cover image The Last Lawsons

The Last Lawsons

Jason Hinojosa. Roman (Ingram, dist.), $24.95 (190p) ISBN 978-93-80905-30-3

Hinojosa's dismaying and messy debut novel details one family's confrontation with its sordid past told in the voices of three narrators. Ed Lawson, the paterfamilias, is in jail for having killed a man, and relates his story to his daughter, Althea, via a friend's correspondence. The second portion comprises the diary of Ed's wife, Josephine, wherein she hints at hidden grief, insidious lies, and her own possible demise. The final third is narrated by Althea, whose understanding of her family has been illuminated by her now-deceased mother's diary, and her Aunt Mary's startling revelation after Ed's death that her late brother used to watch her in the shower. Rather than following any intelligibly linear narrative, Hinojosa constellates the formative moments of the Lawson's shameful history%E2%80%94one of violence, sexual ignominy, and a bleak inability of its members to ever fully connect%E2%80%94into an impressionistic narrative that is occasionally powerful, but ultimately frustrating and confusing. Though the dramatic frames of the story have plenty of potential, Hinojosa is not up to the challenge. (Apr.)