2/25/08

Book of the Week #9

Garner: A Novel by Kirstin Allio (Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2005)
This novel has been lauded by blogs, by reviewers, and by the National Book Foundation which named Kirstin Allio as one of its 5 under 35 for 2007.
"Garner, New Hampshire is a town delineated by its Puritan ethics and its "Live Free or Die" mentality. In 1925, Garner's economic prospects are in decline and a group of young, wealthy New Yorkers descend on Frances Giddens's family farm for summer leisure. As Frances, a spirited, elusive girl born at the dawn of the twentieth century, is drawn to the romance the newcomers represent, darker forces are unleashed. When her body is found in rain-swollen Blood Brook, this deeply private community begins to unravel. As the story unfolds, Allio's beautiful, atmospheric prose reveals the town's hidden history and the fierce longings locked in the hearts of its citizens." -- book jacket

No comments: