A country on the cusp of war. A town suspended in time. One girl’s desperate attempt to escape her eternal childhood.Bethany Ann Crane is a motherless eight-year-old living in Grover Springs, SC at the beginning of the Cold War.After her patriotic small town agrees to enter into a government experiment geared to give the Americans an edge over the Russians in space, she, along with the rest of … space, she, along with the rest of the town, is preserved in a scientific stasis state and Bethany Ann becomes ensnared in her pre-adolescent body.
As the girl matures mentally, she experiences more grown-up emotions and aspirations, but her family and neighbors refuse to recognize her as anything but a child.
Will her only friend be able to save her? Will Bethany Ann ever be allowed to “come of age?”
The Sinking of Bethany Ann Crane is the gripping story of one girl’s yearning for adulthood in a world where time stands still.
K. Kris Loomis is also the author of the short story collection, The Monster in the Closet and Other Stories, as well as the humorous travel memoir, Thirty Days In Quito: Two Gringos and a Three-Legged Cat Move to Ecuador. She has also written three books about yoga: How to Sneak More Yoga Into Your Life: A Doable Yoga Plan for Busy People, How to Sneak More Meditation Into Your Life: A Doable Meditation Plan for Busy People, and After Namaste: Off-the-Mat Musings of a Modern Yogini!
Get a FREE short story at www.kkrisloomis.com! You can find Kris on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @kkrisloomis.more
The premise of the story is very intriguing. A small town and all its people stuck in “stasis”, not aging, not getting ill, just existing the way they always have. Told from the perspective of almost all the townspeople, you get a good sense of what life was like back then, when things were simple.
The story begins in the 1950s, in the small town of Grover Springs, population: 17. The Mayor of the town, Dean Crane, is offered the opportunity to help the United States government get a leg up on the Russians. Since the town is made up of ex-Military/Army soldiers, there is very little hesitation on their part. All are asked to sign a contract, entering a medically induced stasis that will prevent them from aging and all known forms of disease. All except for Bethany Ann Crane, the Mayor’s daughter and youngest member of the community.
As the years pass and the “experiment” continues, the only person in town to really age is Bethany Ann, though not physically.
Story Flow:
The story flows very nicely, though with very little action. I believe the author did this to help the reader get a sense of what it’s really like in a small town. Not much happens; life is the same day in and day out.
Character Development:
The characters are well developed, although I did long to know more of what they were thinking, particularly the title character, Bethany Ann Crane. As the years go by and Bethany Ann begins to mature mentally, but not physically, I felt myself longing to know what she was thinking, feeling, experiencing. Though the author did tell, I wish she would have showed the reader.
Plot Holes:
Very few plot holes in the story. I did wonder on a few occasions what exactly was happening in the world beyond Grover Springs as the years progressed. I guess since the characters didn’t know, there was no way for the reader to know. There were brief glimpses here and there, but just not enough. I would have like to get into Dean Crane’s head as well, since he seemed to have all the information and refused to share with anyone, including the reader.
Overall:
Overall, I didn’t regret buying or reading this book. Though I wished there was more: more action, more detail into the character’s feelings, just more…
One thing I will point out, around the last 40 pages or so, the reader is completely cut off from Bethany Ann. We don’t get to see things through her eyes or “speak” to her in any sense. I missed her. This was genius writing and storytelling on the author’s part, because in the end, though I was able to guess what happened to Bethany Ann, I felt a great loss.
I wish the author would have had the titles in years rather than months, as I had to pull my calculator out to get a sense of how many years had passed and how old everyone was, but that is neither here nor there. Just personal preference. Final verdict; this was definitely worth the read.