by Shirley Dees
March 17, 2026
Valley Definitely Thriving by Kerry Clare; House of Anansi Press; 312 pages; $21.00.
The ability of art to express multiple modalities simultaneously to celebrate and explore different ideas and philosophies is both a point of pride and a driving force that compels artists to make creative works. In this sense, Kerry Clare’s Definitely Thriving, takes readers on a journey that challenges modern literary trends in an unapologetic fashion. Steered by a character as deliberate in her choice to go against the grain as much as by the author’s unique narrative style, Definitely Thriving examines the overarching question of what happens when we allow ourselves the freedom of messy exploration.
In Definitely Thriving, readers play witness to Clare’s main character through a close third person point of view. To the casual reader, Clemence’s choices are unusual and potentially problematic, but Clare does the work through this purposeful narrative style to expose the deliberateness of every choice. By allowing the reader access to the intimate quips and asides of Clemence’s inner thoughts, Clare establishes not just a comedic and humanizing tone to her main character’s voice, but faith that Clemence is discerning her choices and not simply coasting through life without accountability. Proposed to join her landlady’s church as a member, Clemence quips, “that banana bread though,” internally, exposing through internal jokes that decisions aren’t just hastily made, but considered, even if for a singular moment and in an entertaining sense. Instances such as these take place throughout the novel, giving the prose a unique and appealing charm. The reader is privileged in this logic, not prohibited.
Conversely, this intimacy does maintain a distance in the third person, permitting the reader to reach objective observance. Clare wants her readers to see and feel her characters’ choices as unconventional and atypical, and thus, to view the messiness of life and wade through the uncomfortableness of deviating from the norm. This harnesses a curiosity that convinces the reader to get to the other side of Clemence’s journey. Unconventional choices like moving back home into an unglamorous living space and opting for a romantic partner that represents the opposite of what is stereotypically attractive forces the reader to constantly question Clemence’s motives. Are these lifestyle elections out of pity for herself? Or are they an honest effort by Clemence to redefine her happiness and improve her circumstances? By granting her characters freedom to embrace the undefined, she gives the readers permission and control to wind their way down a narrative path that could otherwise be disjointed and chaotic. Clare’s choices here keep us confidently questioning the inevitable consequences of the plot, even if it’s an uncomfortable and awkward experience.
Additionally, Clare’s use of her supporting characters reveals Clemence’s attributes and serves as a comment on privilege and the risks one takes when seeking to change their ways in the way Clemence does. Characters that appear undefined on the surface act as agents to propel the story forward, because we are in an intimate third person point-of-view, it is up to Clemence to reveal the individuals that surround her and how they affect change in the plot. Clemence’s ostensibly lackadaisical interactions are once again a deliberate choice made by Clare, asking, what if we were to stop inserting ourselves into every thought and every moment of everyone else’s life (including our own)? What if we could allow ourselves and the outcomes of our choices just to be? As a casual observer in this instance, we begin to see the messiness not just in Clemence’s life, but in all the characters that surround her, and what happens when they too cast away morally sound choices, or socially acceptable ones.
Specifically, with Clemence’s friend Jillian, who puts her marriage into jeopardy by sleeping with a therapist she found on Yelp. And her sister Prudence, who is married to a deviant and often inappropriate man. Clemence’s choices reflect these misdeeds as approval to buck trends, transforming this novel into a social experiment on what happens when people refuse to conform to the norm, a question serving as the force of Clare’s novel.
Of course, something also must be said about privilege and consequence, and Clare does this by again allowing this cast of supporting characters to do most of the work to explain the power of privilege of a community. As the supporting characters make their uncharacteristic choices and risks, they are forced to turn toward each other. Clemence’s two friends, Naomi and Jillian, lean on each other at times during these periods of transition and uncertainty: Naomi and Jillian support Clemence’s choice in residence by assisting with her move and speaking positively of the environment. Alternatively, Clemence and Naomi prop Jillian up emotionally as she wades through the rough terrain of an unethical affair by offering childcare and publicly denouncing the professionalism of her therapist. This community shows their support in mass when they appear at the jumble sale together, even though it is not a situation that most of them find comfortable. Especially for Clemence’s love interest, Toby, who exerts the most effort to display his loyalty to Clemence by electing to abandon his reclusive lifestyle to attend the busy event. The success of every single one of these characters is dependent on the solidity of their community. A person is more willing to take a risk, to make an aberrant choice, when the knowledge of a safety net is firmly in place. This is a testament and homage to the importance of community, and one that is not afforded to everyone. Clare knows this and builds this tribute into the book.
Definitely Thriving stands as a tribute to those who dare deviate from the norm is straight-forward. How often does a character, or we as readers and humans also, seek a new beginning in life by returning home, as Clemence does? For those daring to be different, Clare’s novel is both bold and simple, light and innovative. Definitely Thriving succeeds in banishing the ostentatious, embracing the quirky, and avoiding modern plot trends that are approaching the cliché to ironically make this work stand out in the literary landscape.
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Dare to Be Different: Bucking Literary Trends in Kerry Clare’s Definitely Thriving
FICTION REVIEW
Image by Helena Lopez from Pexels
Shirley Dees earned an MFA from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. Her fiction has appeared in Empty House Press, After Happy Hour Review, Bright Flash Literary, Bangalore Review, and others. When not writing, Shirley is busy supporting staff and student needs at her rural school district, and reading beneath the shade of centuries-old oak trees. She lives in south Texas with her husband, daughter, two princess barn cats, and geriatric pet turtle.
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© 2025 Iron Oak Editions
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© 2026 Iron Oak Editions
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