Barbara Gowdy, Helpless: AudioBook

This is a provocative book on many levels. First, Gowdy dares to take us into the psyche of a pedophile-in-the-making. Ron is a vacuum cleaner repair man who has convinced himself that Rachel, a beautiful young girl he’s fascinated with, needs to be saved from her mother. Ron builds a special room for Rachel, a place full of games and toys, and–during a terrible storm–kidnaps Rachel and take her there.

Rachel’s Mom - Celia - another very provocative character, works at a video store during the day and plays at a piano bar in the evening. She’s a single Mom raising her daughter in Cabbagetown - an eclectic area of Toronto - a place where the well to do live cheek by jowl with some pretty colourful, and occasionally, downright dangerous characters.

And then there’s Ron’s girlfriend Nancy. She’s getting a wee bit long in the tooth and knows that there won’t be a lot of new men coming along. Nancy thinks Ron’s a nice guy, but every so often she gets to wondering - What’s going on down there in that room?

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