The Fiction of Owen Thomas

Photophobia

A Novella

Summary

Jac, short for Jacqueline, is a photographer researching a photo-essay book on picturesque California wineries. She arranges to meet with Conrad Kurtz, the operator of Sol Ridge Vineyards, a small and struggling winery up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. From the very beginning it is clear to Jac that Conrad’s enthusiasm, while undeniable, is less than wholesome. Indeed, young and attractive, Jac is no stranger to predation from the likes of Conrad Kurtz. She knows that in offering to drive her up to the isolated winery and give her the grand tour, surely requiring an over-night stay, Conrad does not have her best interests at heart. Conrad’s keen interest is hardly reciprocal. He is, after all, old enough to be Jac’s father.  But Jac is nothing if not determined and endures what she must for an invitation, and escort, up to Sol Ridge.

But Jac finds more up in the mountains than a picturesque winery and the lechery of Conrad Kurtz. There is Conrad’s step-daughter, Iris, a reluctant heir to the business. There are three dogs – Buddy, Elmo and Gator—who have each learned the hard way to stay out of Conrad’s reach. There is Conrad’s chief picker, Ernesto (“Señor”) de la Cruz, a kindly and knowledgeable vintner in his own right. There is Ernesto’s sixteen-year old daughter, Celia, hanging on Iris’ every move. There are the horses, Nellie and Diablo, which Señor and Conrad use to reach the vines growing on the sun-kissed slopes up above the high ridgeline. And then there are the stories; the kind only told in whispers and that only the dead can hear.

What is true of any good photograph is true of any life: shadow grappling with light. Framing. Context. There is always so much more to the world than meets the naked eye.  If there is more to Conrad Kurtz than meets the eye, then at least that much is true for Iris and for Jac who, behind the discomfiting permanence of her dark sunglasses, brings a mystery of her own to Sol Ridge that will change everything.