Leaving Locke Horn: A Novel - Hardcover

Casey, Dorothy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0912697393 ISBN 13: 9780912697390

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 1986

Synopsis

Tells the stories of Ruth Benson and Evelyn Hungerford, two young women growing up in a small mill town in Maine

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

Casey sensitively describes the personal crises of three young people who reside with their working-class families in the mill town of Locke Horne, Maine While spending the summer at nearby Handsman's Cove with her kin, Ruth, a diffident and introspective adolescent, becomes acquainted with Forrest Hungerford and his enigmatic sister, Evelyn. Both are capable, troubled artists who yearn to practice their craft in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of New York City. Presently, however, Forrest grapples with the resentment he feels for his father, and restlessness plagues Evelyn because she has "no prospects, no plans." While these siblings search for their geographical and emotional places in the world, Ruth learns of her unwed sister's pregnancy, an event that complicates Ruth's increasingly sensuous feelings for Forrest. Casey ably evokes the rugged life in rural Maine, as well as the traumas of youth, but the plot moves at a desultory pace and lacks definition.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA This novel intertwines the lives of two families who grow, learn, love, and die in a small mill town in Maine during the course of a year. The action centers on two young women, Ruth Benson and Evelyn Hungerford, and Evelyn's artist-brother Forrest. Some of the younger characters go away for a wider life. Some will return; others will not. This is a regional book in the best meaning of the term, and there are parallels with numerous contemporary Southern writers whose plots spotlight strong individualistic families. Black Mountain Breakdown (Ballantine, 1982) by Lee Smith is an example of this genre. The plot is enhanced by Casey's vivid pictures of the town and its surrounding countryside. The characters come alive and make readers care. Peggie Case Paulus, St. John's School, Houston
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0912697393
• ISBN 13: 9780912697390
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 286