Book Review of “Exposure,” written by Ramona Emerson by Tanya Tyler
Book Review of Exposure written by Ramona Emerson
By Tanya Tyler
Ramona Emerson wrote Shutter, one of the first horror novels written by a Diné author. It does not follow the overused story of Navajo Skinwalkers or witchcraft that a non-Native author capitalized on. Unlike Tony Hillerman, this story centers on a Diné woman as the protagonist. Although the series is classified as horror, it is not as explicitly violent or bloodthirsty as other horror series but still leaves an indelible impression on the reader. With the author’s distinctive perspective, it instead explores the rich cultural and complex history of being an Indigenous woman in contemporary society. Beginning from the horrific history of U.S. government boarding schools, assimilation, and sexism, the novel also includes the wonderful aspects of Indigenous life with language, cultural practices, family, and community. The novels balance these histories showing that although it may seem consistently gloom-ridden, Indigenous people will find a way to seek beauty in the world. Indigenous storytelling like this is needed now more than ever. It expounds on Indigenous representations and preconceptions to allow human connections to flourish.
Emerson’s Exposure is the follow-up to her successful debut novel Shutter. The story continues following Rita Todacheenie, a Diné crime scene photographer living in Albuquerque who can see ghostly spirits including the crime victims. The story takes place a few months after the events in Shutter, with Rita dealing with the consequences of the previous novel. Rita struggles with her gift since she must choose a side: either sharing the truth of the victims’ demise directly from them or sticking to her technical work to follow the evidence. Although reading the first book is unnecessary to understand the second one, the first novel adds great depth to Rita’s character, which introduces us to her family and her ties to her home in Tohatchi, New Mexico located on the Navajo Nation reservation.
Continuing with the dual perspectives from the first novel, in Exposure, a new antagonist is introduced, a serial killer, who chooses Gallup, New Mexico as his hunting ground. It is wintertime in the novel and the intense chill is felt throughout the story. The permeable cold that prickles the skin will have the reader seeking warmth. Each character is affected differently by the cold. Rita is already surrounded by death and knows this iciness well. The antagonist seeks it out since his apathy does not allow him to feel its freezing sting and reveals: “Winter makes ghosts of us all. I am the cold, icy river that evil flows into, a wild tributary in which I bathe” (Emerson 19). In the story’s timeline, the 2007-2008 season in Gallup was known for its coldest winter on record and several unsheltered people did not survive the bone-chilling nights. A few characters are introduced in the novel that humanize such people as Chayton, Merlin, and Rosemary. These were the most heartbreaking scenes because we see how little regard is given to these suffering people. Unfortunately, this trend continues to this day. By using Gallup as the setting, it exposes the systemic racism that continues in the city.
This antagonist is the personification of settler colonialism. He comes from a different area of the country and witnesses a shocking incident that turns him violent, and he continues to be raised with religion engrained in his being. Like colonialism, he justifies his terrible actions by expressing he is “saving” these poor souls like the early invaders of the Americas did. He is an outsider who set up a religious center to assist those in need. He explains with the use of bible verses at the beginning of his chapters such as: “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted” Ecclesiastes 3:1-2" (Emerson 19). He arrives in Gallup with knowledge of the poverty and substance use disorder that affects many of the unsheltered Diné people and exploits this information by hunting them without fear of repercussions. This indifference is in the same vein of history in which Native people have been and continue to be attacked without the same level of law enforcement investigation or penalties for their assailants.
Within the interwoven story, Rita must decide on her future after leaving Albuquerque. The backdrop of Tohatchi includes a deep, important internal struggle for many Indigenous people. Since many leave their reservation for other opportunities, there are frequent uncertainties when deciding whether to return home. Does one live at home to be near family, community, and culture? Or do they continue to live far away to reap other opportunities typically not available on the reservation? Rita answers her question by realizing being home will offer healing, provide strength, and give love being reunited with her grandmother with:
“…I remembered what made this place so special. The ease with which I could move, breathe, and exist here. The pain in my stomach, the ache in my heart that I lived with so constantly I’d forgotten how to be without it—I could only shake it loose when I came back home. Being here in Tohatchi was like imbibing a bottle of oxygen. It felt like I hadn’t taken a pure breath in almost seven years. I’d missed it” (Emerson 164).
It is a resolution that many Indigenous people will understand. Going home, back to the homeland, can be healing to our body, mind, and spirit. It is a struggle that many Indigenous readers will identify with, and Emerson goes against the tribal deficit model that poverty is all that is present on the reservation. Rita’s chapters detail the beautiful, wintry landscape in Tohatchi and describe how it evolves in the springtime, a time of renewal or the beginning of life again. We need the land just as much as it needs us. Being home, as Rita concluded with:
“But what I had learned more than anything by coming home is that I had people. I don’t know how to describe how alone I had felt out in the world. There was so much pressure to do all the work, to tend to the living and the dead in equal measure. I forgot to take care of myself and to stay strong. Here I had constant reminders. I had people around me, to help hold me up and keep me safe” (Emerson 278).
This was a powerful addition to the series and with a third book coming, it will be thrilling to see where Rita will end up next. Many layers to Emerson’s story can be unpacked and studied. I highly recommend giving this book a read, not only for the community ties but for Dine women’s representation in horror that is sorely lacking, and this book should be considered a classic addition to our Indigenous literary collection. You are invited to come for the horror but stay for the remarkable storytelling that Emerson will continue to deliver for years to come.
Tanya Tyler (she/her) is Diné from Tséʼałnáoztʼiʼí, New Mexico on the Navajo Nation. She graduated with honors from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor of Arts and double majored in English and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her work has been published in Conceptions Southwest and Yellow Medicine Review. She is a first-year student in the MFA program in Creative Nonfiction at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
