In Brookhouse’s novel, the history of a small Southern town comes alive as a newcomer searches for answers about a lost ancestor.

It’s 1990 in Elland,North Carolina, when handsome, scholarly vagabond Theo Vos takes up residence in the Castle, the historic estate of the refined Calla Drew, her heavy-drinking writer husband, Milo, and their agoraphobic teenage daughter, Martha, whom Theo has been hired to tutor. When he’s not translating French poetry to his precocious student, Theo can be found at Dolley’s Tavern with Calla’s brother-in-law, Jefferson, an affable imbiber who fancies himself a “guardian of local culture.” Jefferson’s collection of books on the history of Mott County is useful to Theo, who’s researching a long-lost relative whom he believes passed through the county—a place “known for its mountain music, outlaw ways, quaint speech, and vicious home brew.” Little does he know that Milo’s latest novel is an account of that very relative: Plymm, a Union Army soldier discharged after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. As the book jumps between the past (as rendered through excerpts from Milo’s first-person novel) and the present, Theo finds the answers he’s searching for—and more. Brookhouse’s latest novel features the same nimble prose found in his previous work, including A Pinch of Salt (2020) and Percy’s Field (2018). The antiquated language of Milo’s Finding Plymm, the book within the book, is particularly pleasing. However, Brookhouse’s novel also has one foot in the archetypal past when it comes to its depiction of its female characters—from Martha, a mentally fragile figure with the much-ballyhooed “body of a young Grace Kelly,” to the housekeeper, Mrs. Garth, whose genitals Milo describes as “the portal of pleasure,” wholly separate from the woman herself. That aside, Brookhouse has crafted an intricate, engaging, and cohesive page-turner.

A Southern gothic tale with a propulsive plot but uneven character development.

Corruption and the disappearance of a former student bring a growing sense of unease to a college town in Brookhouse’s novel.

Lenny Grey is a student, “when he can afford it.” He attends Prester, located in Prester, North Carolina, and considered one of the most prestigious private colleges in the South. He has only a few courses to complete before being handed an English degree, but he’s struggling to find the funds to graduate despite working side jobs as a waiter and handyman. As a prizewinning essayist, he is asked by the college to tutor student athletes. The school has a history of not admitting “more than the token Black,” but an exception is made for Wallace Wallace, a basketball star who struggles academically. Lenny is unofficially tasked with writing Wallace’s papers—in other words, cheating. In addition to racism and corruption, Prester is also dogged by the disappearance of Haley Flagg, a college dropout. After a private detective is hired and the town is found to be a font of unsavory activity, none of its citizens is beyond suspicion. The prose is an urgent machine-gun rattle of short, precise, descriptive sentences: “Home again. Maisie’s Bug was behind the trailer. Lenny lifted the tarp.” This sense of immediacy is tempered by occasional passages of ponderous, atmospheric prose: “Once upon a time seasonal darkness relieved only by the thin flame of a candle provided opportunity for contemplation and ruminating on the baffling questions of mortality.” The plot unfolds at a leisurely pace—perhaps too leisurely for some readers. The unrushed narrative provides opportunities to get to know some of the oddball townsfolk the author has created, such as the controversial artist Zephyr Harrison, who is paid to paint some young girls: “If Daddy wanted prim purity and the sloe-eyed family spaniel, he should have commissioned someone else.” Drawing upon this cast of strange, psychologically convincing characters, Brookhouse cleverly pulls back the skin of small-town America to reveal deeply rooted racism and multiple layers of sleaze. The story is unpredictable, throwing in a delicious plot twist that will keep readers guessing until the end.

Sufficiently gripping and intricate to excuse the slow reveal.