The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

The Tally Stick by Carl Nixon

January 26, 2022

tally stick

The Tally Stick by Carl Nixon
Published by World Editions
Publication date: November 2, 2021
Genres: Fiction, Literary, Mystery
four-stars
Your Local Book Store, Amazon

The Chamberlains are beginning a new life in New Zealand, but before they do John Chamberlain decides they should explore the country. He sets off with his wife Julia, and their four children, Maurice, Katherine, Tommy, and baby Emma. After dinner in a local diner, they drive off in a pouring rain and disappear without a trace. The area they were in is rugged, undeveloped terrain and it’s 1978 so search and rescue technology is limited.  Despite national and international attention nothing is ever found. How is it then that over 30 years later, Maurice’s bones are discovered on the coast far from where the family was last seen? With him is his father’s watch and a notched piece of wood known as a tally stick, an old-fashioned tool used to keep track of a person’s debts, and a rolled-up wad of cash. The Tally Stick is Carl Nixon’s elegiac, almost gothic imagining of what happened to the family.

From a heart pounding scene of the Chamberlains last moments together, The Tally Stick shifts forward to 2010 when Julia’s sister Suzanne is informed of the recovery of Maurice’s bones. For years after the family’s disappearance, she traveled from England to New Zealand combing the highways, roads, and even trails around the area where they stopped for dinner on their last night. While time has dulled the pain of loss, Suzanne is confronted with another mystery: Maurice’s bones indicate he was around 18 when he died. He was 14 when they arrived in New Zealand. Where had he been? Could any of the others still be alive?

The bulk of The Tally Stick is what happens to the Chamberlains after they drive off in the dark and rain. They are not abducted by aliens; this is not a science fiction novel, but the publisher kept the synopsis brief and vague and it’s the best choice for this story. Because, of course, there is a story. One that held my attention from start to finish and felt all too possible, but surreal at the same time. Do all the pieces dovetail perfectly? No. There is an unexplained element that seemed out of place, but Nixon constructs an evocative story. The emotions The Tally Stick conjures are left to the individual reader. And like the Chamberlains vanishing from sight I’ll leave it at that.

 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase of any kind, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).

 

*I received a free copy of this book from World Editions in exchange for an honest review.*

 

four-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 4 Star Books
spring
Spring 2021 Books I’m Ready to Read
The Dinner
The Dinner: A Novel
Victoria: A Novel
Mudbound
fifth petal
The Fifth Petal: A Novel
signal
Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
tomorrow
This Time Tomorrow
ballad of a small player
The Ballad of a Small Player
heaven
No Heaven for Good Boys
reckless oath
The Reckless Oath We Made
The Morels
The Morels
peach
Eat a Peach: A Memoir by David Chang
goldfinch
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
nightcrawling
Nightcrawling: A Novel
levels of life
Levels of Life

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: historical fiction, mystery

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Indiebound and Amazon. If you click on a link that takes you to any of these sites and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in