In a society where the young adult novel has become popular with all ages, often bringing in the fantastical and romance aspects, where topics such as mental health and growing up are hidden within metaphors, it’s very uncommon to find an author begin a story set in the real world with a suicide. For their debut novel, Sins of our Fathers, Akron author Dallas Nypaver chose to do just that.
Following his mother’s suicide, and his own panic attacks and harm to himself, River Ellison returns to St. Jude’s Academy, which both he and his father hope will help all problems. Unexpectedly however, he becomes friends with his neighbor Jeremy– the school drug dealer and natural lockpick. Jeremy also happens to be the love interest of Maggie, whose brother is dying from cancer; and an enemy of the former captain of the swim team, the extremely violent Drew Owens. Despite the dangers he finds at the school, River is happy to escape his home, which has become shrouded in grief since his mother’s death, and his alcoholic father who refuses to acknowledge her actions or reasons.
Depression is a difficult topic to cover in any medium. Discussing this with a teenage main character can be even more troubling, regardless of the associating factors of drug abuse, suicide, and bullying. For myself, anxiety and depression are severe mental blocks to daily life, so much so that while reading the first fifty pages of Sins, I regularly put the book down. Regardless of my interest in the story and encouragement of the new author, River’s discussion of death and suicide not only helped explain his frustrations, but also allowed my own dark thoughts to rehearse themselves more frequently, through no fault of the author or story itself.
As I continued to read, I was encouraged by the actions of River’s mother from during her life. As he explains, “She was never one to quit anything; she wouldn’t even quit a book she didn’t like. She’d read it through to the end every single time, even if the writing was horrific, or the plot was boring.” Once Nypaver’s novel flowed from the story of recent suicide to that of teenagers traversing issues of danger and criminality at school, the earlier harmful thoughts dissipated, and concentration and intrigue took over.
Death is part of life, just as life leads up to our death. Nypaver themself knows this far too well after working as a mortuary assistant. While they discovered that being a funeral director like Mr. Ellison was not their chosen path however, the stories and scents of the funeral home have definitely carried into their writing. As they explain in a blog post from 2019, “The horrifying and beautiful truths surrounding death and dying still fascinate me, while the emotions left for the grieving inspire me. I am intrigued by the monumental change that something as natural as death can bring, and the relationship we share with death and with each other.”
Despite the many dangerous topics Sins incorporate: suicide, depression, addiction, underage drinking, alcoholism, abusive families, school shootings – the overall theme is that of love. When we face these issues and more, love is sometimes one of the only things that help us survive the agony (even when it’s a cause therof). For Jeremy, whose life has centered around selling drugs to fellow students in order to feel something, or for River who becomes secluded with his books when abandoned by both parents in different ways, these students sought love and friendship, both of which help them in the final tragedy of the book. Having forced my way through my own deep thoughts at the start, I was happy to find similar solace as I continued reading these characters’ stories and seeing their change.
Sins of our Fathers is available to purchase online.
