It's 1989 in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. One evening on her way home, Lindy Simpson is raped
on the street near her house. Although no arrests are made, the crime
changes Lindy and the other residents of the street.
The narrator is one
of the suspects in the crime. Although he isn't arrested, the rape
impacts him deeply. He is infatuated with Lindy. It's one of the
central facts of his adolescence. Lindy is his ideal. The girl next
door who seems to have everything. As they grow up, their lives
entwine and then grow apart, but Lindy is always important to him.
One of the best
parts of this novel is the depiction of what life was like in 1989:
no Internet and no mobile phones. Teenagers talked on land-line phones with
their friends for hours. It paints a picture of growing up in a
different time.
The writing is good,
but I felt the narrator lapsed into memories that weren't directly
related to the story line, and it lessened the impact of the story he
was telling. The mystery of who raped Lindy runs through the story,
but the most important part is how the crime affected everyone's
life.
I recommend this
book if you want a glimpse of life in the late 80'
s and early 90's, or
if you want to relive part of your own adolescence.
I reviewed this book
for Net Galley.
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