A Density of Souls- The Parents

Anytime you have a story revolving around teenagers and their psychological problems, you must include their parents. Because that's how it is, right? The parents cause the psychological trauma of the children? (Again, this is Anne Rice's son writing this... extrapolate your own conclusions)In case you didn't see my fantasy cast for the teens in A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice, please make sure you check that out.I don't remember what order these parents are introduced, and I am way, way too lazy to go pick up my copy of the book (it is at least six feet away from me) and find them all being described for the first time, so I'm going to go in the order that makes sense to me.Angela Darby is, in my opinion, the most tragic character in this novel. Stephen is probably meant to invoke the most sympathy, but my sympathies go right to Angela Darby. It's probably the mother in me, but if you had gone through what this woman went through, and then were subjected to the treatment she was subjected to... well, I don't even know how to finish that thought. It's heartbreaking in the most horrible way possible, and the actress playing her would need to be one stellar, dramatic piece of work. I think somebody like Carrie-Anne Moss could pull this off.

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Andrew Darby is a real piece of work. When tragedy strikes his family, he doesn't man up and take care of things, he buries them and pretends there's nothing to deal with. This guy deserves one big sucker punch to the face, if you ask me. And who deserves a punch in the face more than Chris Cooper? Nobody.

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Monica Conlin is the mother of our main character, Stephen. She's another of the functioning-alcoholic club, though she has more reason than the other women in the story. She was a young widow, raising a gay son in a homophobic community. She stands as a silent support behind Stephen, and her motherly concern is written all over her character. I actually pictured Jean Smart in this role.

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Jeremy Conlin is Stephen's father. He commits suicide several years before our story begins, but we see him in a very, very important flashback, and his character is pivotal to the story. He's an alcoholic, depressed, obsessive compulsive poet. He's an artist, with all of the drama and self-indulgence, but without the eclectic inattentiveness to details. A handsome, roguish, aggressive man. I originally thought of Viggo Mortensen,

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but then remembered, DUH! We only see him in a flashback, when he is closer to 25 than 50. All the other parents need to be the right age for having young adult children, but Jeremy is a young adult himself when we see him in this story. So, somebody more like Chad Michael Murray would be a better fit.

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Trish Ducote is Meredith's mother. We don't see her a lot, but she is a key piece of the story, since Meredith's problems ostensibly stem from the fact that her parents divorced. She, like every other woman in the story, is basically a functioning alcoholic who doesn't notice entire bottles of liquor disappearing in her own house every day. She also doesn't notice the bruises on her daughter's face, chipped teeth, bulimia... she's a gem. Anyway, I think she's a woman who feels as though life has dealt her a hard hand, and she's reached a point where she doesn't care anymore. Sort of "I've got enough of my own problems to deal with, I can't handle yours, too" you know? I see somebody with a devil-may-care attitude like Catherine Keener. 

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Roger Charbonnet is the father of Brandon and Jordan, and is mostly just a placeholder in this story. He's well-bred, of old Southern money. He's proper and stoic. He doesn't do a whole lot; he's really just there to represent the way people are "supposed" to deal with things. I think of a man like John Slattery.

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Elise Charbonnet is the most important mother in this story. She is the mother of Brandon, our main antagonist, and Jordan, the brains of the story who pieces the whole mystery together and eventually becomes the main love interest. Elise is a young woman who "married up" into the Charbonnet family, and spends the early years of her marriage trying to live up to the expectations, and then the later years trying to keep it all together despite mountainous challenges. She is also harboring the second biggest secret in the story, the one that most readers feel is the "surprising twist" at the end. She's beautiful: delicate and mysterious, just like Nicole Kidman.

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You can read my review of this book on Goodreads.com