Taking Care of Cleo

Written by Bill Broder

345 pages

Published by Handsel Books

Review by Robert Reilly

Receives:

Taking Care of Cleo by Bill Broder is a feel-good, coming-of-age tale about autism, family, and independence set in Prohibition-era Michigan in 1928.

The Bearwalds are the only Jewish family in their Michigan town and Mr. and Mrs. Bearwald own the local dry goods store. Their daughter Rebecca is the sacrificial lamb in this family as her parents only see one avenue in life for her, that of caregiver to her older and beautiful sister Cleo, who is autistic. In defiance of her parents’ wishes, Rebecca applies for a scholarship to the local university, with the full support of Cleo. Broder is careful to point out that, though she is autistic, in many ways Cleo is more understanding than those around her. Cleo is an apprentice boatwright, and in her work she stumbles upon bottles of bootleg liquor, which she hides and hopes to sell for a profit so she can give the proceeds to Rebecca towards her college education. The Purple Gang, a Michigan troupe of bandit bootleggers, learns of Cleo’s actions and things become dangerous for the Bearwald family. Never fear for the Bearwalds, because this story has a happy Hollywood ending.

I was not consumed by this story. I found the narration simple to a fault and I found the prologue letter from Rebecca Bearwald to her family on her 95th birthday unnecessary. Well-told stories do not need apologies pasted into the beginning. I also found the premise of the story far-fetched, and even when the family was threatened by the Purple Gang I was never in fear for them. Maybe I was never in fear for them because I didn’t care enough about them, or maybe because there never seemed to be much of a threat in the first place.

I did appreciate Broder’s look at autism. Broder asks us to see past the stereotypical attributes of autism to see Cleo as a well-rounded character who is in many ways more capable than the others in her family. I recommend this book with three quills solely on that basis. ______________________________________________________________

Robert Reilly is a writer and reviewer who is currently turning his attention to screenwriting in Hollywood, California.