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A Little Company - Holly Gaskin
A Little Company
Holly Gaskin
ISBN: 9781432705794
Outskirts Press
Reviewed By Mary Hallows
Official Apex Reviews Rating:
Small towns are notorious breeding grounds for fear and ignorance. No matter the geographical location, these cruel masters continue to rule the everyday lives and affairs of dozens of individuals, regardless of race, gender, or credo.
This fact plays itself out in grand fashion in the North Country of upstate New York, particularly in the life of ten year-old Pauline Frasier. Pauline's daily affairs have adopted a regular routine - albeit a rather distressing one: Bill, her alcoholic father maintains a reign of terror over her, her mother, and her younger brother, Walter, everyday, his actions countered only by vague, empty promises of making things better someday. Having cowed the entire family with his temper and aggression, his cruelty rules unchecked until one day it results in Walter's premature death, a not-so-subtle attempt on Bill's part to scratch a long-standing itch regarding his wife's shadowed past.
Refusing to stifle her agony over Walter's death, Mary confronts Bill one day in a stunningly bold display, finally daring to break the emotional and physical chains by which he's bound her for too long; however, as is normally the case with domestic violence, the abuse ends at the same time as the life of the abused, and no exception is made in Mary's case. The death of her mother notwithstanding, Pauline suffers the added trauma of witnessing the tragic event with her own eyes.
Now alone with her father, Pauline learns to "go along to get along," enduring his insufferable ways with a resilient strength from within. Over time, though, that same strength contributes to a slow build-up of tension and subtle defiance, rising inside of Pauline in a crescendo of increasing confidence, until one day she suddenly finds herself in the same position as her mother - with her own life just as much at risk.
In A Little Company, Holly Gaskin refashions the ages-old morality tale of Good vs. Evil with an added element of palpable emotion. Her skillful use of flashbacks interwoven throughout the story helps punctuate the action and envelops the reader in the breath-taking suspense of the ultimate climax. Given the back story of how Pauline's life eventually comes to be, the reader may suspect what's coming, but is nonetheless enraptured in the unfolding action.
Also, one would expect that a story of prolonged child abuse and neglect would make for a difficult read, but Gaskin succeeds in framing Pauline's plight as a microcosm of juvenile victimization across the globe; by conveying the real truth about the heinous mental & emotional prisons of everyday life, she inspires empathy in the reader, among other passionate stirrings. Seeing news reports about child neglect in South Asian sweatshops is one matter, but learning of the recurrence of such acts so close to home is often a disturbing revelation.
Kudos to Holly Gaskin for providing the world with such a heart-rendering tale of innocence bowed, but not defeated. Her narrative will surely open the eyes of many individuals previously unaware of the stranglehold that domestic violence and child abuse continue to have over the lives of countless innocent souls everyday - and hopefully inspire them to do something to break it.
Official Apex Reviews Interview: Holly Gaskin (A Little Company)
Apex Reviews: Holly, thanks for joining us for this interview. We truly appreciate the opportunity to learn more about A Little Company.
Holly Gaskin: I'm grateful for the opportunity to talk about it.
AR: Do any parts of the book happen to be autobiographical?
HG: Unfortunately, the Poppa character is based on my late grandfather, who was physically abusive to my mother and her younger brother. I based Pauline and Walter on old, black & white childhood photos of my Mom and my Uncle Bill. They looked so solemn and somber, it made me want to go back in time and take care of them.
AR: Bill provides the reader with some insight into his behavior when he reveals that his father treated him the same way. Why does he never heal from the damage done to him as a child?
HG: Back in the early 1900's, there weren't any resources to turn to for help, like there is today. Nor was there the awareness that it's NOT okay to hit your kids until they're black and blue. It was all hush-hush, "look the other way," behind-closed-doors, etc. Physical punishment for misbehavior wasn't questioned. I recall my grandfather describing how he and his siblings would hide under the bed to get away from their father, and how his sister Ethel was the only one "too tough to cry" when he beat them.
AR: Mary endures Bill's abuse for so many years until she violently confronts him over Walter's death. Why does she allow herself to be treated so badly for so long?
HG: Again, who would she turn to? Where would she go? Divorce wasn't as common or as socially acceptable in 1935 as it is today. Perhaps she did speak to the priest at one time, but I imagine he would just tell her to turn the other cheek and forgive her husband. She was proud of being a good housewife and good mother to Pauline and Walter. She clung to those rare happy moments, like the time Poppa came home with gifts for everybody. She prayed that one day he'd see the light and would change.
AR: Likewise, what compels Pauline to comply with Bill's demands even after witnessing him kill her mother?
