Algonquin Books, January 5, 2016.
Four Stars
In small town Virginia in the 1970s, eight-year-old
Rocky idolizes his brother, Paul. While they share a father, Paul’s mother is
an alcoholic who lives out of town, and Rocky’s mother is the much younger
woman who replaced her. In spite of his distaste for his stepmother, Paul is
happy to have Rocky tag along with him and his girlfriend as they cruise
around, blasting rock music and generally getting into trouble.
As the novel moves forward seven years, Paul has
disappeared and Rocky is now a teenage, engaged in a relationship with the
neighbour’s daughter who is ten years older than him. Rocky’s family’s
relationship with the family next door has always been troubled, beginning with
Paul’s break-in to the house years earlier. When Paul’s reappearance in town
coincides with a violent crime next door, he is the first suspect – and Rocky’s
relationship with the daughter causes added complications.
The whole concept of small town life is so well
written here. The community is suspicious of anything new, adverse to change.
Gossip about the violent incident spreads rapidly, and Paul is condemned before
the police have even finished gathering evidence. Remarkably, even with such a
grisly crime as the centerpiece of the novel, this is above all a family drama
– it has its own specific complications, but they play out universal themes.
Like all families, this one is dysfunctional, with a rather large cast of
characters that are accepted into the family unit.
There are so many themes and plot points at play here
that it shouldn’t work so well, but it does. I think the main reason that it
does work is the detailed characterization in which we can see into the heart
of each major and minor player. The author delves deep into each person’s
story, then brings them all together. The characters and themes are united by
the voice of narrator Rocky, who makes astute observations of everyone around
him.
Despite the central crime/mystery of the novel, this
is a story of coming-of-age in the 1970s, with a soundtrack of rock and roll
rebellion. There are no literary tricks, just good, solid writing. The language
is evocative of its time and place, as expressed by empathetic, complex
characters. In the end, the mystery of the crime is resolved, yet so many of
the complicated connections between family members are left to the imagination,
giving the reader a lot to think about.
I received this novel from Netgalley and Algonquin
Books in exchange for an honest review.
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