In 1935. The Great Depression casts a somber shadow over the country. In the vast, isolated woods of Northern New York, a young girl named Pauline lives in terror, a prisoner in her own home. In the past few months, she has lost both her mother and her younger brother to unnatural causes. Left in the dangerous clutches of her alcoholic Poppa, and with no neighbors closer than a mile away, Pauline's hopes for escape grow dimmer with each passing day. Worst of all, nobody besides Poppa even knows she's still alive.
Pauline prays to be rescued. But she is also terribly lonely. When she wishes for a little company, it arrives in two unlikely forms. They- and her gruesome nightmares- unleash traumatic memories that Pauline has suppressed; memories that, while painful, may be her key to freedom.
This book may feature a child as the main character, but I would say it's definitely not recommended for anyone under 12 or 13. It's dark, yes, but the ending can be iterpreted as happy, sad, hopeful, postive, wistful or even mysterious... it all depends upon the reader! A Little Company is a quick read. Most people have told me they finished it in 1, 2 or 3 nights. I believe that the characters will stay with you, in your mind and in your heart, for a long time.
Excerpt
Pauline was ten when her father killed her mother.
She tried not to think about that terrible day, or the day Walter died. There were few distractions, though, in her attic prison, so it took a great amount of willpower to keep from replaying the horrific scenes of last winter. But she knew she would go crazy if she thought about it. Pauline wasn’t about to let that happen.
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Reviews for "A Little Company"
Reviewed by Apex Reviews
11/6/2007
Small towns are notorious breeding grounds for fear and ignorance. No matter the geographical location, these cruel masters continue to rule the everyday lives and affairs of dozens of individuals, regardless of race, gender, or credo.
This fact plays itself out in grand fashion in the North Country of upstate New York, particularly in the life of ten year-old Pauline Frasier. Pauline’s daily affairs have adopted a regular routine - albeit a rather distressing one: Bill, her alcoholic father maintains a reign of terror over her, her mother, and her younger brother, Walter, everyday, his actions countered only by vague, empty promises of making things better someday. Having cowed the entire family with his temper and aggression, his cruelty rules unchecked until one day it results in Walter’s premature death, a not-so-subtle attempt on Bill’s part to scratch a long-standing itch regarding his wife’s shadowed past.
Refusing to stifle her agony over Walter’s death, Mary confronts Bill one day in a stunningly bold display, finally daring to break the emotional and physical chains by which he’s bound her for too long; however, as is normally the case with domestic violence, the abuse ends at the same time as the life of the abused, and no exception is made in Mary’s case. The death of her mother notwithstanding, Pauline suffers the added trauma of witnessing the tragic event with her own eyes.
Now alone with her father, Pauline learns to “go along to get along,” enduring his insufferable ways with a resilient strength from within. Over time, though, that same strength contributes to a slow build-up of tension and subtle defiance, rising inside of Pauline in a crescendo of increasing confidence, until one day she suddenly finds herself in the same position as her mother - with her own life just as much at risk.
In A Little Company, Holly Gaskin refashions the ages-old morality tale of Good vs. Evil with an added element of palpable emotion. Her skillful use of flashbacks interwoven throughout the story helps punctuate the action and envelops the reader in the breath-taking suspense of the ultimate climax. Given the back story of how Pauline’s life eventually comes to be, the reader may suspect what’s coming, but is nonetheless enraptured in the unfolding action.
Also, one would expect that a story of prolonged child abuse and neglect would make for a difficult read, but Gaskin succeeds in framing Pauline’s plight as a microcosm of juvenile victimization across the globe; by conveying the real truth about the heinous mental & emotional prisons of everyday life, she inspires empathy in the reader, among other passionate stirrings. Seeing news reports about child neglect in South Asian sweatshops is one matter, but learning of the recurrence of such acts so close to home is often a disturbing revelation.
Kudos to Holly Gaskin for providing the world with such a heart-rendering tale of innocence bowed, but not defeated. Her narrative will surely open the eyes of many individuals previously unaware of the stranglehold that domestic violence and child abuse continue to have over the lives of countless innocent souls everyday - and hopefully inspire them to do something to break it.
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