Haven Kimmel's Novels

I have just begun reading Something Rising (Light and Swift) which is the second book in a sort of geographic trilogy, all focusing on fictional, small town rural Indiana and all filled with tough, eccentric residents. I can already tell that this novel will be rewarding, but it is somewhat slow to build. First and foremost, its heroine Cassie Claiborne, age 10, supports her family by hustling pool. Her family life is bleak and dismal; her family members are a neurotic crew, each believable and sympathetic.

This book bears little resemblance to Kimmel's The Solace of Leaving Early, but it does contain the same quiet charm. The Solace of Leaving Early is a heartbreaking/heartwarming tale of two individuals at odds with themselves and small-town life. Kimmel's characters in Solace are troubled individuals seeking solace, struggling with their problems, both large and small. Langston, the main character has walked out on her PHD oral exams, returning to her hometown, while Amos, the town minister is torn by a tragedy he was unable to prevent. Kimmel's wonderful gift for slowly revealing secrets is what helps this novel to be so enjoyable. There is a great deal to enjoy in this lovely novel that is told with empathy and

wit.

The third installment of the trilogy is The Used World, which also features Amos and is placed in rural Indiana, but, again, is a completely different story. I think we visited that novel on this blog a month or so ago.

"BLOOM"-ING BOOKS

Now that I have completed all of the fiction that Amy Bloom has written, I am looking forward to what she will be writing in the future. She is a past National Book Award finalist for her earlier short story collection, Come to Me, which I beleive we've visited on this blog before.

I recently read Bloom's first novel, Love Invents Us, which chronicles Elizabeth Taube's, rather disturbing journey into adolescence, then adulthood, introducing along the way a collection of vividly drawn characters, who are each a vital part of this neurotic, but perceptive young girl's life. While not a heartwarming novel, it is captivating. Bloom's Elizabeth, lonely and neglected, is an intriguing heroine whose burgeoning self-discovery and identity questions is sympathetic and real . Bloom, who teaches creative writing at Yale, is a former pyschotherapist; readers will wonder how if many of Bloom's clientele appear in this work, as well as her two short story collections and her new novel, Away.