ICYMI: MacArthur's stories, set in rural Vermont, are tragic, beautiful, heartwarming, and heartbreaking.
MacArthur, who is from Vermont and lives on the farm where her grandparents lived and where she was born, here offers stories spanning forty years, featuring women, men, and young people tied to the beautiful and wild land of rural Vermont and to each other.
I loved these vaguely interconnected, often beautifully and minorly (or majorly) tragic but never overblown stories set in rural Vermont. The themes feel potentially universal to other small, rural communities.
The author has an eye for the details that bring characters to life and a gift for showing readers the grit, emotion, imperfection, and beauty related to the setting that shapes them.
Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?
MacArthur is also the author of the mystery Heart Spring Mountain.
If you like short stories, check out The Office of Historical Corrections--a very different short story collection I thought was great.