This is my second post on small town American novels, a setting I find almost as irresistible as New York, and not one I’m likely to tire of anytime soon. Below 
are five more favourites, all with links to reviews on this blog.
Sue Miller’s The Arsonist is set in the New Hampshire town of Pomeroy where Frankie has returned to her family’s holiday home, fresh from her stint as an NGO health worker in Kenya. At the annual July 4th tea party she meets Bud, the owner of the local newspaper and a newcomer to Pomeroy. Gradually the attraction between them grows advancing with all the caution of two middle-aged people bruised by experience. All this is set against a backdrop of holiday homes burning down and burgeoning tensions between the summer people and the locals. I’m a great fan of Miller’s quietly insightful novels many of which have small town settings. At their core are relationships between men and women – their passions, joys, and tensions – and the ways in which they manage, or don’t, the constant round of compromise and negotiation.
Set in the kind of New England seaside town where families have lived for so long there are coves named after them, Ann Leary’s The Good House is narrated by Hildy Good, successful realtor and descendent of a Salem witch. Always on the lookout for saleable property, Hildy’s eyeing up the house she sold Rebecca McAllister and her husband. Rebecca seems unhappy, in need of a friend and Hildy steps into the breach becoming Rebecca’s confidante, learning secrets best kept to herself. Leary’s novel is as much about Hildy and her refusal to accept her alcoholism as it is about the events that play out in Wendover, although there’s plenty of drama to unfold.
Float Up, Sing Down tells the stories of fourteen inhabitants of the small Indiana town where the star of Laird Hunt’s Zorrie 
finally settled. It’s the day of monthly Bright Creek Girls Gaming Club meeting. Gladys left early as ever, Lois is pleased with her winnings, recording it in her diary and noting that Zorrie was characteristically quiet. Meanwhile fifteen-year-old Della and Sugar have been caught kissing in a barn, earning the attention of Della’s grandfather. As the day draws to a close, his daughter tries to escape a baroque dream, unaware of the news that awaits her. Hunt’s characters are people who know each other well, many have grown up together, loved each other and shared each other griefs. Some are bit players, others are at the heart of the story, sharing a secret that will never be divulged. A cleverly constructed, empathetic and insightful piece of fiction.
I tend to bracket poet Ron Rash’s Appalachian novels alongside Kent Haruf’s carefully crafted Holt series. Set in 1951,
during the Korean War, The Caretaker has at its heart the cruellest of deceptions. Disinherited by his wealthy parents for his marriage to a hotel maid, Jacob had asked his childhood friend to look after his pregnant wife before he left. When a telegram arrives at the town’s post office, addressed to Naomi telling her of Jacob’s return, wounded in action, a misguided act of kindness leads to a deception which causes terrible heartache. Rash sets the scene for tragedy with this novel which explores themes of love, loyalty, betrayal and the legacy of war. As ever, his use of language is strikingly evocative, his descriptions of the natural world marking the change of seasons beautifully. The ending wasn’t quite what I expected but that’s no bad thing.
A much cheerier read, Katherine Heiny’s Early Morning Riser follows Jane who meets the handsome Duncan when she locks herself out of her new home dressed in her pyjamas. They quickly become a couple but there’s a fly in the ointment: Duncan seems to have slept with every woman in Boyne City and beyond. Jane finds herself constantly faced with one of his exs. Over the seventeen years Heiny’s novel spans, Jane continues to yearn for romantic love – although not always for herself – picks up a burden of guilt that leads to more happiness than she’d hoped and, ultimately, experiences a quietly joyous epiphany. I loved this novel which combines Anne Tyler’s sharp social observation with a pleasingly sly wit, and the ending is a delight. Heiney’s often idiosyncratic characters are affectionately portrayed, particularly Jane from whose sometimes-puzzled perspective the story is told. Small town novel bliss.
Any favourite small town American novels you’d like to share?
My first five American small town novels are here.
If you’d like to explore more posts like this, I’ve listed them here.
Ah, I do like an American small town setting, though I think my absolute favourites tend to have a speculative or horror edge – I’ve not read any of your picks.
