LitStack is thrilled to present Allie Coker’s review Survival and Deception in “The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik“. We’re excited as you are to dive in.
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In This LitStack Review of The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik
Time Heals All Wounds
In America, we are encouraged to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, but what if you have no boots? In The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik, Vesta Blonik is traversing the cruel poverty of 1937 Minnesota on a farm that her father intends to sell right out from under her. At 30 years old, Vesta is considered a spinster who still lives at home but who has taken all the responsibilities her deceased mother used to execute—cooking, cleaning, laundry, farmwork—without a scrap of thanks from her belligerent father. Isolated and pining for meaningful companionship, the only regular chances to socialize come from visiting her brother and sister-in-law, Josef and Eva.
When Pa takes to drinking less, grooming more, and spending time away from home, Vesta senses imminent change. What comes next leaves her destitute, homeless, and inclined to accept small mercies where she can find them.
Widow Irene O’Connell, seemingly unbothered by her husband’s passing 6 months earlier in a barfight, becomes the only part of life that matters to Karl Blonik. It’s been 2 years since Karl’s wife and Vesta’s mother has passed, but he’s determined to forge a new life for himself—one that doesn’t include Vesta and her “prying” ways.
When she asks him if he’s considering selling the farm to the resettlement administration or virtually any other question that pertains to their lives, Pa rails against her, reminding her it’s none of her business and keeps her in the dark. It makes Vesta’s heart and head hurt, especially at the temple where Pa had shoved a pan of hot grease off the stove in her childhood, scalding her and leaving a permanent burn.
The first time Vesta meets John Carlson is when he comes out from the administration to assess the Blonik property and put forth the terms of the offer. When he comes back around, Vesta, at home by herself as she tries to juggle living at her in-laws and caring for the farm while her father is off on some trip, see the papers that Pa has apparently signed for “Mr. and Mrs. Blonik and 2 minor children.” Pa has remarried and replaced his home and family right under Vesta’s nose, he doesn’t intend to share his new life with her at all.
With the Bloniks having sold as much as they can—the car, their last hog— and many doctor and property bills to pay, Vesta relies on her brother and sister-in-law to house her short-term. She and Eva have always gotten along immensely well, and they decide to take up some mending/sewing work for the town. When plans begin to crumble though, Vesta finds herself resorting to an unlikely bid for help. At the urging of her relatives, she exchanges correspondence with NC native Gordon Crenshaw—a widower who is ready to seek a wife again. In truth, the letters come from Gordon’s brother, Burgess, who has been appointed by the family to write Gordon out of his predicament.
Having lost a wife and baby, Gordon slipped into depression and was committed to the mental institution, Dix Hill, by his family. A nurse warns the Crenshaws that if Gordon isn’t released soon, he will be subjected to more brutal forms of treatment than he has experienced which is inappropriate due to his condition being of an emotional nature rather than a psychotic one. With Vesta and Gordon both in danger of failing to survive, the clock is set against both of them.
This story in The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik is as much about people helping in all the “wrong” ways as it is about those who genuinely have the best interests of others at heart. Both Vesta’s Pa as well as the Crenshaws are focused on helping themselves under the guise of helping their adult children. None of the Crenshaw siblings want to be responsible for watching Gordon or having him live with them and Pa has convinced himself that his hoarding of information is what’s best for Vesta, that she should have no say in such matters.
The sole focus of both families is to foist their unsuspecting single children onto each other to marry and become each other’s problem. While Vesta is accused of being an old maid by everyone, no one seems bothered that Gordon’s brother Burgess, ghostwriter of the letters Vesta receives, is also a bachelor of a similar age.
Vesta is a character who is strong, sensible, and easy to empathize with. All she asks for is honesty, even if the world is less than an honest place. In The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik Cline brilliantly sets Gordon’s chapters in third person which reflects his experiences of being drugged, fighting at the hospital, and other hazy memories. What will happen when these two struggling souls finally meet?
Denise Smith Cline grew up in a textile town in Upstate South Carolina. She started her career as a newspaper reporter after graduating from Davidson College. A six-week murder trial she covered, along with her naturally argumentative disposition, led her to law school at UNC Chapel Hill, where she pursued a legal career and raised twins.
She continued reading and writing in her spare time, focusing on short stories, essays, and eventually two novels. Cline is drawn to characters who find dignity and meaning in seemingly impossible situations. Her short story Plow Under received a Pushcart nomination, and her non-fiction has won awards from Carolina Woman, Salem College’s International Literary Contest, and the Annual Carteret Writers’ Contest. Her work has appeared in Prime Number Magazine, Carolina Woman, The Shoal, the News & Observer, and Mamalode.
Denise Smith Cline still practices employment law at her firm in Raleigh, North Carolina. She enjoys conversations with family and friends, singing in a choir, cycling, and eavesdropping.
Allie Coker lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She holds a BA in English from Davidson College and an MFA in creative writing from Queens University of Charlotte. Her novella, “The Last Resort,” was published in 2021.
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