He Said/She Said

It’s rare, but occasionally I’ll pick up a book on a whim that just happens to resonate with what’s happening in the news. In this case, the events of Frederik Backman’s Beartown eerily echo the allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Backman, the Swedish writer best known for A Man Called Ove, goes deep into the hockey culture of a small town. As the novel opens, the town’s junior ice hockey team is headed into the semifinal. Resting on the team’s victory is the chance to open a new hockey school which will rejuvenate the economy, and spirit, of struggling Beartown.

We meet the players (both the stars and the third stringers), the coaches, the general manager and his family, as well as the has-been players and multiple fans and parents who will do anything to see their team (and its start player Kevin) succeed. There are no “almosts” in hockey.

When Maya, the general manager’s daughter, accuses the star player of raping her at a party the morning of the final, the crowd, literally, goes wild.

Although Backman presents us with the he said he didn’t/she said he did of the rape’s aftermath, the most striking portrayal is the fear. The fear the girl feels not just in the moment of the act, but in every waking moment after. The fear her parents feel in not being able to protect her. The fear his mother feels that he’s not telling the truth. The fear he feels of being found out.

In the end, Maya makes her peace with what happened through an unconventional means of revenge. As is repeated several times in the book, “People round here don’t always know the difference between right and wrong. But we know the difference between good and evil.”

If you haven’t already, Caitlin Flanagan’s interview about her own personal experience with attempted assault is worth a listen. And Meg Wolitzer’s The Female Persuasion examines the awakening of one young woman after an incident on her college campus. Find more stories on this subject here.

Or just open any newspaper.