I marvel at Joan Livingston. Four years ago, this resident of Shelburne Falls left her job as editor-in-chief of the Valley, overseeing the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the Greenfield Recorder and the Athol Daily News. Since then, she has written five books and recorded an audiobook.
She is currently working on two screenplay projects with a writing partner. I’m sure she has more books in the works as well.
Talk about a work ethic! I admit I’m a little jealous. It takes me years to write one measly book. And all of hers are good.
The most recent is “The Unforgiving Town” (Independently Published, 248 pages, $14.99). Technically, this is a sequel to “The Sacred Dog,” an earlier novel about enmity between two residents of the fictional Massachusetts hilltown of Holden.
You don’t need to have read the previous book to read this one, however. Livingston makes her characters so vivid that they are easy to get to know.
“The Unforgiving Town” begins with the discovery of a body on a back road. The deceased is quickly identified as Al Kitchen, who arrived in town a week earlier after 17 years in prison on a manslaughter sentence.
Al appears to have met with an accident while bicycling … but the town’s part-time police chief suspects foul play.
He knows, and the reader soon learns as the book goes back in time to chronicle Al’s final days, that Al has met with hostility from just about everyone in town since his return.
The man he killed all those years ago, the owner of the local bar, was popular. Al, who was known as a troublemaker in his youth, killed the man while attempting to rob the bar. The two had a longstanding feud, and most people in Holden believe the killing was murder, not mere manslaughter.
The reader gets to know Al, who has nowhere to go but the house he has inherited from his beloved grandmother. His cousin Bernie has been living there, and he invites her to stay on. A lesbian who keeps to herself, Bernie understands just how prejudiced people in small towns can be.
Sometimes prison does actually redeem people, and it seems to have redeemed Al. He began reading and learning about the world while incarcerated. He learned to work hard and live productively. He has come to rue the dark deeds of his youth.
All he wants is to fix up his grandmother’s house — he sees this as an act of service to her memory — get a job and live a quiet life. In short, to become a useful member of society.
Unfortunately, as the book’s title indicates, most of the residents of Holden are unwilling to accept him as anything other than a murderer. When he dies, his cousin is the sole mourner.
“The Unforgiving Town” is an absorbing read that may challenge the assumptions of those of us who live in small towns.
I generally think that it’s a good thing that most of us in these communities know each other’s business. That knowledge helps us look after our neighbors. Nevertheless, what starts as interesting gossip can become destructive. It certainly does damage in this story.
The book isn’t entirely dark. Al’s death offers useful lessons to several people in town. Joan Livingston has crafted a good read that gives the reader hope. If this criminal can reform, so can any of us.
Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning writer and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.