Local Deities: A Novel

The capture and trial of members of the American armed resistance form the focal point of a novel exploring the conflicts between a woman's love for her friends and her doubts about their actions

Local Deities compares favorably with Vida ( LJ 1/15/80), Marge Piercy's memorable novel of a Seventies' revolutionary on the run. But whereas Vida dealt with the fractured life of the isolated revolutionary, this novel focuses on the fragmentation of a whole family. "I lose everything I love, too," says young Emma, mourning her lost teddy bear. She could just as well mourn her life: her father is in prison, her mother is in hiding, and she may never see either of them again. "Ssshh, Remember!" older brother Eli whispers, reminding her that she must not betray memories of their family and of the life now denied them. In memorable prose, Bushell depicts the uneasy alliance of women and men, the difficulty of maintaining zeal in the face of public indifference, the irrevocability of radical commitment, and above all, the hurts parents do their children without intention. Local Deities is a book rich in character and incident, blessed with a noble theme. Highly recommended.
- David Keymer, SUNY Inst. of Technology, Utica
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.