San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Teenage angst in a Rockwellian town.
When Michael Hesketh’s mother is sent to prison, he goes to live with his aunt in sunny North Shore, Calif.
On the surface, this fictional town in Rufi Thorpe’s latest novel, “The Knockout Queen,” is a Rockwellian Pleasantville snuggled next to Los Angeles’ Manhattan Beach.
Yet beneath the veneer of a picturesque Main Street dotted with coffee shops and good schools is a community grappling with class inequality, visibly evident from its small stucco houses lodged between mega mansions. From his bedroom window in one of these small homes, Michael has a view into the mansion and life of his classmate Bunny Lampert, whom he finds fascinating. Tall, athletic and blond, Bunny is well liked and well known in North Shore due to the fact that her realestate developer father, Ray, was responsible for much of the town’s growth.
After living side by side for years, Michael and Bunny strike up an unlikely high school friendship, a bond forged by mutual feelings of alienation, isolation and a whole host of familial problems. Michael is struggling with how to publicly acknowledge his sexuality without jeopardizing his residency with his aunt, while also trying to navigate his relationship with his alcoholic mother and the impact of an absent father.
Bunny, who grew up amid rumors that her mother killed herself by driving into ongoing traffic, feels ostracized because of her unusual height (she is 6 feet, 3 inches by her junior year) and an unstable home life with Ray.
Both Michael and Bunny are managing to get through high school by keeping their heads down and focusing on their respective strengths — good grades and athletics — fueled by the ageold promise that things will get better after graduation. Bunny has her sights set on making the Olympic volleyball team, while Michael envisions the freedom offered by college. However, when Bunny hears a classmate gossiping about Michael, the gentle Bunny that he knows snaps. Bunny attacks and sends the student to the hospital in critical condition, putting the friends on divergent paths.
As the implications of her actions cause a new recklessness in Bunny, Michael finds the magic and mystique of her company wearing off. Still, he feels tied to Bunny and Ray, not only because it was Bunny’s defense of him that landed her in this situation. For all their faults, this is the family that he’s created for himself.
With Bunny’s future in jeopardy, Michael must find a way to focus on his own path forward, and in doing so, come to terms with how much of Bunny’s friendship he’s willing to hold onto.
Ultimately, “The Knockout Queen” delivers its intended punch with a complex story of friendship, family, right and wrong, and the fragility of teenage angst. The eventual resolution of Michael and Bunny’s fates is also a searing reminder of how one action can change your trajectory, putting your life on a course different from the one you imagined for yourself.
Erica Flint is a public relations professional and freelance writer based in New York. Her writing has appeared in Departures magazine, VanityFair.com and the Hill newspaper.