3.5***

From the book jacket Thirty years ago, Martin Owenby came to New York City with dreams of becoming a writer. Now his existence revolves around cheap Scotch and weekend flings with equally damaged men. When he learns that his older brother, Leon, has gone missing, he must return to the Owenby farm in Solace Fork, North Carolina, to assist in the search. But that means facing a past filled with regrets, the family that never understood him, the girl whose heart he broke, and the best friend who has faithfully kept the home fires burning.

My reactions:
Oh, what a tangled web we weave… I’m not sure what I was thinking, even from reading the book jacket, but this was quite a bit darker than I expected. There are so many things going on, so many “secrets” (most of which are known to family and even the rest of the residents of this small town), so many betrayals. We have people consumed by alcohol (and/or drugs), mean-spirited control freaks, unfaithful spouses, guilty consciences, mental (and physical) illness and abject loneliness that comes with keeping all that bottled up. I’m exhausted by the effort required by these characters to hide so much and still co-exist in such tight quarters.

Martin is such a broken man, whose early promise has never been realized. I cannot help but think of the analogy of a basket of crabs … you don’t need a cover because if any one of the crabs tries to crawl out, the others will just drag it back into the basket. In this case it is Martin’s family situation, his loyalty to his mother, his guilt for leaving her, his shame for being who he is, a gay man in a time and place that will not tolerate such “aberration and sin.” He is so broken that he cannot even accept the love of his two loyal friends from high school – Liza and Hodge – who still love him for who he is despite his efforts to run from them.

And Martin’s sister, Ivy, is a marvelous character. Gifted (or cursed) with an ability to see and communicate with ghosts, she’s discounted by the townspeople and her family as insane and/or stupid. She is virtually invisible, mostly because no one wants to see her. As a result she’s a great observer and keeper of secrets.

As for the mystery of Martin’s missing older brother … Newton surprised me with several of the plot twists.

This is her only novel. I wish there were more for me to read. ( )

The book reminded me of The Sound and the Fury with all the different voices. The characters did not tell their own story, but an uninterested narrator explained each person. The story begins with the disappearance of the oldest of 5 siblings of a rural, mountainous town. The family and friends gather to search for the missing Leon. In the course of the narrator's ramblings, the reader learns that Martin, the youngest, is a homosexual, and that Liza, a family friend, ignores this for decades. Bertie, the wife of James, had a brief 3 day fling and no one in the town knows with whom. Sister Ivy has led a terrible life with being raped at 13 years old by a friend of Leon. And Eugenia is the "holy" woman that attends church, but has a vicious tongue. Heather Newton presents characters with all their flaws and not glossed over life Hollywood stars. As each character realizes their short comings, the story suddenly ends. ( )

Loved it. A great family story & mystery. ( )

My sister-in-law insisted I read this book. I will admit that for the past many, many days I have been telling her the same thing: I like this book, but I keep finding reasons to set it aside. It's just not grabbing hold of me. She kept telling me to keep on, and I did. Today during a lull at the store I decided to pick it up and knock a little more off, and OH MY GOODNESS did it ever just reach out and yank me up. I knew from the get-go that Heather Newton's writing was marvelous but I just was not connecting with any of the characters. Until... but you will find that place in the story yourself, I promise. Do I have to sum it up? Here goes - it's all about the power of love and family and place, and how that power holds past and future and cures and curses all in its knotted glory. ( )

LOVED!!! This was a great read! The ending was surprising and all the mysteries are tied up at the end! ( )