This is a little gem of a book. I love Castle Freeman’s writing and this is among his best.
It’s a very simple premise: in rural Vermont, a young woman goes to see the local Sheriff because she is being stalked and threatened by Blackway, a local thug who scares almost everyone. The Sheriff is unable to act without evidence, but advises her to ask some locals for help. Eventually the young and huge Nate The Great and the old, limping but wily Les agree to go with her to “see” Blackway. That’s it, really. Much of the book is the three of them visiting places and asking – in various ways – where Blackway is, and the tension builds as they move toward a confrontation. Intercut with this are conversations between the locals who didn’t go with her. And, as is remarked several times, “Blackway might have picked on the wrong girl this time, it looks like.”
It may sound a bit ordinary but it’s nothing of the sort. Freeman writes beautifully. His evocation of the hills of Vermont and life there is quite brilliant; it is delicate, subtle and almost enveloping in its atmosphere, and includes little gems like this, of a tough bar for drunks: “It was not the kind of bar where you stopped for a drink on your way home from work. It was the kind of bar where you stopped for many drinks on your way to work...”
The dialogue is simply wonderful. The Vermonters often don’t use many words, but say a great deal with them. It is wholly believable and a joy to read.
I can’t recommend this highly enough. I was engrossed, thrilled and delighted by it.
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