws them closer.

However, Shari is a married woman, & while relishing Jon's presence, she is determined to keep faithful. When that hike is over, she returns to Missoula & Mark, her husband, who is a nice enough fellow, he just isn't interested in children, & prefers to keep their marriage on familiar, twosome terms.

& so, for the next year-&-a-half, Shari rejects any connection with Jon, & in time, makes her way to a therapist, where she finally speaks of a rape she survived when a teenager. Not one tear is shed, not a moment of rage surfaces. I felt I learnt more from Shari's therapist than she did.

Perhaps her shutting down after that trauma explains why Shari's an emotional zombie, however, Confluence is written in the first person, & this prevents any vista outside of the tunnel vision of the narrator, which in time becomes disconnectingly dull.

It is out hiking again in the mountains, this time with Mark & another couple, that destiny comes a-knocking, & Shari is propelled into the very decision she's been avoiding.

Susan Morgan knows her land, & she has generously drawn the grandness of the Montana & Utah wilderness. It is her cast walking about in the foreground who have only a modicum of character, & are so rooted in passivity & cliches, that the only thing I enjoyed was the view of the world around them.

Confluence could have been a grand read about a woman in search for both her own soul & her soulmate. Perhaps such an adventure has to be told in the third person so Readers can glimpse more of her world. Susan Morgan needs to put as much passion into her people as she has into her landscapes.

Nonetheless, for a first effort, Confluence is a worthy read. It makes you think some Big Thoughts about the value of faithfulness, recognizing your passion & the glories of this Earth.

http://www.readconfluence.com/
(03/07/04)

Rebecca