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Cass Neary's mother died before she became a teenager; she was raised by her self-involved father. When she received a camera for her 17th birthday, a new world opened for her. She never really fit in at school and was somewhat of a loner. Behind the lens of her camera she discovered a talent she never suspected. Dropping out of college early on, she lived in a dreary New York City walkup, hung around with junkies and drifters. Her photos were of the seamy side of city life – dead junkies, strung-out prostitutes, bar musicians. She was a success in a small way in the underground press and even had a book of photographs published called The Dead Girls. If the girls in the photos weren’t dead, they were probably close to it. Cass drifted and as her friends either OD'd or moved on to more adult pursuits, she continued to live like a student and eventually ended up stocking books at a bookstore. When she wasn't drunk or high, she wondered how she had wasted her talent. Phil, a friend and sort of an agent, comes to Cass with an interesting proposition. He tells her he wants her to interview an elderly, reclusive woman who was a famous photographer years earlier. Cass of course knows the name of Aphrodite Kamestos and is surprised to hear she is still alive. She has spent many years living on an island off the coast of Maine, where very few people ever see her, but many stories are told about her. Cass drives her old beater from New York to the village in Maine where she is supposed to meet someone to take her to the island by boat. Totally unprepared for the weather, Cass arrives wearing a leather jacket and pointy-toe boots. She is rather shocked that it is cold in Maine in November. Typical Cass, she is more worried about her supply of pills and Jack Daniels. Aphrodite is a wasted alcoholic with violent tendencies. She tells Cass she didn’t agree to any interview and tells her to leave. But Cass stays and the old woman alternately shows her old pictures or yells at her to leave because she does not know who Cass is. In between the bouts with Aphrodite, Cass gets involved in the search for a missing teen, whom Cass had met once when she first arrived. The writing is beautiful; the setting of the stark Maine landscape at the onset of winter is chillingly brought to life for the reader. The characters – well, they are characters indeed. None is especially loveable but they are definitely interesting. I couldn’t say what genre this is; it is sort of a mystery, but not really. Although there is a mystery surrounding the missing girl and also around some very odd photos that Cass keeps encountering, it really is much more. It is dark, sometimes twisted portrayal of an underside of life that we don’t usually encounter. No one in the book is truly evil, but there are a lot of shades of grey here. I don't know if the author is a photographer, but the description of photos and the art of photography is interesting, at least to one who knows nothing beyond point and shoot. Ms Hand has written numerous novels and articles and lives part-time on the coast of Maine.
Reviewed by Lorraine Gelly, July 2008
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