Losing Clementine

January 30, 2012
Ream’s debut kicks off with a brash introduction to brazen artist Clementine Pritchard, who’s fired both her shrink/lover and her well-meaning assistant for the same reason: she’s decided to kill herself in 30 days. Depressed and at odds with her antipsychotic meds, Clementine has no immediate family and no one to care for (except Chuckles the cat). Structured as a countdown, unfolding chapters deliver Clementine’s biting humor and comically methodical approach to undertaking the tidiest suicide possible, including final errands like meeting prospective caretakers for Chuckles and a quick trip to Tijuana for her poison of choice. The narrator’s abrasive attitude toward her ex-husband (she tells him that she’s terminally ill, for starters) and assistant both thwart and illuminate her character. But beyond Clementine’s fresh and witty voice is a genuine survey of the complex emotions that accompany those affected by depression. Ream doesn’t let Clementine shy away from her poor decisions, but she doesn’t let her get away with them either. This novel, spiked with dark humor (“you only die once, right?”) is an entertaining and moody whirlwind. Whether readers love or hate Clementine, they won’t soon forget her. Agent: Barbara Poelle, the Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

February 15, 2012
A successful, bipolar artist decides to live it up for 30 days before ending her own life. Off her meds and manic (but certain she will never get better), Clementine Pritchard feels a sense of calm and purpose once she finally commits to killing herself. A well-known multimedia artist, Clementine suffers from debilitating, explosive mood swings not unlike the ones she witnessed her own mother going through during her childhood. Those ended badly when her mother shot herself and her younger sister Ramona, leaving Clementine to live with an aunt. Hoping to never leave her own loved ones to such a fate, she scores some animal tranquilizer in Tijuana and tells people she has inoperable brain cancer. Her inner circle, including her devoted assistant Jenny and still-smitten ex-husband Richard, try their best to help her, but her mind is made up. With the clock ticking, she makes good use of her time. She sleeps with both Richard (great) and her former shrink Miles (bad), poses nude for a rival artist and eats her way through the best ethnic takeout food L.A. has to offer. She works, too, hitting her creative stride and producing daring and dark new pieces. She also tries to get her affairs in order and find a home for her cat Chuckles, a male Persian almost as ornery as Clementine herself. Complications ensue, though, when she tracks down her long-lost father in Kansas City. Her hopes for healing and closure are turned on their head when a family drama gives her a chance, for a change, to be a caregiver rather than the one needing care. But is it enough to change her course? With her razor wit and over-it-all candor, Clementine makes for a fascinating companion, and Ream manages to craft an engaging and impressive debut without soft-pedaling how very sick Clementine is. You'll sure miss her when she's gone.Hip and hilarious portrait of a crazy person.

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February 1, 2012

Clementine Pritchard, a talented and successful artist with a sharp tongue and an expressive eccentric streak, has decided to commit suicide. She throws out the bottles of pills that have kept away her dark days and gives herself a month to settle her affairs--from finding a loving home for her cat and smuggling animal tranquilizers from Mexico to locating her absentee father and confronting the family tragedy that left her without a mother and sister. What Clementine does not count on is the possibility that her search for closure could open up a tangible new connection to the world she desperately wants to leave. VERDICT Ream's debut is rich with detail, fully illustrating Clementine's world from her artwork to her love affair with food. While the circumstances behind Clementine's choice are indeed tragic, the story is told with an unexpectedly fresh and humorous voice. Fans of dark comedy should add Ream to their list of authors to watch.--Mara Dabrishus, Ursuline Coll., Pepper Pike, OH

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