Empire Falls (original 2001; edition 2002)

...maybe even 4.25. Russo excels at creating believable, flawed, sometimes slightly heroic, sometimes rather pathetic characters that are-above all-horribly, embarrassingly human. Some painfully harsh (because true!) observations that just may have you recognizing pieces of yourself & reeling backward saying "ouch!". This is a somewhat epic voyage of a book, touching on a great many players & skipping backward & forward through time. This is handled very well, carefully building interest & empathy for the players involved. Shaving off fractions of points for a few things. I generally think Russo's females are not as well written & developed as his males, & that he tends to tie things up a little nicely for my taste. All in all a great, if emotionally draining, read. ( )

Dominated by the Whiting family, the founders of the three mills that provided employment for most of the town's residents, Empire Falls finds itself in sharp decline at the turn of the twenty-first century. Its mills are closed, stores are boarded up, and its population is dwindling. The families that remain live on memories of the past and the shared fantasy that the mills will reopen and the once-thriving town will experience a renaissance. However, the formidable Mrs. Whiting, widow of the last Whiting son (and rumored to be the richest woman in central Maine), makes no concessions to the community's needs or fantasies. As the owner of the few viable businesses left in Empire Falls and a dependable, if begrudging, source of funds for essential town improvements, Mrs. Whiting wields her power over the town and its inhabitants with an iron will.

Miles Roby was once known around town as a young man smart enough to escape Empire Falls. A devoted son, he put his dreams on hold when his mother's illness interrupted his last year of college. Twenty years later, Miles is the proprietor of Mrs. Whiting's just barely profitable Empire Grill, the soon-to-be ex-husband of Janine (who has left him for the slick owner of the flashy new health club), and the proud father of Tick, a bright, loving teenager. Seduced by Mrs. Whiting's promise to bequeath him the restaurant, Miles stoically submits to her arbitrary, often humiliating demands—until the accidental discovery of a family secret shocks him into a troubling reevaluation of his life and the small town that shaped it. Nothing, however, prepares him for the horrific event that ultimately sets him free.

A very long book and small print. Quite hard to read. ( )

This was a very s-l-o-w read for me, but it wasn't because the book was not well-written. It was because it took awhile to absorb everything that Russo was trying to convey. What I absolutely loved about this book is that he could create a character who was simultaneously disagreeable and yet somehow lovable. While reading this book, I couldn't help thinking what a great movie it would be. So, I looked it up and it has been done. I'll be taking that out of the library soon...maybe today! ( )

Everybody in this novel is stuck, trapped in a dying town. There are villains, there are good guys. At the end of the book, after feints toward change and a high school massacre, every one seems well on their way to settling back into their old ruts. No thanks. ( )

pithy, humorous, but flawed by author's use of school shooting as an anticlimax; characters were charming likeable, although Miles seemed unbelievable