by Jane Hamilton
Choice Although the setting of this promising first novel is a rural Illinois town, its dreariness and emptiness remind the readers of the New Southern Gothic novels or Carolyn Chute's recent fiction about the Bean and LeTourneau families of Maine. From a collection of grotesques with appropriately bizarre and violent behavior emerges the resilient protagonist who has been written off as one of the underclass. Ruth is a loser whose dreams are quickly aborted; as she tells the cringing reader, "I knew we were poor and strange." Her self-awareness and matter-of-fact acceptance of her situation, which includes her relationship with her abusive mother, her violent husband, and her infant son, save the novel from becoming pathos. Despite the author's attempts to turn Ruth's story into a tour de force, this is a well-written novel with an interesting plot line. The grotesque characters and the touches of sardonic humor fit well with the author's tone. At times Hamilton seems heavy-handed in her characterizations of the do-gooders and social welfare people who wish to salvage or remake Ruth whose high point is the night she completed a seven and ten split for the Trim'NTidy Dry Cleaners' bowling team. Libraries that include novels in their collections should consider this one. Copyright American Library Association, used with permission. Publishers Weekly ``In her first novel, Hamilton takes on a challenge too large for her talents,'' said PW of this tale about a Midwestern woman who is loyal to her wounded and wounding family. ``Hamilton evokes Ruth's character marvelously, but others as seen by her are incompletely rendered.'' (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved Library Journal When a Wall Street Journal writer observed that "simple tales of life and sorrow in the heartland are red hot," he wasn't writing about Hamilton's (A Map of the World, Audio Reviews, LJ 7/95) novel, but he might as well have been. Ruth, an Illinois farm girl, gives a first-person account of her life in an effort to make sense of what has happened to her and her tragedy-prone family. The language of this novel, by turns naturalistic, romantic, and occasionally humorous, has a freshness and originality of expression, and Mare Winningham's vital and poignant reading makes Ruth come alive. Recommended for public libraries.?Jacqueline Seewald, Red Bank Regional H.S. Lib., N.J. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. (c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Kirkus The country folk in Hamilton's first novel lead plain, hard, impoverished lives--on a good day. When things get bad, there's brutality, bestiality, and no small amount of bloodshed. These are the same raw ingredients used by Flannery O'Connor and Carolyn Chute, but Hamilton does not share their sharp, tragicomic vision. Her rural Illinois characters are blunted by the meanness of their lives. Some escape, others just wait it out until they die. Ruth, the narrator, is caught somewhere in between. Suffering through a thoroughly rotten childhood--she's abandoned by her father Elmer, verbally lacerated by her mother May, and constantly compared, unfavorably, to her prodigy brother Matthew--she finds comfort in carrying on a secret correspondence with her beautiful Aunt Sid, who believes in her. Later, while employed as a helper to a blind neighbor, Ruth gets hooked on good books while listening to recordings of the classics, and things bode well--she's going places. But, somehow, it never happens. Ruth goes to work at the dry cleaners, along with May. She takes up bowling. And then she marries Ruby, a sweet, confused former gas-station attendant who likes to spend his days smoking dope and adoring her. They live with acid-tongued May for a few long, hard winters and, finally, inevitably, violence erupts, shattering Ruth's life. Hamilton's writing is strong and clear, even if her intentions are a trifle obscure. She gives Ruth plenty of spark but then lets her fizzle, surprisingly, before our eyes. Whatever the message is, it's not bright with hope. Still, this is an affecting first novel, dark and knowing. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission. |
