Gail Godwin's Flora
Godwin's latest, after Unfinished Desires, is kind of one of those novels where a sad, lonely, and overly imaginative little girl causes a lot of trouble without really meaning to. (Saying so isn't a spoiler--there's plenty of foreshadowing that the summer this story takes place won't have a very happy ending.) Anyway, the deal here is that ten-year-old Helen, raised primarily by her recently deceased grandmother, has her older cousin Flora staying with her for the summer while her father is working on a construction project at Oak Ridge (the story takes place during WWII, if that gives a hint about what kind of project he might be doing). Then there's a polio outbreak, and the two are confined in Helen's crazy old house in the NC mountains, with only a cleaning lady and a grocery delivery guy to break the monotony. Helen is mildly dislikable, or at least is purposefully unpleasant, but is still a really sympathetic character, and I like Godwin's writing a lot. Things are somewhat predictable, but I didn't mind too much. Quick read, maybe good for those more serious-minded summer readers. B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on May 7th.
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