Bear by Julia Phillips
A story about sisterly love and frustration, about delayed lives both ending and beginning, and a grizzly bear.
This was love: the two of them in the kitchen at the end of the day. The one bond that would last their whole lives. Speaking shorthand, getting irritated, understanding each other so well that they didn’t even need to speak the worlds of a fight out loud.
There’s a variety of torture that some long-term caregivers experience: the quiet monotony of a slow-moving tragedy. For Sam, its misery is heightened by the ebb and flow of youthful hope. Her mother will die, though when is unknown. She shares the burden of care with her sister; together they wait.
One day, on their island in the Pacific Northwest out walks a grizzly bear to deliver them from tedium. Sam is horrified. Her sister is charmed. Their actions following the sighting illustrate failing coping mechanisms and schisms that arise when a burden is not shared equally and when it goes on too long.
Geographical Link: San Juan Island, Washington | Publisher: Hogarth | Published: 2024
Related Posts
Comments (0)