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The Bottoms
by Joe R. Lansdale
This is a reread for me, though the last time I read this book was ten years ago when it first came out. After reading Dead in the West I thought I'd give Lansdale another try. He's an accomplished author though I haven't read a lot of his stuff.
The Bottoms takes place in Eastern Texas during the depression and is told from the point of view of a 12 year old boy whose father is the constable of a small community. The ravaged, mutilated bodies of colored women start appearing in the woods near the community, nicknamed the Bottoms. The rash of deaths, and the constable's insistence on solving the murders, leads to much racial tension that threatens to tear the community apart.
This book is good. So very very good. Like a darker version of To Kill a Mockingbird, it handles a lot of the same themes, but obviously in a more adult way. I love the way Lansdale uses the first person narrative from a younger child's point of view, one who is on the cusp of manhood but is learning new truths of how the world works, especially in a time of much upheaval and sadness. Despite having read the novel before (though I'm not sure that having read it a decade ago counts) this was a real page turner, and it had been long enough ago that though I had vague recollections of who the culprit was, I was still surprised and thoroughly satisfied at the reveal.
All the characters are fleshed out and not at all one dimensional, villanous or otherwise, and the descriptions of the Bottoms and life in Texas in the 1930's were interesting and painted a vivid picture. I can't recommend this book strongly enough. If you enjoy historical fiction, and murder mysteries, this one is for you.
The Bottoms takes place in Eastern Texas during the depression and is told from the point of view of a 12 year old boy whose father is the constable of a small community. The ravaged, mutilated bodies of colored women start appearing in the woods near the community, nicknamed the Bottoms. The rash of deaths, and the constable's insistence on solving the murders, leads to much racial tension that threatens to tear the community apart.
This book is good. So very very good. Like a darker version of To Kill a Mockingbird, it handles a lot of the same themes, but obviously in a more adult way. I love the way Lansdale uses the first person narrative from a younger child's point of view, one who is on the cusp of manhood but is learning new truths of how the world works, especially in a time of much upheaval and sadness. Despite having read the novel before (though I'm not sure that having read it a decade ago counts) this was a real page turner, and it had been long enough ago that though I had vague recollections of who the culprit was, I was still surprised and thoroughly satisfied at the reveal.
All the characters are fleshed out and not at all one dimensional, villanous or otherwise, and the descriptions of the Bottoms and life in Texas in the 1930's were interesting and painted a vivid picture. I can't recommend this book strongly enough. If you enjoy historical fiction, and murder mysteries, this one is for you.