A time jumping mystery featuring distant sisters and a somewhat obscure artist is what is promised in Thao Thai's The Seekers of Deer Creek. Readers are taken on a journey that starts in Wisconsin, but will also spend time in France and Vietnam, as two sisters attempt to connect the clues left behind by their father.
The Situation: It has been months since Vivi has seen her little sister Calla. Growing up, the two were inseparable against their father's addiction and grief, and Vivi made it her mission to look out for Calla after their mother left. But while both her career and her love life seem to be headed in great directions, she worries over Calla's continued reckless existence, with guilt eating away at her for the part she played in some of their more recent painful memories. When Calla shows up with a letter and a sketch she found among their dead father's things, Vivi must decide if she will choose an adventure with her sister, or stick with the safe existence she has managed to cultivate.
The Problem: Once Vivi makes her decision she knows there is no going back, especially since part of making the decision involved a choice that may have jeopardized her career as an art conservator. The letter hints at a lost work of art by Surrealist Vietnamese painter K.P. Lý, and the first stop on the sisters' journey is France. Vivi is not sure what they will find, if they find anything at all, but what is certain is that the unresolved tension between the sisters will add a layer of difficulty neither has truly prepared for. Vivi is afraid that Calla is on the verge of relapsing, while Calla simply wants her sister to be honest with herself and live her life. This mystery could potentially lead to life-changing discoveries, while also tearing the sisters apart.
Genre, Theme, History: This is a work of fiction set mostly in the modern-day, while also reaching back into the 1940s as it explores the life of fictional painter K.P. Lý. The third-person narrator mostly sticks with Vivi's point of view, with the occasional email, letter, or journal entry making an appearance. Vivi also has moments of retreating into her memory of life at Deer Creek with her father and sister, as well as her friend and Calla's now ex-husband, Wayland. Much of her memory will include Calla, as her sister has always been a constant presence in her life, for better and for worse, and continues to occupy most of her current thoughts and concerns.
My Verdict: This story certainly manages to convey the feeling of those impossible conversations with family that manage to frustrate instead of clarify. Vivi and Calla need each other, but always manage to make each other just a little bit crazy, and old memories and arguments from the past threaten to come up at nearly any given time. Thai communicates the general difficulty of all human connections, and how easy it is to justify our actions and frame them as something we are doing for, or because of, someone else. And the mystery surrounding K.P. Lý is interesting, almost to the point of overshadowing what is happening with the sisters. The story could have perhaps ended 30-50 pages sooner, but overall, it held my interest and curiosity.
Favorite Moment: At various moments, there are small glimpses that show how the closeness of the sisters' relationship does not necessarily make it a healthy one.
Favorite Character: Paul Quân, tenured professor at Rathmore, is pretty much the epitome of a cranky older professor and Surrealist expert. Even so, his often harsh honesty is refreshing next to the sisters' subtle barbs and pretenses.
Recommended Reading: My Friends by Frederik Backman takes a different, more humorous look at art and what inspires us.
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