August 1, 2005
This accomplished, moving first novel (after Bailey's collection Crow Man
) is about fathers and sons, tough love and compassion, the bonds of community and the solace of belief. Gary and Susan Hazen are natives of Lost Lake, a hardscrabble town in the Adirondacks, high school sweethearts who have raised their two sons on the satisfaction of living off the land. At this suspenseful narrative's outset, Susan recollects a fateful day, the start of deer hunting season, hinting that some tragedy has struck her loving but combustible family. Gary is a highly principled and respected woodsman and hunter, but his self-righteousness brings him into conflict with his sons. Both young men have secrets that will strain the family fabric, and together father and sons weave a tangle of intention and circumstance that will culminate in an act that will test their power to survive. Alternately narrated by the Hazen family and members of the community, the novel sustains an elegiac tone even as events rise to a dramatic denouement. This novel has the validity of deeply felt truths and characters who are bound and motivated by a love that arches the chasm of divergent ambitions and desires. Agent, Jane Gelfman
.
September 1, 2005
Gary Hazen, his wife, and two grown sons live a hard, simple life in the remotest region of New York State. Gary expects his sons to share his values and work ethic unquestioningly, but their loyalties are divided. The novel's prolog indicates that something tragic will happen during the deer hunt on which the three men are about to embark, but the exact nature of this event is not revealed until the book's close. In alternating chapters, the Hazens, as well as other members of their community, narrate the events leading up to the hunt with mixed success. In most cases, the voices are not distinct enough from each other, and some chapters given to minor characters do little more than slow down the plot. Nevertheless, first novelist Bailey (see his short story collection "Crow Man") does well in setting up the relationships and motivations of his cast, encouraging the reader's emotional investment in the book's conclusion. Recommended for most public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ "6/15/05.] -Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
February 1, 2006
Adult/High School -Gary Hazen lives with his wife and two grown sons in the Adirondacks, close to the Canadian border. They spend their days cutting trees, growing vegetables, and hunting for animals. Gary tries to keep his family together by providing for them as fathers have for centuries. Holding on to traditions and his own high standards, he expects them to do the same despite the many conflicts both internal and external affecting their lives. This exquisite novel centers around one event: opening day of deer-hunting season. An annual ritual for the Hazens, this important occasion determines how well they will eat during the harsh winter to come. When the younger son, a college student, decides not to participate in this year -s hunt, his father becomes enraged and hits him, prompting Kevin to move in with his pregnant girlfriend on campus. In the meantime, the newly hired environmental conservation officer is determined to catch Gary illegally bagging an extra deer. Each chapter, written from one of the Hazens - viewpoints or those of other characters impacting their lives, builds up to the final tragedy as foreshadowed in the prologue. Vivid descriptions of the natural environment are abundant in this beautifully written first novel. A profoundly emotional experience, the story will hook readers." -Pat Bender, The Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, PA"
Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 15, 2006
In a small town in the rural South of the 1940s, a white social worker fights to keep alive the young daughter of a woman recently hanged and burned--without benefit of a trial--for drowning a white baby in her care. The problem is that the black woman, Letitia Johnson, didn't drown the baby, and the townsfolk don't want to face the possibility that the socialite mother may have committed the crime. Letitia had been nanny to the mother, a fragile woman in a troubled marriage, and was charged with caring for the baby--even if it meant neglecting her own 12-year-old daughter. Baby Allen, the social worker, defies convention, including the recruitment of Klan members and the thirsting for revenge by the town sadist. Jake Lemaster, a one-armed former football hero and son of Boss Chief who runs the local prison farm, helps Baby rescue the girl as he seeks redemption from the racial hatred and seething secrets of the small town. Bailey offers strong characters and sense of place in this gripping novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)
Starred review from August 1, 2005
Longtime residents of a beautiful, isolated Adirondack Mountain community, the fiercely independent Hazens are highly disciplined hunters who eke a mean living out of the land. A Vietnam vet, patriarch Gary has seen firsthand the destructiveness unleashed when events spiral out of control, and he keeps a tight rein on his sons. Now, however, he senses that his youngest son, Kevin, has academic ambitions that will prevent him from putting in the long hours necessary to keep the family's finances afloat. Even 24-year-old Gary David, who loves the land as much as his father, must sneak out of the house in the middle of the night to meet his girlfriend, a rookie conservation officer whom his father despises. A series of tense confrontations mars the weeks leading up to the annual opening of deer-hunting season, a day that culminates in unforeseen tragedy. In his first novel, Bailey displays a consummate sense of craft, employing multiple perspectives to tell a dramatic, heartbreaking story to stunning effect. ?Although the prose is spare, it yet captures powerful emotional undercurrents set against a wild, immutable landscape as Bailey addresses human fallibility and the pitfalls of pride. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)