At the Edge of the Haight by Katherine SeligmanMy rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Having visited San Francisco countless number of times over the years (I call it my favorite city in California) I’ve seen the homeless youth that congregate in the Haight-Ashbury area, near massive Golden Gate park. I’ve always wondered what brought them here, what were their stories? And here is one book attempting to answer that question as fictional characters of Maddy Donaldo and her friends, and her dog Root. Root is definitely a character!
While this book is fiction it had truth. The descriptions of the area are accurate, and while reading you feel the cold that Maddy and her friends do. You feel the sleep deprivation and hope that this night, this one time, she can get a full night’s rest. Yet how can you sleep when the cops will rouse you before 4am and cite you or arrest for sleeping in the park? And shelters aren’t much better with everyone crammed into open rooms, the noise and smells. Yet some of these people chose this life, and many, most, do not.
I quickly read this book, ripped through the pages. While the murder aspect gave the book a bit of a plot, it isn’t like a formula mystery or thriller, it’s more of the backdrop.
I liked how Maddy was portrayed, she didn’t seem to know things herself, but was open enough to start to question things, and acted as she needed to. Maddy lived life on her terms, not her friends, not her “boyfriend”, or as anyone else would tell her.
Certainly there are many more stories about the lives people are living outside on the streets. I’m happy to see this book, applaud the author for this topic and hope she writes another book, with other characters or continue the journey of Maddy and her friends.
Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.
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