David Rhodes's long-awaited new novel turns an unblinking eye on an array of eccentric characters and situations. The setting is Words, Wisconsin, an anonymous town of only a few hundred people. But under its sleepy surface, life rages. Cora and Graham guard their dairy farm, and family, from the wicked schemes of their milk co-op. Lifelong paraplegic Olivia suddenly starts to walk, only to find herself crippled by her fury toward her sister and caretaker, Violet. Recently retired Rusty finds a cougar living in his haymow, ...
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David Rhodes's long-awaited new novel turns an unblinking eye on an array of eccentric characters and situations. The setting is Words, Wisconsin, an anonymous town of only a few hundred people. But under its sleepy surface, life rages. Cora and Graham guard their dairy farm, and family, from the wicked schemes of their milk co-op. Lifelong paraplegic Olivia suddenly starts to walk, only to find herself crippled by her fury toward her sister and caretaker, Violet. Recently retired Rusty finds a cougar living in his haymow, dredging up haunting childhood memories. Winifred becomes pastor of the Friends church and stumbles on enlightenment in a very unlikely place. And Julia Montgomery, both private and gregarious, instigates a series of events that threatens the town's solitude and doggedly suspicious ways. "Driftless" finds the author's powers undiminished in this unforgettable story that evokes a small-town America previously unmapped, and the damaged denizens who must make their way through it.
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slow start but the writing improved. doesn't begin to compare with the wonderful Mink River.
xenodad
Feb 24, 2011
One of the best
Driftless is the best novel I have read in many years--and I read a lot of novels. Driftless is very well written. Some of the descriptions are so vivid and so good I just had to stop and read them again. Some of the descriptions of someone's feelings were so on the mark that I could identify feelings I had felt myself but never been able to articulate that well.
After getting a few chapters into the book I tried to ration myself to reading only one chapter a day in order to make it last longer--but I couldn't restrain myself from reading more.
July Montgomery is a central character, and he appeared in an earlier David Rhodes book, Rock Island Line. But all of the characters in this setting in Words, WI are well developed, and their lives intersect in many ways, at many levels.
I laughed at parts, I cried at parts. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and have recommended it to all of my reading friends. This book is special, one you don't want to miss. This book will stay with you for a long time.
Driftless is the first book David Rhodes has written in more than 30 years--and it was worth the wait.
