Earthquake

Three bright, punchy snapshots from poet and painter Barnes, first published in a limited edition in 1990, track a family's unconventional approach to divorce. The opening, “The Boat,” finds the intact family in Alaska, where the young, female narrator lives with her veterinarian father; her dark, elusive mother; and her three sisters. The unnamed girl finds escape and contentment on a leaky boat out on the nearby river, leading to conflict with her protective father. In “Earthquake,” the parents get a divorce, dividing the four girls up by ages. The narrator and her older sister, Linda, are sent to live with their father and grandparents in Waltham, Mass.—with predictable new-kid results. “Calling Home” records the later years in the eclipse of the narrator's liberty, signified by restrictions put on the girls as they attempt to skip school, join a church and explore the countryside around their house. What makes it work, beautifully, is Barnes's simple declarative style: “He cleaned up my hand in the kitchen sink. He didn't say anything.” In these arresting vignettes, Barnes vividly portrays a youthful yearning for freedom. (Sept.)