The middle aged Burgess brothers help their sister whose teenage son is accused of a hate crime in a small town in Maine. The novel explores the intertwined lives of the depressed siblings through their viewpoints as well as through other family members and friends. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as Strout’s other novels, it still is a wonderfully written book with the author’s recurrent themes of loneliness, and the redemptive qualities of family members who are just awful on the outside. She is definitely one of my new favorite authors.
PJH rating: ****
Eat On Edgecliff 