Virginia Reeves - Work Like Any Other

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Quietly excellent

I thought this was a very good book indeed.  Before I began I wasn't sure whether I would like it, but I thought it was excellent and I enjoyed it far more than I expected to.

Set in rural 1920s Alabama, the story is narrated in two voices: one is a third person narrative, the other is told in the first person by Roscoe Martin.  Both are very well written in evocative, readable prose.  Roscoe is an electrician who is now reluctantly working his wife's farm, with his infant son and Wilson Grice, a black hired labourer whose wife Moa and their family are long-trusted friends.  Roscoe's attempt to bring electricity to the farm eventually has terrible consequences which result in his imprisonment, and the book explores the effect of this on him and on those around him.

I thought it was excellently done.  The first third or so of the book is good but not terribly engaging, but as events and characters developed I found myself being drawn in and eventually completely gripped.  The book explores the nature of guilt, of forgiveness and of redemption – and it does it brilliantly, I think.  It is complex and subtle, as are the ideas it deals with, perhaps epiomised by Roscoe's statement, "I am still unsure of my debts."

Crucially to this, I found Virginia Reeves' treatment of all her characters quite exceptionally good.  They are flawed and not always sympathetic, but always compelling and wholly believable.  There is an excellent historical background, too, not overdone but very real.  This includes the often dreadful treatment of black people, especially prisoners, which is never laboured but extremely sharply portrayed.

I ended up being utterly gripped by this book, not because there was frantic action and a thrilling climax, but because the characters drew me in so strongly and the ideas were so thought-provokingly dealt with.  I found it gripping, thoughtful and sometimes extremely touching.  I think it is a book of quiet excellence, and I can recommend it very warmly.

(I received a free ARC from Netgalley.)