Book Review: Speed of Dark

Speed of Dark by Patricia Ricketts is a newly released novel. It has three main characters whose paths meet and become entwined.

The three characters are Mary Em, Mosely, and Lake Michigan.

Mary Em is going through a difficult time after a string of personal tragedies and setbacks. Having decided that she does not want to live anymore, she sets off from her suburban town by train to Chicago to go to Lake Michigan, where she spent her childhood, and end her life.

Mosely, an older man from Chicago’s South Side, just so happens to end up in Mary Em’s neighborhood and knocks on her door for some water before heading back to the city. Having had some setbacks in life himself, Mosely now is a minister of sorts, and after an encounter with a Native American nurse years earlier he feels like his purpose on Earth is to help others. Mosely and Mary Em continue to cross paths on this fateful day.

Lake Michigan or Mishigami as it calls itself from the Ojibwe language, is a living character in the novel. Mishigami talks about the thousands of years of its existence and also its fascination with Mary Em. It became acquainted with Mary Em when she was a child and since then has thought of her, longing for her to come back to the water.

The lives of these three come together in interesting ways and makes you think about the connections between people and nature.

I thought the premise of the novel was really interesting, but at times I felt it was a little disjointed. Having Lake Michigan as a character was really unique, but I thought its obsession with Mary Em to be a little off putting at times! Still unique though.

Overall, I thought the novel was interesting and something different. It does make you think about the role we all play in each other’s lives and sometimes in ways we don’t even realize.