While this story is narrated by Henry Aster, Jr., it starts
with his parents and grandparents and the small town of Old Buckram in
Appalachia where they grew up. Helton and Maddy Aster were simple, hardworking
folks who were dirt poor. The only book Helton every read was the Bible. Henry
Sr., was the only one of their children to finish school and attend college.
While his desire in life was to read and write, he attended law school,
figuring that he should have a dependable income. He never meant to return to
Old Buckram, but return he does with a pregnant wife in tow, moving in with his
parents, and sets himself up as lawyer. A liability suit unexpectedly makes him
a millionaire, and he buys the strange mansion on a hill, a place of steel and
glass where five people died violent, mysterious, deaths. Here Henry Jr. spends
his childhood, hiking the hills, reading, and over seeing his sister little
sister, Threnody. Henry Sr. is an alcoholic who spends his time alone in his
study, reading and writing one long novel, absent from the family while
occupying the same space. After Henry Sr’s disappearance, Henry Jr. goes away
to college, leaving his mother and sister alone. He develops his own drinking
problem, and falls in love with a woman who has a family that is even more
dysfunctional than his own.
The story is almost totally character driven, and the
characters are pretty well done- the males better done than the females. Old
Buckram and the house Henry grows up in are almost characters in their own
right. The prose is wonderful- it kept me reading into the night. For a first
novel, it’s pretty brilliant, but it has its flaws. There is a lack of
continuity in places, and the plot is lacking. I would have liked to have known
more about Threnody and about Henry Jr’s mother. I am looking forward to see
what Lewis writes next.
The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents.
I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for a fair review.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
No comments:
Post a Comment