2007 book 153

Hillary Jordan's Mudbound
This book's plot is vaguely reminiscent of another book I read a couple years ago (though I can't remember which one and don't have time to check my archives right now--the Wii is calling me!), involving a husband, his wife, and his brother on a farm. The story starts with the burial of the brothers' father, and flashes back to the events leading to his death. Things are made more complex by the time and the setting--Mississippi in the 1940s--and by the presence of a black family whose oldest son is a war hero and chafes at returning to his previous subservient ways. The story is told from the perspectives of multiple characters--the four I've mentioned, plus the soldier's parents--which isn't always a narrative technique I like, but it really worked here, especially as the story sped up toward the end. A-.