Joseph’s Debut Novel:

A man battling mental health challenges and homelessness seeks redemption and understanding in Bergen’s novel.

Caleb Taylor is first introduced to the reader in italicized first-person narration, describing the joys and pain of mania: “Mania courses through me. It flows through me, glows through me, goes through me.” Having just moved to Columbus, Ohio, Caleb finds himself in yet another new town without a place to live. Carrying only a laptop (on which he writes short stories and poetry he hopes to publish), Caleb faces the daunting task of finding shelter. His adult life has been marred by mental health challenges; he confesses, “arrests, homelessness, and hospitalizations diminished my desire to try to get better.” He applies to the Crossroads Men’s Shelter and is eventually granted a bunk. There, he meets Malik, his assigned housing navigator. The narrative then alternates between Caleb’s and Malik’s perspectives, providing insights into the experiences of seeking housing and the challenges of navigating the modern homeless shelter infrastructure. As the story unfolds, Bergen details the men’s harrowing histories. Caleb is haunted by visions of his childhood tormentor, who later killed his own parents and frequently shows up in visions in the peaks of Caleb’s mania, pushing him over the edge in dangerous ways. Malik uses his access to the shelter’s database in his quest to find his long-lost father, a former addict with whom he lost contact years earlier. While Malik is the moral center of the novel, he is not just a savior figure, but a complicated, rounded character dealing with his own anxieties. Caleb is likewise a multifaceted and sympathetic character as he struggles to outpace his dangerous visions, racing thoughts, and moments of mania when everything spins out of control. The novel may be difficult for some readers with its raw depiction of trauma and abuse, and detailed descriptions of the shelter systems that sometimes support and sometimes fail those like Caleb. For readers interested in realistic fiction that seems ripped from real life, with believable characters and distinct voices, this is a rewarding novel.

A poignant and memorable story of resilience. – Kirkus Review (2025}

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