On Broken Glass

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Winnipeg,
Manitoba.

Kilarion on the Bay boasts its share of unusual and unique characters.
Waldo centres the action of The Broken Glass around “young
woman/teenager” Jane Sinclair’s befriending of Ricky Prossett, a
30-year-old mentally challenged man. Independent-minded Jane, much to
her mother’s irritation, “buddies” with Ricky, often protecting
him from teasing and needless cruelty. However, Ricky’s recent
increasingly bizarre behavior since the disappearance of Mrs. Sanders,
the local piano teacher, concerns Jane. When a panic-stricken Ricky
races into Don’s Deli where Jane works, she must calm him and persuade
him to leave with her by promising to accompany him to the spot where
Mrs. Sanders disappeared. Their absence sets the town on an intensive
search with Jane’s mother convinced Ricky has harmed her daughter.

Waldo’s portrait of small-town life resounds with realistic dialogue
and reflects the discomfort people often feel around those who are
different. Many people in the community see Ricky as peculiar; only Jane
looks beneath the surface and tries to help Ricky sort through “the
broken glass” of his past. The author’s note indicates that he based
the novel on a screenplay, which might explain the occasionally uneven
flow of the narrative. Although Jane is described as a “young
woman/teenager,” On Broken Glass is a story about adults that deals
with sensitive and complex ideas. Recommended with reservations.