Rating: 5/5
Review:
Gripping, haunting and insightful
I thought this was an excellent book. It is very well written, insightful and
gripping.
Desperation Road tells of two apparently unconnected lost
and half-broken souls whose stories emerge gradually. They are Maben, a youngish woman, wandering
with her young daughter, and Russell who is newly released from prison. How their stories converge and intersect emerges
slowly and compellingly. The book is set
in Mississippi, with a fine sense
of place and oppressive heat. It is hard
to give a sense of the plot without saying more than I would like to have known
before starting, but it emerges that Russell has just been released from prison
and that Maben is driven to a desperate act to save herself and her
daughter. From there we get a powerful, building
sense of menace for both of them as things close in around them. We also get some wonderful portraits of
compassion and decency, an examination of difficult moral choices and some
thoughtful observations on the nature of guilt and of redemption.
The prose is excellent.
It is quietly, almost hypnotically compelling at times. There is a deceptive simplicity to it with no
similes but a lovely rhythm, somehow, which changes to suit the mood. It has a quiet, unsensational tone; sometimes
dreadful things are hinted at or explicitly told which have real impact when
narrated in a quiet, matter-of-fact but rather beautiful way. Although it's not really poetic, its
powerful, realistic voice felt a bit like some song lyrics by people like Jason
Isbell or Bruce Springsteen.
Michael Farris Smith is both clear-eyed and compassionate in
his view of his characters, and I felt that I had read something haunting and
important here, as well as being completely gripped by the story. In short, I loved this and I can recommend it
very warmly.
(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)
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