by Richard Ford
First published 1991
Joe Brinson is sixteen when his father relocates the family to Great Falls, Montana. The move marks the beginning of a crisis that will test every bond Joe thought he understood. His parents, once stable figures in his world, begin to fracture under pressures that seem to emerge from nowhere and everywhere at once. Joe observes as the adults around him make choices that baffle and frighten him. His father's decisions push the family toward a precipice, while his mother responds in ways that shatter Joe's assumptions about who she is. The forces pulling at his family grow stronger each day, and Joe finds himself caught between childhood and a harsh new understanding of what adults are capable of. Ford places readers directly inside Joe's experience as he witnesses love and loyalty bend toward their breaking points. This is a story about the moment when a young person discovers that the people who raised him are more fragile and unpredictable than he ever imagined.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, family-drama, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Great Falls, Montana
Period: 20th Century
177 pages · Paperback · Vintage