HG: Fear. She doesn't want to stay with him; but she's terrified of being caught if she tries to escape.
AR: Your depictions of abuse in the book are often very vivid and detailed. Was it difficult for you to write those scenes?
HG: Yes. I'd have to take a break when it got really intense.
AR: The plague of domestic violence continues to spread across the globe, despite the efforts of numerous activists & politicians to raise greater awareness of the problem. What else do you think can be done to help stem the tide of abuse?
HG: I think education, public awareness and early intervention are the keys. There is no one clear-cut answer to this issue. Women and children- and the elderly, for that matter- need to know there are resources out there for them. There are safe places to go and people who will help them. Meanwhile, abuse tends to run in families and can be passed down from one generation to the next. Somebody has to break the chain. The topic of abuse should be addressed by schools, because if a kid has lived with it all their life, it's all they know. They think it happens to everyone. No one should be afraid or ashamed to report abuse or domestic violence, whether it's happening to them, or if they suspect somebody else is being hurt.
AR: What kinds of reactions have you gotten to the book?
HG: Very positive! People I wouldn't have expected to like a story that's so dark and disturbing raved about it to me. I was also intrigued by the many different interpretations my readers had of the book's surprise ending.
AR: What are your writing plans for the near and long-term future?
HG: I've been writing a lot of short stories, which I hope to publish in an anthology someday. I'm also just starting a new novel, set on Long Island, which will be longer and feature more characters than "A Little Company." It will be more suspenseful and not so much in the horror genre. But it will still be scary!
AR: We noticed that you work as a radio personality at an award-winning country station. Care to share more with our readers about that?
HG: Yes. I co-host a morning show at a country station, Froggy 97, in Watertown, NY. My on-air name is "Cricket." Along with my cohort, "James Pond," we've won the NYS Broadcasters Award for Best On-Air Team in a Small Market in 2006 and 2007. This last time, we accepted our trophy from Barbara Walters! Prior to my employment at Froggy 97, I worked for 10 years at an oldies station, WLNG, in Sag Harbor NY. Radio is as much in my blood as writing is.
AR: Any final thoughts you'd like to share with our readers?
HG: Thanks to everyone for their support, interest and encouragement. And please be patient while I work on my next book!
AR: Thanks again, Holly, and best of continued success to you in all your endeavors!
HG: Thank you very much!
Holly Gaskin
ISBN: 9781432705794
Outskirts Press
Reviewed By Mary Hallows
Official Apex Reviews Rating:
Small towns are notorious breeding grounds for fear and ignorance. No matter the geographical location, these cruel masters continue to rule the everyday lives and affairs of dozens of individuals, regardless of race, gender, or credo.
This fact plays itself out in grand fashion in the North Country of upstate New York, particularly in the life of ten year-old Pauline Frasier. Pauline's daily affairs have adopted a regular routine - albeit a rather distressing one: Bill, her alcoholic father maintains a reign of terror over her, her mother, and her younger brother, Walter, everyday, his actions countered only by vague, empty promises of making things better someday. Having cowed the entire family with his temper and aggression, his cruelty rules unchecked until one day it results in Walter's premature death, a not-so-subtle attempt on Bill's part to scratch a long-standing itch regarding his wife's shadowed past.
Refusing to stifle her agony over Walter's death, Mary confronts Bill one day in a stunningly bold display, finally daring to break the emotional and physical chains by which he's bound her for too long; however, as is normally the case with domestic violence, the abuse ends at the same time as the life of the abused, and no exception is made in Mary's case. The death of her mother notwithstanding, Pauline suffers the added trauma of witnessing the tragic event with her own eyes.
Now alone with her father, Pauline learns to "go along to get along," enduring his insufferable ways with a resilient strength from within. Over time, though, that same strength contributes to a slow build-up of tension and subtle defiance, rising inside of Pauline in a crescendo of increasing confidence, until one day she suddenly finds herself in the same position as her mother - with her own life just as much at risk.
In A Little Company, Holly Gaskin refashions the ages-old morality tale of Good vs. Evil with an added element of palpable emotion. Her skillful use of flashbacks interwoven throughout the story helps punctuate the action and envelops the reader in the breath-taking suspense of the ultimate climax. Given the back story of how Pauline's life eventually comes to be, the reader may suspect what's coming, but is nonetheless enraptured in the unfolding action.
Also, one would expect that a story of prolonged child abuse and neglect would make for a difficult read, but Gaskin succeeds in framing Pauline's plight as a microcosm of juvenile victimization across the globe; by conveying the real truth about the heinous mental & emotional prisons of everyday life, she inspires empathy in the reader, among other passionate stirrings. Seeing news reports about child neglect in South Asian sweatshops is one matter, but learning of the recurrence of such acts so close to home is often a disturbing revelation.
