ICE CREAM HEADACHE

BOOK REVIEW : The Good Thief - By Hannah Tinti

What made Hannah Tinti’s debut short story collection Animal Crackers so remarkable was not just her skill – adept storytelling and ease of words. What made Tinti stand out was her breadth.

While all of the tales in Animal Crackers had some correlation to wild creatures – be it directly or more indirectly through an overarching theme – the setting, characters and style of each story were dramatically different. There was murder/mystery between suburban neighbors, Dr. Doolittle-like happenings at a city zoo, examinations of relationships between mother and son or lover and the loved. The main impression left on the reader was that Tinti was nothing if she wasn’t versatile.

So with her reach already proven, what does Tinti tackle for her first novel? A 19th century tale of orphans, grave robbers, and grifting: The Good Thief.

It is tempting to love Tinti on the merit of her spunk alone, but The Good Thief can stand by itself. The story is of Ren – a one-handed orphan, nearing adolescence, being raised with other parent-less children by strict clergy. He is sure he will never be adopted and expects to be forced into the army, only to be swept away from the institution by a man claiming to be his brother. It is quickly made clear that this “brother” is nothing more than a con man who thinks a crippled orphan can enhance his get-rich-quick schemes, and Ren is forced to reconcile this new world of dishonesty, thievery, and connivance with his strict religious upbringing.

Tinti is adept at painting a landscape. The Good Thief moves its characters through dozens of backdrops from another century – a monastic orphanage, a country farmhouse, a noisy fishing dock, a shadowy bookstore, a mousetrap factory – each imagined and constructed for the reader without becoming overworked or tedious.

And while supporting characters become a bit archetypal, Ren – the center and heart of the story – is as conflicted, scared, and complex as a fictional 12-year-old can believably be. At its root, The Good Thief is a coming-of-age story about a 19th century male pre-teen, written by a 21st century, 30-something female – and it amazingly succeeds.

It is true that The Good Thief does at times feel a bit too much like an ode to the traditions of Robert Louis Stevenson or Charles Dickens. The ultimate resolve of the story is a bit predictable. But the ride is filled with enough twists and turns – and superb writing – to make the ending secondary to the experience of getting there.