Community Board by Tara Conklin

 

Reviewed by Kristin

At the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Darcy Clipper hits a roadblock. Or rather, her husband Skip throws a roadblock directly at her head by telling her that he is leaving her for Bianca, a skydiver. Darcy tries to continue her routine of commuting to her job as an actuary at an insurance agency outside of Boston, but the weeping gets in the way. When her boss Mr. Castro offers her a six-month sabbatical to recover, Darcy thinks about it for three or four seconds before accepting.

Darcy sublets the apartment and goes home to her parents. A few hours later she arrives in Murbridge, where she is startled to find the house silent, her favorite fern “Fred” missing, and her parents in Arizona. Oh sorry Darcy, they say, we just wanted to see if like this retirement community before telling you our intentions. Yes, dear, feel free to stay, we won’t sell the house immediately…

Darcy holes up in the house with its abundant supply of canned emergency rations and becomes something of a hermit. Neighbor Mrs. Pevzner leaves blondies on the front porch, but does seem to get a little cranky when Darcy doesn’t immediately return her Tupperware. Darcy doesn’t have the emotional energy to engage with anyone face to face, not even for more sweet treats.

Murbridge has changed, obviously, and Darcy really misses Fred. But now she can find all she needs to know on the local online community board. Small town living at its finest, now with high speed internet.

Darcy’s anxiety and depression do not hamper the story, but rather show her to be a real person driven to somewhat extreme circumstances as she decides how and when to re-enter the outside world. Darcy does make some connections. When her stock of canned food grows low and she needs money to buy more meals, she discovers she’s excellent at finding lost pets (posted on the community board, of course) and she sometimes collects a cash reward. She finds people in need, and people who have things to fill her needs as well.

Other quirky characters also populate small-town Murbridge: the person who mysteriously leaves soup; Jake Zdzynzky, chair of the town select board and general pain in the rear; an elderly woman who really wants to escape her assisted living facility run by nuns; the tulip lady posting of her lost love; Marcus—oh, you just have to get to know the kind and idealistic Marcus.

Tara Conklin has written two other excellent novels: The House Girl and The Last Romantics. I recommend both, as well as this, her most recent novel.