When your whole life is a lie, how do you tell the truth?
Jaime Dorn is a tough-talking, wannabe artist whose train-wreck past has left her uninspired and insecure. Tired of the lies and desperate to outrun a police investigation, she hides her grandfather's ashes in a knapsack and jumps on a bus for the West Coast. Finally free of her shady, so-called parents, she vows to keep one final promise to Gramps and live an honest life.
But when she becomes stranded in a quirky, bucolic town a thousand miles from her destination, Jaime must concoct a fictitious past to conceal her identity and the crime that will send her to jail. Everyone in town believes her, except for a shark-eyed cop, and the clairvoyant funeral director who’s convinced she was guided there by her dead grandfather's spirit.
Small town life turns out better than she expects when she’s embraced by the community and meets the man of her dreams. But as her shameful past collides with her idyllic future, Jaime faces an impossible decision: Keep her freedom by running from the life she has always wanted—or stay, tell the truth, but risk losing it all.
This heartwarming companion to Be Still the Water, a.k.a. Jaime Dorn is a tragicomic novel about finding one’s place in the world, the consequences of keeping secrets, and the redemptive power of unconditional love.
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Also Known as Jaime Dorn is a fun and consistently engaging tragicomic journey of self discovery. Featuring a strong-willed protagonist that readers can really root for and a spiky first-person narrative, Emilson's text is a beautifully constructed celebration of family, culture, and small town life.
Prose: Emilson has a knack for creating characters and locations that seem familair and stay long in the memory. She excellently evokes small town Manitoba with top notch attention to detail that really brings the characters and locations to life.
Originality: Also Known as Jaime Dorn is a captivating story about trying to find one's place in the world, the dangers of keeping secrets, and the healing power of the heart. Emilson's dynamic and impressive use of language makes for a highly satisfying and addictive read.
Character/Execution: Emilson's central character, Jaime Dorn, is a compelling, hard-edged, aspiring artist who is easy to identify with. The first-person narrative works extremely effectively with everything funneled through Jaime's unique, and colorful perspective.
Blurb: A humorous and captivating slice of nostalgia.
Date Submitted: August 30, 2024
