There is a new genre of literature called “post-9/11.” Novels that fall into this category include novels about people who lived through 9/11 and novels that feature characters affected by the events of 9/11.

Gayle Brandeis's “Self Storage” falls into the latter category.

Flan Parker lives with her husband, Shae, and their two young children, a sensitive 6-year-old boy called Noodle and an energetic toddler daughter, Nori. They live in a university housing complex in California, where Shae is half-heartedly working on his dissertation about television. Flan supports the family by bidding on the contents of abandoned self storage units at facility auctions, and reselling the items at yard sales she holds on the weekends.

Their lifestyle is a very casual, laid-back one. They enjoy the housing complex communal dinners, shared by most of the neighbors, except for the Afghan couple who live next to Flan. The Afghan woman, Sodaba, wears a burqua and is covered from head to toe.

The novel is set in the months immediately following 9/11, so Sodaba and her husband are suspect, even in a seemingly more tolerant university setting. They seem to exist in the shadows of the complex.

Flan has a few good friends in the complex, and she has made friends with her fellow self storage auction bidders. She bids on smaller storage units, ones that contain bags and boxes filled with personal items: clothing, books, towels, pots and pans, etc. Her fellow bidders teasingly call these “Flan units” and rarely bid against her.

At one auction, Flan feels compelled to bid on a unit that contains just a single box. Inside the box is a piece of paper with just one word on it - “yes.” What does that mean? The box is decorated inside with original art work, and Flan decides she must track down the person who left this box behind.

When she does track down the owner of “yes,” what does Flan hope to find? Is she looking for the “yes” in her own life, the thing that would give her life meaning? Flan is delighted when she finds the author of “yes,” an artist whom she befriends.

When Flan was just 7 years old, her mother died. She left Flan her dog-eared copy of Walt Whitman's “Leaves of Grass.” Flan loves the poem “Song of Myself” and throughout the novel, the author quotes lines from the poem that are relevant to Flan's life.

Flan's husband does not seem to be working diligently on his dissertation; he spends most of his time watching soap operas on the seven television sets that adorn their living room, courtesy of Flan's auction bids. The family sleeps all together on mattresses in one bedroom, and Flan keeps all of her auction items in the second bedroom. She enjoys spending time in her auction room, sorting through all of the goods, imagining what the people who owned them are like.

One day, Sodaba's husband is taken away by the FBI for questioning. Is he a terrorist or an innocent man caught up in the fear of Americans of anyone who is Muslim? Flan is angry at the mob mentality of her neighbors and wants to know more about Sodaba.

While she is rebuffed at first, a tragic accident throws her and Sodaba together. Flan's young daughter, Nori, is hit by a car, and Sodaba is blamed. The anti-Muslim hysteria reaches a fever pitch over this incident, much to the horror of Flan.

Flan can't deal with Nori's accident or the resulting media coverage of it. Shae, who up to this point has not shown himself to be an overly-involved parent, steps up and camps out at the hospital to care for his daughter. He cannot understand Flan's apparent abandonment of their daughter. For Flan, this time in the hospital is too reminiscent of watching her mother die; it is something she can't face.

“Self Storage” is a character driven novel. We watch Flan grow as a woman, wife, mother and friend. She is a kind, caring, curious woman who can't stand to see innocent people suffer.

Events in the novel force her to face her insecurities and doubts and to stand up for what she believes is morally correct.

The other characters are well drawn as well. Young son Noodle is particularly appealing; he is a sweet and gentle young boy. I also liked the growth displayed in Shae when he was faced with tragedy.

Brandeis, the author, believes that writing fiction can be an agent for positive social change, and “Self Storage” is a good example of that.

Through her writing, she draws the reader into Flan's world. A neat touch is at the end of the novel, where the author reprints Walt Whitman's “Song of Myself” in its entirety. I give “Self Storage” three and half stars.

Auburn native Diane La Rue's

lifelong goal is to read a book a week. If you have suggestions, e-mail her at laruediane2000@yahoo.com