The Maid's Version By Daniel Woodrell

Daniel Woodrell a Pen West award winner for his novel,Tomato Red. and the author of Winter's Bone, which was made into a movie that starred Jennifer Lawrence, has done it again.

The Maid's Version


Mr. Woodrell, the man from the Ozarks has written a multi character, historically set, dosed with complex personalities, and a setting as visual as as serene drive down a lazy mountain road.

The Maid's Version: A Novel is told by the grandson of Alma DeGreer Dunahew. Alma, who is a maid for a prominent family in West Table Missouri is privy to much, but also consumed by the loss of her beloved sister, Ruby, and her own speculation. Is she right? You decide? 

 Mr. Woodrell's creation of a grandson to tell this story gives the reader the linkage needed to carry it through a time line that spans half a century. The story starts in 1929, and moves through several characters of various sorts. A preacher who decries the scandalous behavior in the local dance hall. Gypsies, disliked disdained, dishonored in the minds of good towns folk, a citizen with a criminal past, and a Prominent citizen. 

The big question is. Who is responsible? Responsible for a fire so ravenous, so intense, so destructive that it kills forty-two of the locals in a  blast that defies explanation. Of course there's an investigation, but no concrete answers come quickly and hearts and minds burn with anger over the lost loved ones. 

I read this book as hardbound and I've placed it on my bookshelf among my favorites, and books to share with friends. 

Rating for  The Maid's Version: A Novel by Daniel Woodrell is Five Full Sails!  Excellent story line, character development, with descriptive, impressive writing.

Echo Dot on Sale $49.99 

Next Post: Book Review, The Dead, By James Joyce

Post Date, 01/25/2017



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