(Posted for Ann Roberts)
I have a new favorite writer, the British author, Jim Crace.
The Pesthouse is a thought-provoking
and engaging tale about life in America after the house of cards has tumbled
down. Ecological disaster has ruined the land and the ability to make a living
and the population is back to walking and riding horses in a desolate
landscape. Everyone’s goal is to get to the Eastern coast to catch a sailing
ship to Europe. Two brothers, Franklin and Jackson Lopez, leave the desolate
open plains of their childhood and their aging mother to reach the sailing
ships and a new and better life. Along
the way, one brother dies. The remaining
brother escapes slavery, makes it to the coast, finds love and companionship in
a “pesthouse” or place for the quarantined ill, before making his choice to
leave his homeland or not. Jim Crace
writes an imaginative story, beautifully told.
Hardback, 255 pages
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