SEQUIM — Jonathan Evison, the best-selling novelist who hangs around Sequim part time and Bainbridge Island the other part of the time, first got local readers’ attention with West of Here, his sprawling novel about the Elwha River’s dam construction and demolition. The book was released in 2011 just as the two dams were about to come down.
Now he’s published another work of fiction inspired by this place. It couldn’t be more different from West of Here: It’s the episodic life story of a 78-year-old Sequim resident who’s had one heck of a time in the rain shadow.
Evison will present his 2015 novel, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, in two Sequim events Friday evening: First an author appearance and signing from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Hart’s Fine Books, 161 W. Washington St., and then a reading and signing at 6:30 p.m. at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.
Both are free, while both will give readers a chance to buy copies of Harriet Chance, in hardcover from Algonquin Books.
In Evison’s 296-page saga, he shows scenes from his heroine’s time working at a law firm in downtown Seattle in the late 1950s; then getting married to Bernard Chance at age 22; raising a son, then a troubled daughter as the 1960s are unfolding, and not coping so well with crushing boredom and frustration into the ’70s.
Harriet and Bernard stay married despite it all, and leave North Seattle at last to retire in sunny Sequim.
We go with Harriet to church at St. Luke’s, the real-life Episcopal parish on Fifth Avenue.
We wait while she sorts through her coupons in the checkout line at Safeway.
And when Bernard descends into severe dementia, we go with her to visit him at Evison’s fictional nursing home, Sherwood Arms.
At the start of the novel, Bernard has died and Harriet, much to her surprise, is preparing to embark on a cruise to Alaska. Her late husband bought the tickets without telling her.
This cruise becomes quite a voyage for the widow Chance. Her daughter Caroline, a recovering alcoholic, shows up to join her at the last minute. So do Bernard’s ghost, and a letter that rocks Harriet to her core.
As the women sail up the Inside Passage, Harriet copes with the letter’s contents. And we peek into her memories: of when she was an overweight girl of 6, chastised by her mother, then when she was a gorgeous bride at her Rainier Club wedding, and onward as she travels through her 40s, 50s and 60s.
Scattered throughout these scenes are present-day check-ins with the 78-year-old Harriet, who sees the lucid, apologetic ghost of Bernard in her cabin and on the cruise ship deck.
The conversations between the widow and her ephemeral spouse add an extra dimension to this trip.
Readers in these parts will recognize Sequim, of course, and they will recognize Harriet and Bernard and Caroline.
Much of Evison’s story is painful in its realism, but there are moments when Harriet begins to make peace with herself and the past.
As narrator, Evison tunes in to the simple pleasure of one peaceful afternoon.
“Breathe deeply of that salty air, really let it fill your lungs,” he writes, addressing Harriet on the day she and Caroline go ashore for lunch in Ketchikan.
“Feel that coho melt on your tongue . . . sink into that easy conversation. Feel that breeze blowing through your thin, white hair.
“Laugh, sigh, and massage your aching joints under the table. And while you’re at it, take a good long look at your smiling daughter across the table . . . moving in new directions, one hour, one day at a time.
“Recognize and give thanks for the crisp edges and heightened sensations of these moments, for they are precious.
“Live, Harriet, live! Live like this salty breath is your last.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
