Back Creek

By Leslie Goetsch

It’s the summer of 1975. Eighteen-year-old Grace Barnett knows she should be preparing to leave for college in September. But a strange Memorial Day boating accident on the creek near her Virginia home--she’s the only witness to the apparent suicide--kicks off a series of events that will define her family’s future as well as her emerging view of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bancroft Press
• Release date: Nov 18, 2009
• ISBN: 9781890862879

Reviews for Back Creek

[edgoldberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s the summer of 1975 and Grace Barnett has just graduated high school in the Tidewater area of Virginia. She’s looking forward to a carefree summer before college in the fall. But life doesn’t always give you what you want. The first few days of summer bring a series of events that will have a profound impact on her family.A loud noise on the creek behind her house wakes Grace up early one morning. Putting on her glasses and looking out the window, she sees a speeding boat plow into the pier across the creek, shattering into pieces. Standing at the helm was a tall man, whose long hair was blowing out behind him. Tommy White died in that crash.Soon after, Grace’s mother leaves the house in her high heels and smart looking suit on one of her routine visits to her sister who is institutionalized in a mental hospital in Williamsburg. Grace has a feeling she’s not coming back.At Tommy’s funeral, Grace sees a vision in white out of the corner of her eye. As she makes her way in that direction she realizes it is Lillian, her estranged older sister. Lillian abruptly left home six years ago after harsh words from their father. She had not been seen since. Her departure started the downward spiral of the Barnett family. What will her return do to the family?Lastly, this summary would not be complete without mentioning Cal, the twenty year old Vietnam veteran who lives on a boat across the creek. Solitary, Cal and Grace sometimes sit on the dock, late at night, sipping beer, Grace talking, Cal listening, taking comfort in each other’s presence. In Back Creek, Grace says that she and her father love telling stories and through Grace, Leslie Goetsch’s story telling abilities shine. Grace recounts her eventful summer in a voice that mimics the actual events, some fast paced, some slow. Slowly the family dynamics unfold and slowly the idealized vision of her family gives way to the realistic version. Goetsch has a nice writing style, more literary. The characters have depth. They come alive and you’ll feel like neighbors. You’ll immediately get sucked into the story and want to know what happens to Grace and Lillian and Cal. I certainly wouldn’t mind following Grace to college and seeing what her first year is like. I like Leslie Goetsch’s writing style and I like her story. I’d like to read more stories from her. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by Back Creek.

[maribs_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Back Creek is the story of Grace, the summer after graduating from high school. For most, this would be a time filled with friends, parties and fun before getting ready to leave for college, but for Grace it is different. She is a homebody, lives in her books and prefers only the company of Cal across the creek. When she sees a boat speeding down the creek one early morning, she has no idea that it will not be the only shock of the summer and the catalyst for her to do something more.Set in 1975, Back Creek takes place in the year that I was born. Despite this I had no problem relating to Grace and understanding what she goes through this summer. I definitely felt for her as she unexpectedly has to deal with a borderline alcoholic father, an absent mother, her returned sister that had left five years before, a death, and the boy she loves but is still dealing with memories from the war.“Amazing Grace” is what Cal calls her and it is very evident that that is what she is as she gracefully deals with her family and friend. This was a great coming of age story. I truly enjoyed every bit of it.

[stephxsu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

18-year-old Grace Barnett has led a quiet, unassuming, mediator life on the Virginian peninsula of Back Creek. That is, until she witnesses the suicide of Tommy White on the Creek, and her five-years-absent older sister Lillian shows up at Tommy’s funeral, pregnant—the same day that their mother leaves them with no promises to return. With a pregnant, self-centered sister and a withdrawn alcoholic father, Grace knows that she must stay strong and keep what’s left of their family together.Her only respite is snatched moments drinking beer with Cal, the young man with Vietnam War ghosts who lives in a boat across the Creek. As Grace grows closer to Cal and their family slowly begins to heal, she realizes that she is stronger than she thinks, and that only she is able to piece together the long shattered bits of her family and possibly emerge victorious, a changed and better person.BACK CREEK is, in short, a pure slice of heaven. If Sarah Dessen were to write a languorous and luxurious coming-of-age novel set in unpredictable estuary waters, the result would be something like this. Goetsch’s language rings with an assuredness that belies the ten years she spent writing BACK CREEK. That, combined with a memorable cast of characters and a subtly right mixture of everything necessary to a good novel—family secrets, a splash of romance, terror, and self-triumph—makes BACK CREEK one of the most moving books I have read this year.The protagonist, Grace, acts and thinks with a maturity far beyond her age; the deliberate, drama-less, yet innocent way in which she responds to her predicament draws us in and makes us empathize with her. I use the term “drama-less” because, while her family situation is certainly not good, Grace deals with the issues presented to her in a purposeful manner devoid of nauseating amounts of self-pity typical in many young adult coming-of-age novels. Grace’s mental and emotional strength, and her determination to remain optimistic and try to keep her family together, make me respect her highly.The setting of Back Creek is one in which I would love to live in another life. Leslie Goetsch skillfully places us in the midst of the deliberate politeness and quirkiness of a backwaters town, and there we want to remain. No aspect is overdone: you’re at peace and yet you’re intrigued there.All in all, BACK CREEK is an understated book that deserves to be more publicized, to be read more. Do consider checking out Leslie Goetsch’s fantastic novel when you want a comfortable yet heartwarming read.