A review by elysahenegar
Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk

4.0

I like books with good bones, and this story has structure and tissue and whole hidden threads that course through. If you're someone who likes to puzzle through, to consider what's happening underneath, you'll enjoy this novel too. This is a story that sifts through the issue of human suffering, how we navigate our deep grief, how we summon a sense of purpose and the will to pursue adventure in the wake of deep pain. The writing has texture and color and smell---this author knows well the memory we have for smells, the emotion and nostalgia they evoke, and he uses them well. The prose does include some in your face, earthy descriptions of sexuality and the human body that feel more like an invasion of your space than anything erotic, but it also carefully examines the makings of love, romance, attraction, and the differences among them. In stages, the writing is poetic, thoughtful, and even wise. This is a colorful tale with a shadow hiding underneath, and you'll read all the way to the last page before you discover the answer to the question Nurse Consuela asks in the beginning: Why Columbus?