Go for Baroque

I’ve long been a fan of realistic, character-driven fiction that focus on the interpersonal relations between couples, siblings, and parents and children. Lately, I’ve been drawn to fiction of a different sort – where strongly developed characters are thrust in over-the-top situations that border on the grotesque. With these three novels from 2021, you can “go for baroque”* and settle in for a wild ride.

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. Ike and Buddy Lee are two men with checkered pasts. Both have done time, and both had gay sons that they struggled to connect with. When their sons are murdered, Ike and Buddy Lee seek revenge on those responsible. Their quest for vengeance is complicated by race – Ike is Black, Buddy Lee white, and they are suspicious of each other – and the conflicted feelings they feel towards their dead sons. The propulsive action in the novel is punctuated by quiet moments as Ike and Buddy Lee reckon with their kids and each other; it adds depth to the proceedings and doesn’t slow down the action one bit.

The Trees by Percival Everett. In Money, Mississippi, Junior Junior – a well-known racist in a town full of them – is grotesquely murdered in his home. Confoundingly, next to Junior Junior lies a dead Black man – unidentified, but bearing a resemblance to Emmett Till. When the authorities arrive, the Black man is gone – only to show up near another white corpse, and then another. The authorities try to piece the puzzle together, but with bodies piling up it’s nearly impossible to explain the unexplainable. With shocking violence (not for the faint of heart) and gallows humor (quite a lot actually), Everett reveals our nation’s dark history of lynching in this provocative and unforgettable novel.

Revelator by Daryl Gregory. It’s 1936 in the Great Smoky Mountains, and teenaged Stella is the latest in the line of “Birch women” who are the only people able to communicate with Ghostdaddy, the “God in the Mountain.” Stella is alternately drawn and repelled by Ghostdaddy and runs away, to return years later to protect the next Birch woman in line from suffering the fate of those that came before them. Meanwhile, Stella’s great uncle Hendrick wants access to Ghostdaddy and to lay the foundation for a new Church. This blend of Southern Gothic, horror and literary fiction makes Revelator difficult to classify, but a page-turner that is entirely worthwhile.

~posted by Frank

*credit goes to Adam Sternbergh, who used “go-for-baroque” in his review of Razorblade Tears. I couldn’t resist.