Sombrio by Rhonda Waterfall
A Fiction Review by Ian Colford
Sombrio, Rhonda Waterfall’s profoundly unsettling second novel, is a work that impresses on the reader the many ways that people cause themselves and each other stress and anguish.
The action is set in the forest near Sombrio Beach, on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island. As the year approaches its close, three men—Thomas DeWolf, Roy Kruk, and Charles Tindal—have taken up residence in a squatter’s shack. Charles, an 80-year-old artist of some renown, wants solitude so he can work on his new painting, which, he declares, will be his masterpiece. Thomas, a poet and former bank robber, is struggling without much success to subdue his addictions. Roy, also an artist, and Charles’ apprentice, feels his work is unfairly unappreciated, but demons from a traumatic past have prevented him from making serious progress with his career. All three are readying themselves for the end of the world, which they are convinced will occur on New Year’s Day.
“In Sombrio, Rhonda Waterfall has written a surreal and frightening parable about the human craving for recognition and redemption.”
Each of the novel’s short chapters is narrated by one of the three men, and they reveal much about themselves and each other by means of the troubled tales they tell. Thomas is consumed by regret for past actions—his robberies, for which he’ll be remembered but which he dismisses, and his addictions. Much of his regret concerns his daughter Iris, whose ruin is a burden he has taken upon his shoulders. Roy is impulsive, confused and consumed by self-pity. The only bright spot in his life is his girlfriend, Fern, a steadying influence who keeps their shack stocked with supplies. And Charles is an arrogant narcissist with no regrets, though it soon becomes clear that he abandoned his family for his art and his three daughters—Cedar, Blue, and Miranda—regard him with singular loathing. Their time in residence at Sombrio is rife with conflict and grievance, and just past the novel’s mid-point, we learn that a storm is approaching. The catastrophic denouement comes with the storm’s fierce onslaught, leading to the destruction of the shack and the chaotic, panic-ridden fates of the three men.
In Sombrio, Rhonda Waterfall has written a surreal and frightening parable about the human craving for recognition and redemption. It is a courageous novel, one that lacks a single sympathetic character. The chief reason we keep turning the pages is to find out what path to self-destruction each of the three men is going to choose.
Like a bad dream, Sombrio, written in broad and vivid strokes, haunts the memory long after we have read the last page.
About the Author
Rhonda Waterfall studied Sales and Marketing at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia and Creative Writing at The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University where she was mentored by Stephen Osborne. She has had fiction and non-fiction published in several literary journals along with a novel, The Strait of Anian, published by Now or Never Publishing and a short story collection, The Only Thing I Have, published by Arsenal Pulp Press. She was born in what is now the ghost town of Ocean Falls on the west coast of Canada and currently lives in Toronto.
About the Reviewer
Ian Colford was born, raised and educated in Halifax. His reviews and stories have appeared in many print and online publications. He is the author of two collections of short fiction and two novels and is the recipient of the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Evidence.
Book Details
Publisher : Gordon Hill Press (Sept. 1 2022)
Language : English
Paperback : 146 pages
ISBN-10 : 1774220679
ISBN-13 : 978-1774220672