The Maid's Version By Daniel Woodrell

Daniel Woodrell a Pen West award winner for his novel,Tomato Red. and the author of Winter's Bone, which was made into a movie that starred Jennifer Lawrence, has done it again.

The Maid's Version

Mr. Woodrell, the man from the Ozarks has written a multi character, historically set, dosed with complex personalities, and a setting as visual as as serene drive down a lazy mountain road.

The Maid's Version: A Novel is told by the grandson of Alma DeGreer Dunahew. Alma, who is a maid for a prominent family in West Table Missouri is privy to much, but also consumed by the loss of her beloved sister, Ruby, and her own speculation. Is she right? You decide? 

 Mr. Woodrell's creation of a grandson to tell this story gives the reader the linkage needed to carry it through a time line that spans half a century. The story starts in 1929, and moves through several characters of various sorts. A preacher who decries the scandalous behavior in the local dance hall. Gypsies, disliked disdained, dishonored in the minds of good towns folk, a citizen with a criminal past, and a Prominent citizen. 

The big question is. Who is responsible? Responsible for a fire so ravenous, so intense, so destructive that it kills forty-two of the locals in a  blast that defies explanation. Of course there's an investigation, but no concrete answers come quickly and hearts and minds burn with anger over the lost loved ones. 

I read this book as hardbound and I've placed it on my bookshelf among my favorites, and books to share with friends. 

Rating for  The Maid's Version: A Novel by Daniel Woodrell is Five Full Sails!  Excellent story line, character development, with descriptive, impressive writing.

Echo Dot on Sale $49.99 

Next Post: Book Review, The Dead, By James Joyce

Post Date, 01/25/2017

Book Review : The Outlaw Album

#ShortStory

#Crime

#HistoricalFiction

Book Review

The Outlaw Album

By Daniel Woodrell

This collection of short stories by the author of such well known works like Winter's Bone & Tomato Red — which won the Pen West award for fiction in 1999— is the first collection of short works for the author.

    Daniel has created a cast of characters, in this short story collection The Outlaw Album  , that have different strains of bad in them. Some of the characters come out of the past such as in Woe to Live On, while others are in the present.

What I like about Mr.Woodrell's talents is his consistent and exacting use of local vernacular.  He doesn’t miss any details in tone, inflection, and behavior in any of his characters. What I like about his stories in general is that they are written to how he wants to tell the story. Let me explain.  I recently read a short story compilation that was edited by George R R Martin. The stories were all five-thousand words in length, a standard word count requested by editors and used by authors to sell their work. I never reviewed that book because it was a terrible collection. But Mr. Woodrell doesn’t put himself in that mold.  If a story is  twelve hundred words, he doesn’t fluff it up. His writing is precise, consistent with characters, and his story lines eb and flow as needed to convey the scene or temperament of the characters.  This collection contains short stories of various lengths, all were interesting and enjoyable.  Not a surprise that the author of Winters Bone could also produce a great collection of short stories.  If you enjoy reading about intriguing characters, that represent the best and worst of humanity, you will enjoy this book.

   This Book is Five Full Sails. Excellent work, well written, add it to book shelf today.