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A review by rmarcin
Liar's Bench by Kim Michele Richardson
4.0
It is August 1972, in Peckinpaw, KY. Mudas Summers has just turned 17, and her world has been ripped apart. Her mother, Ella, has been found hanging in her house, leaving Mudas and her baby daughter, Genevieve behind. Mudas swears that her mother would have never killed herself. Mudas wonders if her mother's abusive husband killed her mother.
Mudas, angry at her father, believing he is keeping secrets, runs out of her house, into the arms of bi-racial Bobby, highlighting racial discrimination by others in the town. But Mudas loves Bobby, and he loves her. Together, they stumble on town secrets, and are put in danger.
I liked the grit of Mudas and the kindness towards Bobby, but I think the novel tried too hard to cover many issues, and only superficially--the Vietnam War, racial tensions, interracial relationships, pre-marital sex, cockfighting, Title IX sports, government scandal.
Mudas, angry at her father, believing he is keeping secrets, runs out of her house, into the arms of bi-racial Bobby, highlighting racial discrimination by others in the town. But Mudas loves Bobby, and he loves her. Together, they stumble on town secrets, and are put in danger.
I liked the grit of Mudas and the kindness towards Bobby, but I think the novel tried too hard to cover many issues, and only superficially--the Vietnam War, racial tensions, interracial relationships, pre-marital sex, cockfighting, Title IX sports, government scandal.