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A review by eileen9311
Heat and Light by Jennifer Haigh
4.0
Dark, dreary, harsh, sometimes coarse – these adjectives apply here. I almost bailed out at one point, but it’s painful to turn down a book by this author! She paints such vivid pictures of the flawed individuals who drive the plot, and what a sense of place! The following description of woods soon to be leveled by the encroaching wheels of progress is so very affecting!
“The forest is a century old, mixed hardwoods, trunks thick as rain barrels – the childhood gymnasium of four generations, prime real estate for tree houses and tire swings. The forest ringing with war whoops, high-pitched laughter, Ollie, Ollie Oxen Free. There have been epic games of Red Rover, Red Rover; hide-and-seek invitationals that lasted for hours. It is a province of children, a place where adults do not venture – the coffee drinkers and newspaper readers, the tax payers and insurance buyers, the wearers of lipstick and ties. A kingdom governed by ancient laws, passed down through the ages, Dibs and Three Strikes and Tag, You’re It…’
Slowly, the reader becomes immersed in that dreary world where there is despair, together with dawning hope and unrealistic dreams. Jennifer Haigh does have an ax to grind, though, – about the environment and the evil, self- serving energy companies – which I found somewhat tolerable and vaguely annoying. There seemed to be an undue amount of technical detail as well, about fracking, the rigs, and drilling and so forth. Maybe this was necessary to bring the story forward. Heat and Light was certainly well researched and I’m not a detail person, so perhaps this criticism is unwarranted. Regardless, I’ll be first in line should she write another book! Startling, intrusive, arresting, and pervasive is this story, as indeed are the ‘heat and light’ elements of the title. The bleakness of the characters’ lives is poignantly, heartbreakingly rendered, such that it was a relief to put the book aside at times and take a deep breath! Yet I was irresistibly drawn back. Suspense was not a player, though. To my surprise, I just found myself caring amazingly about these troubled characters and their struggles. Maybe 4 stars, or three and a half….
“The forest is a century old, mixed hardwoods, trunks thick as rain barrels – the childhood gymnasium of four generations, prime real estate for tree houses and tire swings. The forest ringing with war whoops, high-pitched laughter, Ollie, Ollie Oxen Free. There have been epic games of Red Rover, Red Rover; hide-and-seek invitationals that lasted for hours. It is a province of children, a place where adults do not venture – the coffee drinkers and newspaper readers, the tax payers and insurance buyers, the wearers of lipstick and ties. A kingdom governed by ancient laws, passed down through the ages, Dibs and Three Strikes and Tag, You’re It…’
Slowly, the reader becomes immersed in that dreary world where there is despair, together with dawning hope and unrealistic dreams. Jennifer Haigh does have an ax to grind, though, – about the environment and the evil, self- serving energy companies – which I found somewhat tolerable and vaguely annoying. There seemed to be an undue amount of technical detail as well, about fracking, the rigs, and drilling and so forth. Maybe this was necessary to bring the story forward. Heat and Light was certainly well researched and I’m not a detail person, so perhaps this criticism is unwarranted. Regardless, I’ll be first in line should she write another book! Startling, intrusive, arresting, and pervasive is this story, as indeed are the ‘heat and light’ elements of the title. The bleakness of the characters’ lives is poignantly, heartbreakingly rendered, such that it was a relief to put the book aside at times and take a deep breath! Yet I was irresistibly drawn back. Suspense was not a player, though. To my surprise, I just found myself caring amazingly about these troubled characters and their struggles. Maybe 4 stars, or three and a half….