Part coming-of-age story and part paean to Appalachia, this impressive first novel tells the story of Clay Sizemore, orphaned in a violent act that has left its scars throughout his extended family.
House, who is in fact an Appalachian native, has a keen ear for dialogue and a gift for creating characters who come to life on the page. He treads a fine line through the practices of the Pentecostal church, which influences virtually everyone in the book, whether they are practitioners or not. And the music of the region is practically a character in its own right.
If there's a flaw here, it's that there's not a lot of internal tension. The characters go along in their day-to-day lives and even the underlying love story unfolds without a lot of high drama. The few violent confrontations, driven by alcohol, drugs, and jealousy erupt, play out, and mostly disappear quickly, even though they drive much of the plot.
The quilt metaphor is handled nicely, but so subtly that if it wasn't played up in the title, it might have gone largely unnoticed.
I doubt this book is going to change anyone's life, but it's a nice read and would make a good book club selection.
House, who is in fact an Appalachian native, has a keen ear for dialogue and a gift for creating characters who come to life on the page. He treads a fine line through the practices of the Pentecostal church, which influences virtually everyone in the book, whether they are practitioners or not. And the music of the region is practically a character in its own right.
If there's a flaw here, it's that there's not a lot of internal tension. The characters go along in their day-to-day lives and even the underlying love story unfolds without a lot of high drama. The few violent confrontations, driven by alcohol, drugs, and jealousy erupt, play out, and mostly disappear quickly, even though they drive much of the plot.
The quilt metaphor is handled nicely, but so subtly that if it wasn't played up in the title, it might have gone largely unnoticed.
I doubt this book is going to change anyone's life, but it's a nice read and would make a good book club selection.
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