Short Review: Snap by Susin Nielsen
Have you ever reached the end of your tether and just wanted to let loose? You may have controlled yourself, but the three main characters of Susin Nielsen’s entertaining novel Snap did not. Frances, a children’s book author, Geraint, a garage mechanic, and Parker, a budding costume designer, each snapped, in uncharacteristic ways, when pushed to their limits. Charged with crimes, they found themselves diverted to an anger management class and community service. They would never have met each other in the normal course of their lives, but, forced to work together, they become friends.
Each character is under pressure. Frances’s husband of twenty-five years has left her and she acted out on the day of their wedding anniversary. Geraint’s misbehaviour towards his sleazy boss Ron stemmed from two levels of betrayal. We see Parker in an assault, which she apparently puts behind her, until we learn about its consequences later. They navigate serious issues like sexual harassment, parental custody battles, reputation damage, and coping with a spouse’s new gender preference, but Nielsen keeps the tone light. When a distraught Frances drives to her husband’s new home, knowing she shouldn’t, she begs the Google Maps voice (whom she has named Siobahn and confides in) not to judge her. “Recalculating,” Siobahn replies. Fortunately, Frances’s new friends are more sympathetic to her plight.
The novel is set in Vancouver. Frances has a comfortable house in Kitsilano, Geraint is reduced to a squalid hotel apartment in the West End, and Parker shares a tiny flat with her devoted boyfriend in the Sunrise neighbourhood. Nielsen moves her characters around the city, from Locarno Beach to the Vancouver Aquatic Centre to Shaughnessy to the Endowment Lands. A clandestine outing to Hope is proof of how loyal they have become to each other, as they band together to outwit a foe.
The novel switches point of view among the three leads, with Frances being the most developed. She never fails to notice how Geraint’s lips turn red as he dives into a bag of ketchup chips, and she struggles with her self-esteem under the critical eye of her daughter Daisy. Each character is pleasantly surprised when they are able to use some of the anger-coping techniques from their class to improve their lives. There may be a tiger in each of us, as the book’s cover suggests, but the three characters learn that it can be tamed with friendship and humour.