The Reckonings by Lacy M Johnson: Short Summary and Review
The Reckonings is a collection of essays by Lacy M Johnson that succeeds a memoir she wrote called The Other Side. The memoir details the years prior to and following her kidnapping and rape by an ex-boyfriend and the psychological turmoil this caused her. The first essay in The Reckonings shows Johnson reading excerpts of her memoir on book tours and the responses she receives from the audience; women will ask her if she wants her attacker dead, but Johnson says she just wants a reckoning. She wants her attacker to publicly admit what he did, apologize and face the consequences. The rest of the collection follows this theme of reckoning in other areas of Johnson’s life: having to explain terrorism to her young daughter, facing the social responsibility of white privilege, the kindness of humanity during natural disasters and more.
Johnson has a kind of lyrical simplicity in her writing. She uses everyday language but strings each word together in such a way that it seems like it has never been used before. She often refers to events in her essays without naming them; for example, she describes the Sandy Hook shooting as “an elementary school shooting” and Columbine as the “first nationally televised school shooting.” The effect of un-naming a commonly named event allows the reader to engage with her writing, filling in the blanks, writing each essay with her by applying their own experiences to the story.