Justin's Notes
Mar. 30, 2025
Telephone is the story of a man named Zach Wells, who is slowly losing his daughter. While he processes the grief of his family, he finds himself being pulled away by a note found in a shirt from a woman seeking help. It is a unique story of a man's torn between the certainty of loss and the chance to save. This story isn't happy, but it is entirely human.
Everett reminds us through Zach how different we all are. When it comes to processing loss, to the act of grieving, to small moments of joy, fear or heartbreak, we all respond uniquely. I really enjoyed how Zach recognized this in the novel. How he remarks that the way he is handling his daughter's sickness may not be fair to her or his wife. Or that he is robbing his wife of the ability to ignore the pain because he is himself. The way we see so clearly the ups and downs emotionally, going from acceptance to disbelief and sorrow, and back again. Everett could have written Zach's grief in the complete opposite way, and it would have felt accurate.
I enjoyed this story. Everett seems to be a great writer, and I look forward to reading more of his works. His simple yet effective descriptions, his scene building, and the way he built the emotions between characters, for better or for worse, were very well done. I think ultimately I just wanted more. The ending, while purposeful, felt incomplete to me. Felt a little like life; sometimes you just don't get to know all the parts of the ending. I just wanted another 30 pages.