Kudos to Holly Gaskin for providing the world with such a heart-rendering tale of innocence bowed, but not defeated. Her narrative will surely open the eyes of many individuals previously unaware of the stranglehold that domestic violence and child abuse continue to have over the lives of countless innocent souls everyday - and hopefully inspire them to do something to break it.
Official Apex Reviews Interview: Holly Gaskin (A Little Company)
Apex Reviews: Holly, thanks for joining us for this interview. We truly appreciate the opportunity to learn more about A Little Company.
Holly Gaskin: I'm grateful for the opportunity to talk about it.
AR: Do any parts of the book happen to be autobiographical?
HG: Unfortunately, the Poppa character is based on my late grandfather, who was physically abusive to my mother and her younger brother. I based Pauline and Walter on old, black & white childhood photos of my Mom and my Uncle Bill. They looked so solemn and somber, it made me want to go back in time and take care of them.
AR: Bill provides the reader with some insight into his behavior when he reveals that his father treated him the same way. Why does he never heal from the damage done to him as a child?
HG: Back in the early 1900's, there weren't any resources to turn to for help, like there is today. Nor was there the awareness that it's NOT okay to hit your kids until they're black and blue. It was all hush-hush, "look the other way," behind-closed-doors, etc. Physical punishment for misbehavior wasn't questioned. I recall my grandfather describing how he and his siblings would hide under the bed to get away from their father, and how his sister Ethel was the only one "too tough to cry" when he beat them.
AR: Mary endures Bill's abuse for so many years until she violently confronts him over Walter's death. Why does she allow herself to be treated so badly for so long?
HG: Again, who would she turn to? Where would she go? Divorce wasn't as common or as socially acceptable in 1935 as it is today. Perhaps she did speak to the priest at one time, but I imagine he would just tell her to turn the other cheek and forgive her husband. She was proud of being a good housewife and good mother to Pauline and Walter. She clung to those rare happy moments, like the time Poppa came home with gifts for everybody. She prayed that one day he'd see the light and would change.
AR: Likewise, what compels Pauline to comply with Bill's demands even after witnessing him kill her mother?
HG: Fear. She doesn't want to stay with him; but she's terrified of being caught if she tries to escape.
AR: Your depictions of abuse in the book are often very vivid and detailed. Was it difficult for you to write those scenes?
HG: Yes. I'd have to take a break when it got really intense.
AR: The plague of domestic violence continues to spread across the globe, despite the efforts of numerous activists & politicians to raise greater awareness of the problem. What else do you think can be done to help stem the tide of abuse?
HG: I think education, public awareness and early intervention are the keys. There is no one clear-cut answer to this issue. Women and children- and the elderly, for that matter- need to know there are resources out there for them. There are safe places to go and people who will help them. Meanwhile, abuse tends to run in families and can be passed down from one generation to the next. Somebody has to break the chain. The topic of abuse should be addressed by schools, because if a kid has lived with it all their life, it's all they know. They think it happens to everyone. No one should be afraid or ashamed to report abuse or domestic violence, whether it's happening to them, or if they suspect somebody else is being hurt.
AR: What kinds of reactions have you gotten to the book?
HG: Very positive! People I wouldn't have expected to like a story that's so dark and disturbing raved about it to me. I was also intrigued by the many different interpretations my readers had of the book's surprise ending.
AR: What are your writing plans for the near and long-term future?
HG: I've been writing a lot of short stories, which I hope to publish in an anthology someday. I'm also just starting a new novel, set on Long Island, which will be longer and feature more characters than "A Little Company." It will be more suspenseful and not so much in the horror genre. But it will still be scary!
AR: We noticed that you work as a radio personality at an award-winning country station. Care to share more with our readers about that?
HG: Yes. I co-host a morning show at a country station, Froggy 97, in Watertown, NY. My on-air name is "Cricket." Along with my cohort, "James Pond," we've won the NYS Broadcasters Award for Best On-Air Team in a Small Market in 2006 and 2007. This last time, we accepted our trophy from Barbara Walters! Prior to my employment at Froggy 97, I worked for 10 years at an oldies station, WLNG, in Sag Harbor NY. Radio is as much in my blood as writing is.
AR: Any final thoughts you'd like to share with our readers?
HG: Thanks to everyone for their support, interest and encouragement. And please be patient while I work on my next book!
AR: Thanks again, Holly, and best of continued success to you in all your endeavors!
HG: Thank you very much!