Summer 1959 was sweltering in Prince Edward County, Virginia, but it wasn't just the humidity that had the locals hot under the collar. The public schools were closing - a daring attempt to defy federally forced integration.
McFarland tells the story of that summer through the eyes of 10-year-old Benjamin Rome, who watches the fevered activities of the adults around him - his bigoted chicken-farmer father, his good-ole-boy brother, his tyrannical grandfather - with a certain detachment, concerned mainly about how their activities might impinge on the life of his best friend Burghardt, the son of Benjamin's father's black hired hand.
McFarland shows admirable restraint in telling this emotionally charged story; he draws effectively on the historical record, including several real-life supporting characters, but it is the family drama that draws us in and reminds us how history is made while ordinary people are cleaning out the chicken coops.
A brilliant melding of historical record and personal experience, McFarland's fifth novel is an affirmation of his emotional insight and graceful narrative gifts.
