When challenged to read Literary Fiction what do you do? Most of the published lists are from the popular mainstream and don't include the offbeat or below the radar writing. I suggest to begin looking at what the Pulitzer Prize committee or Mann Booker Award committee has long listed. Using those lists as a jumping off point, I believe Burgess Boys falls into the category of Literary Fiction. We have family issues galore, a not so positive ending, and several characters that do not 'grow' during the unraveling of the story.
The Burgess brothers grew up in Shirley Falls, Maine and escaped as fast as they possibly could. Unfortunately Shirley Falls never let them go. Their sister calls with the news that her son, Zach has been arrested for a hate crime. Susan needs their help and with that phone call all of their carefully constructed lives begin to unravel. Jim and Bob who are New York lawyers arrive and begin to find their legendary status isn't going to make the trouble go away.
As we follow the course of Zach's troubles we find out about the beginnings of the Burgess brothers, their life choices and the women they have loved and/or lost. This isn't a book to find a redemptive ending. Several of the characters are downright unlikable. Is the situation resolved to our satisfaction? I think Strout dodged what could have been an excellent novel exploring family relationships by choosing to have a character leave for a while. I also think the narrator chosen for the audio has a voice that really didn't catch my interest and it was a struggle to keep pushing ahead. But hey, its Literary Fiction, what did you expect?
Six Degrees of Reading: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.
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