At the Edge of the Haight, by Katherine Seligman

“People believed what they saw, but it was not the same as what was really there".”

At the Edge of the Haight, by Katherine Seligman, is an incredible force that requires the readers empathetic growth and participation. This story is about Maddy, a homeless young woman living in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Her situation becomes immensely more complicated than it already is when she witnesses the murder of a young homeless boy. She is even less safe now than before and has to navigate an onslaught of interest as this murder becomes a catalyst for attentions and questions that she now has to manage and balance. How much does she want to extend herself?

Homelessness is not something I have had direct experience with. Recently, I took a course for my master’s program that was all about librarians and crisis management and a chunk of our learning surrounded the situations that patrons experiencing homeless undergo.

Learning to see and become aware of the constant stress, relentless exhaustion and worry, and the intense difficulty and prejudice felt by those folks was incredibly eye opening. Exercises in that course gave me a glimpse of perspective from which to begin to empathize and try to understand more.

People experiencing homelessness are at a much higher chance of other dangers and risks, and the constant judgment of their choices can be nearly suffocating. The complexities surrounding each unique situation are so deeply difficult to untangle.

Reading this story made me reflect back on that course and my experience working in libraries. Many of our regular patrons were folks experiencing homelessness. They would come stay for hours to have a place to sit down for a while in a heated or air conditioned building.

Remembering that people are more than their circumstance is a tremendous value.

This book adds positively to that discussion.

It addresses homelessness in a sensitive and thoughtful way without making grandiose sweeping assumptions or placating gestures. The reality is confronted with thoughtful consideration by Seligman. I was deeply touched by these characters and the depiction of their reality.

This novel helps readers to see conditions and people who are so often ignored and dismissed. Maddy is an impressive character, and Seligman brings her to life so fully in my mind.

In an interview with NPR, Seligman says she hopes readers will be encouraged “to see beyond the person sitting there with an instrument and a cup or a dog” after finishing this book. For me, this novel accomplishes that intention. I’m eager to see what Seligman writes next.

At the Edge of the Haight is available now wherever you get your books.

**Many thanks to Algonquin Books for the advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.