What the have-nots want
The small-town setting of Thom Vernon's novel provides proximity, intensity, layering and claustrophobia
Reviewed by Patricia Dawn Robertson
Globe and Mail Update Published on Monday, Jun. 14, 2010 11:09AM EDT
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-the-drifts-by-thom-vernon/article1603396/If you appreciate Carson McCuller's classic debut novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, you must read Thom Vernon's The Drifts. This magnificent first novel by this U.S.-born, Toronto-based actor-turned-writer offers up jaded Southern Gothic characters without the sweltering heat. In this contemporary take on inconsolable misfits, four eccentric characters compete for narrative dominance in this riveting account of small-town life in the socially conservative U.S. South.
The action takes place as a massive snowstorm blows into Bay, Ark. Julie is angry (and pregnant) by her husband, Charlie. Charlie is having an affair with Wilson but wants Julie to keep the baby. Wilson, a compassionate woman shaped like a Maytag, is besotted with her childhood pal, Dol, who spends a lot of time putting on eyeliner for his job at Ayers' bar. Dol just wants a sexual reassignment, but his HMO won't cover it. The ongoing tension between "having" and "wanting" is what drives this narrative forward.
