Nothing to See Here

 Nothing to See Here

By Kevin Wilson

I came across this book after beginning Richard Powers' new book, Bewilderment, which certainly lived

up to its name for the first hundred pages or so. I was bewildered why the author would create a story so sad and, more importantly, why I was still reading it. So I went searching for something more...comical?

Despite Jacqueline Woodson's claim that Nothing to See Here is "laugh-out loud funny" (according to the book jacket), I didn't find it quite that. It was funny more in an absurdist, Phish kind of way. Exhibit A, the premise: A powerful Senator has two children who catch on fire when agitated. That's right, their skin bursts into flames when they are upset. And there is much to be upset about. They were kicked out of the filthy-rich politician's home when they were five, their mother just killed herself and tried to get them to join her, and they've spent the aftermath living with two incompetent grandparents only interested in checks from their father. So -- lots of fire. 

Enter Lillian, the narrator of the book, a longtime "friend" of the kids' stepmother, who is more or less obsessed with getting her new husband the post of Secretary of State so she can have some kind of political platform herself. It becomes Lillian's job to take care of the kids, to keep them from bursting into flames in a public way so that the vetting process can go off without a hitch. Lillian, whose life has amounted to very little -- in no small part because she agreed to take the fall when this step mother was caught with coke at the fancy private school she managed to get herself into -- is an unlikely caregiver. But she sees her weirdness reflected in the two kids, Bessie and Roland, and manages to bond with them.

Lillian's voice is what makes this story work. She has some very interesting turns of phrase. As she readies herself for Bessie to burn, for instance: "‘Roland,’ I said, so quietly, so calm, like I was euthanizing a cat, ‘go get me a towel, O.K.?’” Like she was euthanizing a cat?! What a wonderful comparison. Perhaps this is what made Jacqueline Woodson laugh.

I'll definitely be checking out more of Wilson's work.