Willy Slater's Lane: A Novel - Softcover

Wieland, Mitch

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0870744097 ISBN 13: 9780870744099

Publisher: Southern Methodist Univ Pr, 1996

Synopsis

the eccentric middle aged kern brothers hav lived out their lives on an isolated backrod in rural ohio. the elder brother's mistrust of the outside world has led them to sell most of their inherited farmland and live like hermits in a delerict school bus.

About this title

Review

Nothing much happens in Mitch Wieland's quiet novel, Willy Slater's Lane, and yet by the end, old lives have ended and new ones begun. The main characters, Harlan Kern and his gentle brother Erban, have spent most of their 60-odd years living together in the house left to them by their parents. They are the last residents on Willy Slater's Lane. Over the years, other farmers have moved, a coal mine has stripped the land, and the house itself has fallen into such disrepair that the living room literally falls in. Yet Harlan, Erban, and Harlan's embittered wife, Elizabeth, stay on until a violent confrontation changes everything.

The first half of Willy Slater's Lane is compelling, due in great part to the angry, antisocial Harlan and to Elizabeth, a desperate woman with unexpected stores of both strength and tenderness. The novel loses power with the departure of these two midway through the story, but Mr. Wieland's simple, elegant writing remains strong and steady throughout, making this little book a pleasure to read.

About the Author

MITCH WIELAND grew up near Sugarcreek, Ohio, and now lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with his wife and two sons. He teaches creative writing and literature at the University of Alabama and serves as fiction editor of Black Warrior Review.

About this edition

• Publisher: Southern Methodist Univ Pr
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0870744097
• ISBN 13: 9780870744099
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 161