an adventure in reading: BOOK: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Saturday, July 20, 2013

BOOK: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, 272 pages

This is a book I remember reading rave reviews of a few years ago, and it lived up to recommendations. Mississippi now, and in flashbacks to the 1970s, as two characters, one black and one white, become somewhat friends. Larry Ott, possibly the saddest character I've read in a while, was accused although never charged after a girl he dated went missing. Since she was never found, he lives under that suspicion. Silas Jones, the black friend, has grown into the town Constable.

The book is about race, and friendship, and loneliness. Actually quite timely as I was reading this as the Zimmerman trial ended. Being found not guilty (or never even charged) does not guarantee that you get to just continue your life. Societal punishment can be even worse than jail time. Really good novel, with a bit of a mystery that although telegraphed long before the end, was still heart-breaking.

also reviewed: wendy at caribousmom; bookfool at bookfoolery; rhapsody in books; gavin at page247; suziqoregon at whimpulsive; maggie at maggiereads;
(When I started looking up other reviews, I found nearly every bookblogger I know! I picked a few but left out a bunch because there were too many. I knew I had read tons of rave reviews a few years ago. Are you the other last person who hasn't read Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter?)

Comments (11)

Logging you in...

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Logged in as

+1 Vote up Vote down

jennysbooks 89p · 608 weeks ago

Hahaha, I am the other last person who hasn't read Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. It's me. I am that person. I keep checking it out on my Nook along with a bunch of other library books, and then not getting to it in time.

1 reply · active 608 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

raidergirl3 91p · 608 weeks ago

ha, ha I knew there would be someone! Stop nooking it. (did I just make up something?)

0 Vote up Vote down

Suey · 608 weeks ago

I've wanted to read this one forever and even started it once, but it got lost in the shuffle! Need to pick it up again!

1 reply · active 608 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

raidergirl3 91p · 608 weeks ago

It read quite quickly, once I got going, wanting to know what was going on. I had wanted to read it forever too.

0 Vote up Vote down

Susan · 608 weeks ago

Me, I'm the last one who hasn't read this yet! Cath at Read-Warbler just posted a review of it too, so between you two, it's now on my to-buy asap radar :-) I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as Cath did, and it does seem a timely book to read, given the Zimmerman case in the US. On its own merits it sounds like a very good mystery.

1 reply · active 606 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

raidergirl3 91p · 606 weeks ago

It felt very timely. More suspenseful than a mystery, but a great read.

0 Vote up Vote down

sprite · 607 weeks ago

It seems like there are quite a crowd of us last-to-read-its.

1 reply · active 606 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

raidergirl3 91p · 606 weeks ago

It always just feels like you're the last person to read a book. And it isn't even that old, just a few years. Sometimes it is better to read it after all the hype.