From Publishers Weekly
Covington ( Gathering Home ) uses a shared crisis to dramatize forgiveness in this multifaceted, absorbing tale, set in an Alabama mining town in December 1941. Pearl Harbor doesn't yet mean much to just-married 19-year-old Keller Hayes--he's far more worried that Bolivia, the local prostitute, will tell the townspeople that the child she's carrying is his, or that his father-in-law, Scotty, a mean drunk, will carry out his threat to shoot him. On Christmas Eve, when a mine wall collapses, trapping several men, Keller's fears shift to his father, a miner. Bolivia then becomes Keller's comforter rather than his enemy, and Scotty forsakes hatred for fellowship, discovering that he can go without a drink. The narrative centers on the three grim, suspenseful winter days during which the miners are caught below ground while their friends and families wait helplessly above. Although personality changes--such as Scotty's transformation from hillbilly alcoholic to concerned citizen--are implausibly sudden, Covington's deeply etched characters inspire readers' affection. The deftly paced, lyrical narrative is made all the more affecting by the looming shadow of WW II.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Covington ( Gathering Home ) uses a shared crisis to dramatize forgiveness in this multifaceted, absorbing tale, set in an Alabama mining town in December 1941. Pearl Harbor doesn't yet mean much to just-married 19-year-old Keller Hayes--he's far more worried that Bolivia, the local prostitute, will tell the townspeople that the child she's carrying is his, or that his father-in-law, Scotty, a mean drunk, will carry out his threat to shoot him. On Christmas Eve, when a mine wall collapses, trapping several men, Keller's fears shift to his father, a miner. Bolivia then becomes Keller's comforter rather than his enemy, and Scotty forsakes hatred for fellowship, discovering that he can go without a drink. The narrative centers on the three grim, suspenseful winter days during which the miners are caught below ground while their friends and families wait helplessly above. Although personality changes--such as Scotty's transformation from hillbilly alcoholic to concerned citizen--are implausibly sudden, Covington's deeply etched characters inspire readers' affection. The deftly paced, lyrical narrative is made all the more affecting by the looming shadow of WW II.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
