Willem's Field

Willem's Field

BY MELINDA HAYNES (THE FREE PRESS, $24)

In a story that may be closer to the bone than either of her first two acclaimed books, Mother of Pearl and Chalktown, this Mississippi native creates a character who lives with a debilitating panic disorder. The author has never made a secret of the fact that she suffers from the same paralyzing problem. Melinda Haynes crafts a host of credible characters, each one with individual idiosyncrasies and voice. Willem Fremont returns to Purvis, Mississippi, in hopes of handling the disorder that has ruled-and ruined-much of his life. The field he thinks holds answers for him-a sinkhole where his former house rots-is now owned by the Till family, all of whom suffer their own crippling quandaries. Matriarch Eilene Till is bitterly disappointed in her two grown sons, Bruno and Sonny. Leah, Bruno's wife, is riddled with anger at being neglected by her husband.

At times the characters' problems seem insurmountable. Yet the author draws her people to a conclusion both satisfying and sweet.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jun 2003
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