cover image The Kingdom of Childhood

The Kingdom of Childhood

Rebecca Coleman. Mira, $15.95 trade paper ISBN 978-0-7783-1278-9

Coleman (Desperado City) creates a stark psychological drama in this charged story of a sexual relationship between a teacher and an underage student. Suburban Maryland 40-something Judy McFarland is married to "a cranky old asshole," dotes on her high school senior son, and teaches kindergarten at the humanistic-oriented Sylvania Waldorf School, where she supervises 16-year-old Zach Patterson as he fulfills his service hours requirement at the school's woodworking shop. Soon Judy embarks on a tryst with the compliant Zach, and as thoughts of the potential legal consequences of their clandestine relationship weigh on her, Judy comes unhinged and her sexual predations grow%C2%A0more pathetic, even brutish. Meanwhile, flashbacks fill in Judy's childhood spent in Germany, where early traumas%E2%80%94unwell mother, philandering father%E2%80%94took root, though it's unclear whether these are intended to justify or illuminate. As Judy's life barrels toward a dark end, it becomes a chore for the reader to remain sympathetic to her increasingly drastic plight. It's dark, fast-moving, and, for the most part, nicely creepy with a solid noirish vibe, though Judy's transition from a Mrs. Robinson figure to something much more maniacal is a bit of a stretch. (Oct.)