Meghan Review: A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash

This novel offers a snapshot of a family within the larger context of a small town culture, mixing past and present events through changing viewpoints and sweeping descriptions of rural life. The central story revolves around Jess and Christopher "Stump" Hall, two young brothers who are unintentional witnesses to a secret neither of them fully understand. This secret implicates not only some of the main moral pillars of the town, but also people they love and respect, and it will have consequences neither of them can imagine.

One of the driving narrative forces in the book is the character Jess. Jess is adventurous and curious, and very loving. He acts as both best friend and caretaker to his older brother, Stump, who is a mute and just a little bit slower than the rest of the boys his age. The sections from his viewpoint really stood out to me. The character's voice was realistic, and his confusion about the world around him mirrored my own as I tried to piece together the evidence throughout.

Another viewpoint I appreciated was Adelaide Lyle, an old woman who looks after the children in her own Sunday school, keeping them from the influence of the church pastor she doesn't trust. Her reflections on her own failures and desires interested me because it was longer ranging, and it was an inner adult perspective on the events of Jess' life. She acts as the "sage" figure, commenting on the society she is not fully involved in, standing free enough to make her own judgements.

I would have liked to have had more adult viewpoints, particularly from Jess' parents, and a deeper look into the church whose secret's define the town. Though I understood and could appreciate the desire to keep this mysterious, I was curious throughout and left with more questions than answers. Especially on such a familiar and traditional theme (family secrets, betrayal, redemption) a deeper look could have really made this novel more of a stand-out for me. However, I really liked the rural and pastoral elements of the novel, which reminded me of Willa Cather at times and Laura Ingalls Wilder at others. It was scenic and lovely without being excessive.

Recommended to: people who enjoy a good rural mystery, John Wayne movies, switching viewpoints (think Ann Brashares or Jodi Picoult), and a younger perspective (To Kill a Mockingbird, Secret Life of Bees, Room)


Release Date: January 22, 2013  Pages: 336 Format: ARC (uncorrected proof)
Source: Publisher Publisher: HarperCollins Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Meghan. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @meghanc303

The Forrests by Emily Perkins

The Forrests by Emily Perkins is definitely a novel that has me divided. Can you love the writing while failing to love the book? Because in certain moments, this was pure genius, but in others in left me grasping for something to hold onto, something to make me understand, and mostly for something to keep my attention.

It's the story of Dorothy Forrest, and despite being about 350 pages it manages to cover her entire life– and it's not a short one. But it's not just Dorothy's story, it's the entire Forrest family, transplanted from New York to New Zealand, and their complex and passionate relationships.

But because the story covers so much time, it means that a lot has to be skipped to fit it all in. Perkins' writing isn't vague, quite the opposite actually. It is flashes, snapshots, vivid and bright, but surrounded by empty space. The gap between photos– where the reader can only guess what happens. The Forrests flutters from one event to another without being clear on the passing of time, or what happened in between, and that made it difficult to follow and not the kind of book I was eager to return to once I set it down.

And that's where my conflict is. Even though there were many moments of brilliance, sometimes even an entire chapter or vignette, The Forrests is not the kind of book that left me craving more. It is definitely not a novel I would reread (though there are very few that fall into that category anyway). It's not even about the lack of plot, though readers should be prepared for that as well, and has much more to do with the lack of clarity. It wasn't just the story that puzzled me, but often the characters too. Many characters had only brief appearances but even those that were around more often weren't ones whose thoughts or motivations I could clearly grasp. The result was a book that was difficult to follow, no matter how many pages I read or how long I waited.

For the right reader, The Forrests will be breathtaking. Perkins is incredibly adept at beautiful phrases and moments, and if she wrote one, I think I'd fall in love with a short story by her because that's basically what many of the chapters were. But unfortunately lovely writing alone cannot sustain an entire novel, and as a result The Forrests left me wanting more from the characters and the story than Perkins provided.

Release Date: August 7th 2012  Pages: 352  Format: ARC 
Source: TLC Book Tours Publisher: Bloomsbury USA  Buy It: Book Depository