Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel (original 2010; edition 2010)

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, started off slowly for me, but after approximately 75 pages,I was hooked on the story.

Silas Jones and Larry Ott went to school together in the 1970's. This was a time of racial unrest, and since Silas was African American and Larry was white it was difficult for them to be friends outwardly. Despite this racial discord, Larry and Silas did have a friendship for a short time, and although their friendship lasted only 3 months, it had far-reaching impact for both of them.

Larry, who was a misunderstood, awkward, friendless and emotionally abused child became an ostracized pariah after taking a classmate out on a date and the girl never returned home and was never seen again. Larry remained in his hometown, living in his parents' house, essentially having no customers for his father's automotive business, and selling off parts of his property in order to survive. Larry was desperate for a friend, but he was always a loner, and after the unsolved disappearance, Larry was shunned openly by society.

Silas was a talented baseball player as a young man. He grew up incredibly poor, and although his mother did the very best she could to take care of him, he never quite understood all the sacrifices she made for him. As an adult, he is the local constable and well respected in the community.

When a local college student goes missing, Larry is in the spotlight again.

I haven't read many stories that took place in the 1970(s) where the African American character is portrayed as thriving and the white character is depicted as down on his luck. It was a very interesting perspective.

I enjoyed the flashbacks of both Larry's and Silas' past. However, there are few joyous memories for either of the men. Even though both men grew up with opposite circumstances, the time was a difficult one, and they suffered for it.

Initially, I struggled with the story, but I am so glad I persevered. It truly was an engaging story, one I would have been sad to have missed. ( )

4.5 stars ( )

I love Tom Franklin, but Poachers is still my favorite. Those stories are surprising and strange, and they manage to conjure a south I'd never encountered before. In Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, I felt like I'd been there, had seen it, and pretty much knew this story already and (not from Tom Franklin). The writing is beautiful and some of the dialogue is perfect, but I really missed the depravity. Can I say that? That I missed the depravity?


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I love Tom Franklin, but Poachers is still my favorite. Those stories are surprising and strange, and they manage to conjure a south I'd never encountered before. In Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, I felt like I'd been there, had seen it, and pretty much knew this story already and (not from Tom Franklin). The writing is beautiful and some of the dialogue is perfect, but I really missed the depravity. Can I say that? That I missed the depravity?


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The author
Tom Franklin was born and raised in Dickinson, Alabama. He held various jobs as a struggling writer living in South Alabama, including working as a heavy-equipment operator in a grit factory, a construction inspector in a chemical plant and a clerk in a hospital morgue. In 1997 he received his MFA from the University of Arkansas. His first book, Poachers was named as a Best First Book of Fiction by Esquire and Franklin received a 1999 Edgar Award for the title story. Franklin has published two novels: Hell at the Breech, published in 2003 and Smonk published in 2006. The recipient of the 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship, Franklin now teaches in the University of Mississippi's MFA program and lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his wife, the poet Beth Ann Fennelly, and their children

The synopsis
In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county—and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town.
More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they've buried and ignored for decades.

The review
This books starts very detailed. You learn abut practically every plant growing in a garden and the exact color of the sock the protagonist wears. This goes on for the first 80 pages making them a real struggle to get trough. I even had to start a second book not to get annoyed by it. But once the whole background is explained the story speeds up nicely.
Due to the very detailed start the two main characters are very well described. The bound between the two man is written out clear too.
The book is a nice puzzle. Though it gets easier to put the pieces together nearing the end and nothing really came as a surprise for me the developments in the story are steady and well worked out.
Wont be the first book to come up in my mind when someone will ask me for a recommendation but if someone would ask me if they should ready it I will advice them to give it a go. ( )