Daniel Woodrell
Little, Brown and Company
Reviewed by: Nancy
4 out of 5 stars
Summary
My Review
This
short novel has many things I enjoy in dark fiction – quirky, dysfunctional
characters, a determined heroine struggling to survive and keep her family
together, a bleak setting, a sense of hopelessness, people who pay the price
for their bad choices. This is a quiet
story that crept up on me slowly and haunted me for days afterward.
Actually,
it terrified me and made me glad I grew up in New York City. Sure, there were shootings, muggings,
carjackings, and stabbings. You just had
to watch your back constantly and try to stay out of the dangerous
neighborhoods. Once I was home and the
six deadbolts locked, I felt safe.
16-year-old
Ree Dolly has no sense of safety. Her
mother is mentally ill and unable to care for her children, her dad has disappeared,
her relatives are downright scary, and meth is a major source of the family’s
income.
I have
never been to the Ozarks and have no idea how accurately this story portrays
the region and its inhabitants, though I’m sure these characters really exist
somewhere.
What
keeps me from giving a five-star rating, is the prose. At times, it felt overwritten, taking me out
of the story. I also felt it was too
brief, making the characters and relationships too remote. In the end, I wanted more than an empty,
hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Also
posted at Goodreads.