…Feather Crowns, by Bobbie Ann Mason. I’d liked Mason’s early short stories. I’d liked In Country, book and movie, too. But I hadn’t read anything by her since, until I plucked this out of a take one/leave one box. (I left one on ESP, which someone else took.) Anyway, this was quite fun. No brain twists or jolts but many affectionate sounds and smiles. One momentous event happens and then a second and lives are shaken and stirred. Most of the action takes place in rural 1900 Kentucky, with one dip back in time, and two brief, separate ones ahead. Mason imagines her way through this for her central character in ways that left me shaking my head in appreciation of her skill. A fine reminder of the pleasures a well-done, traditional novel can provide.
So many Bob Levins on the Internet; I'm the Bob Levin who writes.