We follow the lives of the local High School history Teacher, Guthrie and his boys Ike and Bobby, a local teen Victoria Roubideaux and local cattle farmers the McPheron Brothers as their lives interweave together into a rich complex quilt of small town life.

I found this book to be a bit slow at first but as it warmed it up it suckered me right into the daily lives of the characters. I was on the edge of my seat turning the pages to see what new joys and pains the characters would go through. The story doesn't describe the characteristics of the the characters but centers on the development of interaction between them--the human relationships. You don't really get to know the characters or how they will react to stuff... you get to peep through the window for a short time and see how it affected them and how they viewed it. And somehow even though you do not get to know them intimately... you find your self oddly attached to them...like family.

For those who want a lot of character development this isn't a book for you. For those who like to peep through the windows of human life.. a must read. Two thumbs up here :)



Toni (USA: FL) (2009/02/14):
It was a little slow at first, but then you wanted to read more, they were real life charactors and you were in their lives for a short time. It ended different than I thought it would, leaving you wanting to know what happened after the book was over.



Sarah Mayper (USA: MA) (2009/07/02):
I loved this book. True to the title, it's written in a pared-down, simple way that makes a powerful impression and I found the story and characters compelling. I'm a teacher and I'd love to teach this book, despite some explicit sex.




bjr711 (USA: CO) (2010/08/24):
Loved the book very true to life. There is a sequel called EvenTide that continues the story.