Silent Scream at Four Corners

(Periodically, I will post reviews and comments about excellent writers I’ve met over the years.)

I’m a big fan of John RC Potter’s writing, so I was excited to open his recent novella, The General Store at Four Corners. It’s one of three pieces featured in Body Lines, a new journal published by Subtle Body Press.

I was not disappointed!

This is a tale of lust, betrayal, and violence set in the small fictional village of Four Corners, Ontario. Its timeframe jumps back and forth through a 20-year period between 1914 and 1934, but the transitions are never jarring. Potter weaves each episode into the narrative seamlessly. As usual, his eye for locale is superb. The General Store at the heart of the story, the surrounding farms, and the annual carnival all come vividly to life against a backdrop of historical events from that era.

But the real strength of this story is its cast of colorful characters. Among them are:

  • Jewel Cotton, raising her brood of children in hardscrabble poverty while enduring the violence of her alcoholic husband.
  • Hilda Judges, with her smug know-it-all attitude.
  • Mr. Burnbridges, the good-natured store owner oblivious to cuckolding.
  • Al Heidler, the mysterious and virile young man who drifts into the Burnbridges’ life, setting up a fated chain of consequences.
  • Mrs. Sharp, the fortune teller whose prognostication is tragically accurate.

At the center of it all is the main character, Beulah Burnbridges. I would be lying if I said there is anything likeable about her. With a naturalistic perspective that recalls Émile Zola or Theodore Dreiser, Potter examines every painful, deterministic force that shapes Beulah’s life. The violence of her nuclear family, her lust, her use of sex as a tool to achieve her limited social climbing—all these get examined under a clinical microscope.

I don’t intend a spoiler here, but near the climax of this saga, Beulah emits a primal shriek. She thinks it is audible until she realizes she is hearing it only in her head, an anguish that emanates from all the pain and struggle stored within her soul. Think of Munch’s The Scream.

The Epilogue of this tale is chilling, even fitting, but it is Beulah’s noiseless cry that rose off the page into my ears. I won’t forget it.

John RC Potter is an international educator from Canada who lives in Istanbul.  He has experienced a revolution (Indonesia), air strikes (Israel), earthquakes (Turkey), boredom (UAE), and blinding snow blizzards (Canada), the last being the subject of his story, Snowbound in the House of God (Memoirist). His poems, stories, essays, articles, and reviews have been published in various magazines and journals. His story, Ruth’s World, was a Pushcart Prize nominee, and his poem, Tomato Heart, was nominated for the Best of the Net Award. The author’s gay-themed children’s picture book, The First Adventures of Walli and Magoo, is scheduled for publication. He enjoys duties as the editor of the online journal Masticadores Istanbul. Website: https://johnrcpotterauthor.com

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My Compulsion, My Joy

I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be stilled. – Sylvia Plath

I’ve been an author for nearly 50 years. This includes time as a reporter, a film reviewer, a feature writer, and a contributor to theological journals. I’ve also written and/or edited 20 books. Some self-published, some through Story Sanctum Publishing, and one with Westminster John Knox Press. It has been a grand journey, and it is far from over. In many ways, I feel like I’m gaining steam.

If you have a compulsion that is also your joy, you understand. It’s that thing you love to do that may require a lot of time and effort but gives you a deep sense of satisfaction. Whether it’s your vocation, your advocation, or a hobby, it never fails to bring meaning to your life.

Writing (and editing!) is this compulsion for me.

I rise between 4-4:30 every morning, grab a mug of coffee, then settle in at my laptop for the day’s challenges. I evaluate stories in my role as an editor for Story Sanctum. I work on fiction of my own. I polish blog posts before sending them off into the ocean of the Internet like a message in a bottle.

Now, with Second Shore Publishing, I will go further, helping both established and emerging writers make their dreams come true. I will do this free of charge, no matter how long it takes.

Why? Because it’s my compulsion and it brings me joy.

– Krin Van Tatenhove

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