A dark book but a deeply meaningful book. A great book. The mood and characters are detailed and authentic.It gives you empathy for broken people who spiral and make bad choices. The terrible tragedy about a murder in some town you see in the news , where someone "just snapped", and think about for 20 seconds. This book lays out the backstory of a life that leads there.

This is the first book I have read by Russell Banks - great writing. There are several scenes of difficult, awkward and angry human interactions are brilliantly painted.