At the Far End of Nowhere
Baltimore magazine, December 2018
“At the Far End of Nowhere is a wonderfully mature debut novel! Its evocation of the relationship of a daughter to a father old enough to be her grandfather is remarkable in its shrewd and careful—and moving—depiction of the particular bonds that unite them and that inform their unique struggles. This is an original novel about eccentric, vibrant, haunting characters, and it is written in a limpid, affecting voice. Christine is a gifted storyteller, and she has written a twenty-first century Silas Marner that allows us to understand the uniqueness of the love between a father and daughter in new and memorable ways.”
—Jay Neugeboren, author of Max Baer & the Star of David
“It’s hard to imagine a more moving, and at times disturbing, portrait of filial love than that depicted in Christine Merriman’s remarkable new novel, At the Far End of Nowhere. Left a widower when his young wife dies, Stouten Power takes on the responsibility of raising his young daughter and son at a time when he might more realistically be a grandfather than a father. Stouten’s struggles with a changing world are touching and real. While the relationship with his daughter, Lissa, might be described as co-dependent, it’s really more entwined than that and it threatens to rob Lissa of a full life.
“Through a number of chapters detailing scenes of Lissa’s childhood and adolescence we see her struggle to separate from her exacting father, but separation is finally only accomplished through Stouten’s moving death at the age of 94. Contemporary readers of memoir might be tempted to read something unhealthy into Merriman’s claustrophobic rendering of life with father, but the truth is sociology cannot compete with love. At the Far End of Nowhere stands as a brilliant and uncompromising vision of a singular family. I recommend it highly.”
—David Milofsky, author of Managed Care