Sara Flemington's R.I.P. Scoot

Reviewed by Kimberley Gilmour

(Nightwood Editions, 2025)

Sara Flemington has brought forward both Egg Island and R.I.P. Scoot with a focus on Canadian scenery (think slushy, wet weather), imagination, and hyper creativity. The moody turbulence and the in-depth imaginary lines generate intriguing prose, dynamite narration, and a multiplicity of cultural perspectives. Flemington writes with the same joie de vivre as Mavis Gallant, Beauvoir, or terse Hemingway texts. R.I.P Scoot is about connections, thoughtful content, and outrageous thought processes. Austin is the protagonist who tries to find and solve the mystery of a dead orange cat named Scoot. Sarah, who is Austin's girlfriend, asks, "Are you in the midst of some sort of mental health crisis?" Flemington travels the sunny side of the twilight zone, as the infinity of Austin's mind elaborates chaos, kitchenware, Japanese hyphens, a Japanese rock star, computer messages from Tacka Attack Love, and lots of absurd messages.
 
Austin's mental side is out of control to the extent that he has anxiety, insomnia, and reclusive behaviours. The only thing that matters to him is discovering the nth degree of this orange cat named Scoot. Austin connects anything and everything that could attach to his outline and mind map of Scoot. At one point, he is accused of the murder of the cat—which is not true. Austin comments, "But what matters more is that he also created a painting of a three-and-a-half pawed, no-eyed cat with orange fur..." Austin's absurd mind stresses his relationships with his brother, Sarah, and his friends.
 
Austin becomes a danger to himself after trying to enter both a closed library and his own apartment at night. He crashes through the windows and cuts himself, and then his sister-in-law picks him up from the hospital on Christmas morning. His brother Dan is worried because his wife is pregnant, and he doesn't want Austin's company to stress the baby. Yet, after the hospital scare, Austin relaxes and enters a new thought process. Ironically, there is a cat named Runt that travels on a Japanese ship to North America. Austin finds and cares for the cat, and he calls him Scoot.
 
Sarah is the normal, hardworking student who uses good listening skills and patience with Austin. He admires her both from up close and afar, but he doesn't really like her bean cookies. Austin becomes a raving King Lear throughout the novel, and it is Sarah who tries to talk him into quietude. Eventually, Austin lets go of Scoot's poltergeist. He continues to admire Sarah, and they eventually find another cat that they name Scoot.
 
Flemington's second novel is about imbalances, unlimited creativity, and the implications of an absurd imagination. There are hardships, mistakes, and mystery, and there is never a dull moment. One feels at home during the narration, and the intrigue of the fiction is dynamite.

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​Kimberley Gilmour has written reviews for ARIEL, FreeFall Magazine, The Windsor Star, The Antigonish Review, The T3MZ Review, and elsewhere in Canada. She has a degree with Honours in Gender Studies and Philosophy from Trent University. She has a B.Ed from The University of Windsor, and an English Literature B.A. from Trent University. She is currently reviewing novels by Amanda Leduc and Meg Todd.