Enger, Lin

Enger wisely avoids making direct connections with current political events, though there are some subtle parallels. The largely young, marijuana-smoking “Jesus people” who show up on the farm are a sharp contrast to today’s Evangelical movement. Though much of the plot feels carefully orchestrated, events go in unexpected directions near the end, and the opposing perspectives of faith vs. reason are given equal weight in a story that will appeal to many fiction readers.

Moving through the High Divide—"the rough country between the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers"—even as its characters move through important divides, or turning points, of their own, Enger's novel is told in beautifully exact, liquid language that wastes no time, just as one cannot afford to waste time when making a journey such as the Pope family's. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 3/31/14.]