Novel Tells Painful Story Very Well

If you pick up the new book, “Ash,” by Lisa Rowe Faustino, you will soon know what “gawmy,” “staved-in” and “Knights of Sisyphus” mean. Along with referrals to Maine accents and phrases, like “Maine-iacs,” the book tells the story of 15-year-old Wes Libby and his schizoid brother, Ash.

The book is told through a diary that Wes writes for Ash and it includes secrets and feelings that Wes can’t tell his brother.

Schizoid patients believe they are things they aren’t or see things that aren’t there. Ash goes from a normal, popular 18-year-old kid to an insane person who believes he is a raspberry seed one minute, and Christ reborn the next.

The diary has drawings and jokes, but underneath it has an emotional message of the kind of hurt the family is put through.

Before they know Ash is clinically sick, the family doesn’t know what to make of his behavior. Ash joins a hard-core band and holds concerts in his basement and when he wakes up in the mornings he is convinced he has been nailed to a cross all night. His behavior gives the Libby family a bad name.

Wes’ parents are convinced Ash is using drugs and confront him about it. Although he stops using, Ash’s behavior doesn’t get better and he is soon admitted to the hospital.

But Wes is dealing with his own problems. His best friend won’t talk to him anymore and there are points when he is afraid Ash might try to kill him. It’s all very complex.

In all, I think Faustino has created a remarkable novel that you can really get in to.