This book is an eye-opening look at a subculture I didn’t know much about: the lives of long term low-income residents of the Ozarks in the United States. Written about ten years ago, it tells a fictional tale of a young teenage woman who is sort of co-opted into the role of head of household, and shows how much courage and conviction she exhibits to protect herself and her family.
The scenes of poverty and violence are pretty gut-wrenching. Boys and men are expected to cook meth and go to jail. Women are expected to marry and get pregnant. Relatives are there to protect their own. And no matter what, nobody talks to the police.
This would all be pretty depressing if it wasn’t for some beautiful writing and interesting background into the people’s lives and the generations that came before. Thanks to the beauty in this book I could stomach the brutality.
Next I’m reading A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker.
