IN THE SHADOW OF THE WATER TOWER

In Kirby’s debut novel, two brothers in their 60s unexpectedly become the executors of a $50 million estate, with instructions to disperse funds as they see fit among the citizens and institutions of their childhood hometown.

Brothers Joe and Darren are piqued when a lawyer sets them up on a conference call and tells them that a seemingly impoverished neighbor from their hometown has died and included the brothers in his sizable estate. When Joe and Darren fly to Glenville, Indiana, to hear the details, they discover that while no money is being given to them directly, they are now responsible for choosing how to give away the $50 million to Glenville’s inhabitants and businesses. As Joe and Darren begin to explore how Glenville has changed since their boyhood days, they find many people have died, moved away, or grown into entirely different, more mature versions of themselves. The book adopts a vignette-style narrative, where each chapter is anchored by the exploration of a new person’s life story, with asides about Joe’s and Darren’s relationship and experiences helping to flesh out and sustain the narrative. After speaking with a young waitress about how difficult it is for young people to find work in present-day Glenville, Joe reminiscences about a relatively cushy adolescent summer job helping weigh trucks—though very little truck-weighing, and a vast amount of basketball with neighboring children, took place. Like a Midwestern version of The Canterbury Tales, the book is rich in anecdotes from midcentury Middle America, but it lacks a compelling throughline. While the plot does deliver on its eventual promise, the chapters’ drawn-out pacing tends to drain away any urgency. The prose is rather dry: “The next morning Joe and I had a meeting set up with many of the church leaders in town to talk about their various community outreach programs. Again, John Bourke had helped us with tracking down the right contacts and paving the way for a meeting. We really didn’t know how to handle this category of service provider.” Nevertheless, the relationship between Joe and Darren is deeply felt and genuinely emotionally resonant.

A portrait of a loving, brotherly relationship served in an inventive narrative device that explores the bonds of family, responsibility and the changing nature of time.