Bone Truth

Bone Truth, Anne Finger, Coffee House Press, 1994

Elizabeth is an artist managing to eke out a living in present-day San Francisco. She also happens to be disabled, having been born in the 1950's just before the introduction of the polio vaccine. Part of the novel concerns Elizabeth, and Matt, her boyfriend, as they come to terms with her pregnancy.

Most of the novel is about her relationship with Jake, her father. When he was little, he witnessed an industrial accident during the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. The death of a dozen men galvanized him into lifelong membership in the American Communist Party. Elizabeth remembers late night meetings attended by one or both parents, being careful what they said around others, how her father was forced, at times, to become a door-to-door salesman instead of his chosen profession of engineering professor. Elizabeth also remembers being physically abused by her father, which leads to difficult scenes with her mother as Jake lies dying in the hospital.

This is a wonderful first novel. Not only does it get to the heart of being disabled in America, it also does a good job at showing what the McCarthy Era was like for the average American family. Bone Truth is a journey well worth undertaking.