Helen Morrissey Rizzuto, "The River Woman"

After watching her mom kill the man who attacked her, Civette is placed in the care of an old Chinese healer/kaleidoscope maker and stops talking.

(from Ontario Review, Spring Summer 2005)

Sorry, just didn't buy it. I mean the scary, horrible parts were appropriately effective, but it's easy to scare and horrify me. I think I might've mentioned that before.
"The River Woman" is cliched a little bit in its moments and language, and a lot in its worldview. Whenever bad things happened, or supposedly sublime moments sprung awkwardly about, I said of course. This was like a made-for-TV arthouse flick, full of recognizeable parts and people and thinking. A good editor, even a shrewd copy editor, could have helped hide the strings a bit more, made it a little easier to get lost in it.