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Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite
Annie Dike crafts a story about what remains when the ground gives way in this big-hearted saga of trauma and grit. Clovis tells the story of Calliope “Callie” Potts, which begins with a prologue in which her brother Jude’s little sandcastle washes away in the rain. A catastrophic accident claims Callie’s leg and leaves her in a hospital bed. She has fragmented memories that pull her back to her childhood in Clovis, New Mexico. We witness Callie’s painful upbringing through feverish flashbacks that introduce her intelligent brother, Jude, her alcoholic mother, Charlene, and her wayward cowboy father, Bill. What follows is her ascent from hand-me-down poverty to earning a law degree in Austin, marrying the gentle Braden, and building a family that is affected by a mass shooting and betrayal.
The character building and storytelling in Clovis are top-of-the-line. I loved how Annie Dike employs short, punchy chapters, some of them just a few pages, which race across decades like a freight train. You are moved by the staccato panic of monitors at Callie’s hospital bed and her worry for Jude when she hears news of the shooting. The flashbacks and Callie’s streams of consciousness give the story the nature of an ingeniously plotted psychological thriller, pulling you irresistibly into her pain and history. If you love characters with finely drawn, elaborate inner worlds, then Callie is one you will root for. Clovis is the kind of place where a man like Jude needs role models to survive. The suspense persists as multiple perspectives (Jay, Callie, Mom, and Levi) create the threads for a beguilingly detailed family canvas, held together by loyalty and pain.
