Book Review: Glass Boys

Glass Boys by Nicole Lundrigan
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
Release Date: July 24, 2012
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

When Roy Trench is killed in a drunken prank gone wrong, his brother Lewis sees blood on the hands of the man responsible: the abusive alcoholic, Eli Fagan. Though the courts rule the death an accident, the event opens a seam of hate between the two families of Knife’s Point, Newfoundland.

Desperate to smother the painful past with love, Lewis marries Wilda, and the pleasure he takes in their two children — Melvin and Toby — recalls the happier days of his childhood with Roy. But as he watches his small family fracture, the darkness of the past begins to cloud the present, leading Lewis back to Eli Fagan — and his watchful stepson, Garrett Glass.

In the style of Newfoundland literature, established by Michael Crummey and Lisa Moore, Glass Boys is the haunting story of an unforgivable crime that brings two families to the brink.

Glass Boys was a dark, gothic story. It’s set in Newfoundland, Canada, I think in the 1970s. (I don’t remember that any dates were mentioned but some of the cultural references made me think it was set in the 70s.) I wasn’t familiar with how English is spoken in this region of Canada but I found the dialogue lovely to read. The characters say things like “tis” and “twas” and they put “s” on the end of a lot of words that I don’t, like “you thinks you’re something special” and “I wants them now”. The idioms were great too; they reminded me of the charming idioms people in the southern United States use. One of my favorites was:*

“if someone don’t want you, if someone don’t think you got at least a few squirts of sunshine poked up your ass, you’re better off without them.”

The prose was wonderfully crafted and beautiful even though most of the time it was describing disturbing things. I did appreciate that there were no overly graphic scenes. The characters were well-developed and heartbreakingly flawed. The relationship between Melvin and Toby was one bright spot that kept this novel from being too depressing. I especially loved Toby. He was such a sweet boy, the kind of boy that’s almost too good for this world because no one will ever treat him as kindly as he treats everyone.

I’m a fan of southern US fiction and even though this novel was Canadian, I found it very similar. The blurb mentions that this book is in the style of Newfoundland literature. I wasn’t familiar with that sub-genre before reading this book. Glass Boys was so good that I’m looking forward to reading more by Nicole Lundrigan and other Newfoundland authors.

*quotes are taken from an uncorrected review copy – the final copy may differ

Buy this book at:
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(I received this book courtesy of the publicist.)

Other stops on the blog tour:
8/29/2012  Read React Review  http://readreactreview.com
8/30/2012  Travel Spot  http://travelspot06.blogspot.com/
8/31/2012  Comfort Books  http://paigebradish1996.blogspot.com/
9/1/2012  Cmash Loves to Read  http://cmashlovestoread.com/
9/3/2012  Booksellers without Borders NY  http://booksellerswithoutbordersny.com
9/6/2012  Leafing Through Life  http://leafingrhroughlife.blogspot.com
9/7/2012  Pieces of Fate  http://piecesoffatesusan.blogspot.com/
10/1/2012  My Life in Not So Many Words… www.ziarias.blogspot.com
10/2/2012   I’d Rather Be At The Beach  http://ratb2.blogspot.com