Set in rural, poverty-stricken Fort Angus, Maine, this book
opens on Odie Hollander sitting in prison. His mother,
Sheila, is trying to raise the money for his bail and runs
her idea by him. She slides a few prescriptions over the
table in the visiting room and asks the street value. As he
quickly estimates it and tells her, she realizes that his
bail money has been raised. Unfortunately, this is the last
time he sees his mother.
The rest of the book tells the story of the other residents
of the Fort Angus. As with many small, rural towns, most
people are connected to the rest of the people in one way or
another, and Fort Angus is no different. The death of
Sheila Hollander has shocked the town. Who would do such a
thing? Why?
The book tells the story of each person in the town - the
misunderstood (and quickly ostracized) gay person), the
extremely intelligent person who felt the need to escape
but is called back during this time, and the minister who is
suffering from dementia (to name some of the more memorable).
The prose seems as it should be for this story - not exactly
slow, but not hurried or rushed. It gives the reader a
sense of the oppression that hangs over the town as the
majority of the population works in the potato fields,
struggling to bring home enough money to keep the family
going. The humor within the book is light, but
appropriate, and it's enough to keep the book from feeling
too heavy.
The mystery of who killed Sheila takes a backseat to the
personal stories of each person, but by the end of the book
we do know who the culprit was, and the mystery is solved
with a delightful twist.
This was a great read, a balanced story, and it moved
quickly. It was a pleasure to read, and I can imagine
myself visiting it again, because I'm sure there are nuances
that can be picked up with each re-reading.
From this portrait of a hard-scrabble rural community
struggling with poverty and decay after decades of initial
wealth and prosperity emerges four main characters: Odie
Hollander in jail on domestic violence and drug charge; his
cousin, manager of the gas station; Rhetta Ballou, returning
after twenty years away; and Miles Compton, twenty-one, and
gay. Loosely linked through one particular murder, none of
the characters is fully good or bad, and the reader must
decide where their personal moral lines exist.
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