A good setting for speculative or horror, but as a natural born scaredy cat, I’ll stick to tamer stuff!
I’ve only read The Arsonist out of these, though I think Ron Rash’s style and preoccupations could interest me. So many people have raved about Early Morning Riser that Katherine Heiny is also clearly one to try.
I’d recommend Rash who doesn’t seem particularly well known in the UK. The Heiny’s great if you need cheering up.
I do like this genre. Need to explore Miller and Henry. Loved Ron Rash’s The Caretaker. My all time favourite writers, probably said this before, include Strout, Tyler, Patchett, Haruf and William Maxwell. Are there small town UK and Irish writers, I wonder? I think in Ireland we can include such luminaries as William Trevor, Dermot Healy, Donal Ryan, and early Edna O’Brien, to start with.
A list of my favourite writers, there! You’re right about Irish small town novels but I’m not sure about here in the UK, at least that I’ve read. I’ll have to have a think about that.
I loved The Arsonist and Early Morning Risers and am very interested to read your thoughts on the Ron Rash as it’s been on my wish list for a while. I love small town America novels too. Elizabeth Strout comes to mind and William Maxwell, oh and of course Willa Cather, who is up there in my pantheon of all time greats. I should add Marilynne Robinson too, though I got to her novels late in the day. Oh! and Richard Russo. Still adore Straight Man.
Strout and Maxwell are both on my favourites list. I didn’t get on with Housekeeping but now can’t remember why. I should try again. Straight Man is hilarious, isn’t it. My academic partner loved it though, thankfully, has never been trapped in roof space trying to avoid a meeting!
I forgot about Robinson. Loved her interconnected series of four books…. Gilead, Home, Jack and Lila. She interrogates the particular lives of a number of individuals in a small town locale so well. And I still have to read Cather, on my back-burner a long time.
Hmm… It does sound as if I should give her another try.
When I saw your title I wondered if Early Morning Riser would get a mention! A real treat of a story. I must get to Ron Rash, The Caretaker sounds so sad but brilliant.
It’s a joy, isn’t it. I’m sure you’d enjoy Rash’s novel, sad though it is.
While some would call them soppy or smaltzy I love Philip Gulley’s Home to Harmony series and Jan Karon’s Mitford. Some others are Kent Haruf’s Our Souls at Night, Fanny Flagg’s books, Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, Shotgun Lovesongs (more guy oriented) some of Anne Tyler’s that aren’t set in Baltimore and many others.
Some unknown to me on that list. Thanks! I loved Shotgun Lovesongs and am a big Haruf fan.
I’m only just catching up with this interesting post, and I’d agree with your suggestions wholeheartedly!
I enjoy a schmaltzy read once in a while, and the Harmony and Mitford books are perfect for that. I love Fannie Flagg’s books too. I also like Joan Medlicott’s Ladies of Covington series.
For the UK, I’d mention Hazel Holt’s Sheila Malory books; cosy-ish crime set in the fictional town of Taviscombe. Rosamund Pilcher’s novels vary wildly in quality, but I did enjoy Winter Solstice, set mainly in the beautiful Scottish town of Dornoch (thinly disguised as Creagan.)
Lots of recommendations here. Thank you Rosemary!
Thanks for this reply–I’ll look for Hazel Holt–I’ve never heard of her. I read a few of Rsoamund’s, but some were just not for me.
I’ve liked Sue Miller’s writing for years, but somehow not read this one. And, though I’ve only so far read Zorrie, I’m a Laird Hunt fan too. You’re not the first person to recommend Ron Rash to me. It looks as though I’m going to be busy, because I can’t find a reason not to try any of these recommendations.
Excellent! Lots of long winter evenings ahead…
Oh, indeed. Theough I could do without the accompanying dark and cold.
Me, too, particularly after what felt like a very shorter summer.
Summer? When? Must have blinked.
Trying (and failing) to cultivate a philosophical attitude to the weather.
I love the book cover of The Good House.
It’s very attractive, isn’t it.